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Unfortunately, I cannot recommend Michael Gurian’s The Purpose of Boys (Jossey-Bass, $ 26.95), because the author completely endorses the view that the purpose of boys—and presumably girls—is, of course, service to others. Self-denial runs throughout this thoughtful book, which appealed to me because the author, a family therapist, focuses on the development of boys in an often anti-boy culture. Dr. Gurian encourages parents and boys to embrace heroism—a rare advocacy these days. Here, too, Dr. Gurian’s definition falls short of man as a rational and selfish human being. He writes that he advises patients to think of the term HEROIC as an acronym for Honorable, Enterprising, Responsible, Original, Intimate, and Creative. Excellent ideals but check out what he means by being responsible: “a boy who cares about others’ needs, and becomes a man of service.” That means the boy must put others first—and himself last—in service of … whom? What? Why? Dr. Gurian’s right that boys are being seriously neglected. Sacrifice of boys (or girls) is not the cure.

A good beginner’s book for kids who want to understand earthquakes—which we’ve been experiencing here in southern California lately—is Earthquake! ($ 3.99, Aladdin Paperbacks) which is part of Simon & Schuster’s Natural Disasters series. The large print, 32-page edition by Marion Dane Bauer, with color illustrations by John Wallace, is scientific about how the earth moves, with facts about the earth’s movement presented in sequence with the three major types of fault movements. A few pages cover various myths about quakes, correctly described as “made up” stories, and the book includes a note to parents and teachers and sound advice on what to do during a quake. Earthquake! is Level One of the four levels in the publisher’s Ready-to-Read series, which means longer sentences and increased vocabulary for the beginning reader.

The Family Chef ($ 27.95, Celebra) by sisters Jill and Jewels Elmore contains very healthy soup, salad and family meal recipes for adults, babies and kids and it’s a well-organized cookbook for those who seek to replicate the food consumed by shapely actress Jennifer Aniston, who hired them and wrote the Foreword. Short notes are personal, fun, and sometimes educational, though the print is too small so use eyeglasses or contacts while cooking if you wear them. With a table of contents with chapter titles such as “Go, Fish!”, lots of white space and color photographs for each recipe, this is a handy kitchen reference for making relatively simple, light meals (assuming the reader is already familiar with different types of lettuce such as mache, Grenoble, and Parella) in international styles. I like the resources section, which provides addresses, Web sites and telephone numbers for the Elmore ladies’ favorite grocers, utensils and ingredients. Also included in The Family Chef: an index and a listing of their favorite food and cooking books—and movies (No Reservations, Ratatouille, and Lasse Hallstrom’s Chocolat, all highly recommended by me, too, especially Chocolat!)

For a simple and straightforward children’s book, This is the Firefighter (Disney/Hyperion) is a good, illustrated story for kids aged four through eight. The 32-page book, written by New York City writer Laura Godwin with illustrations by New York City artist Julian Hector, went on sale this week. The story of a mid-city fire—and how a squad of firemen respond—is likely to hold a child’s interest. The narrative in rhyme is both strong and suspenseful: “This is the station. This is the bell. And this is the signal that all is not well.” Pictures match the copy, with cute and clever touches, from a lady in curlers on a cellular phone to a firetruck Dalmatian that covers his eyes during the plot’s climax. There’s enough going on for repeat readings, though the fire itself is a bit underplayed and, contrary to the title, the focus is on the squad, not on the individual. Nevertheless, his actions are heroic and treated as such and the happy ending delivers a sunny city with a towering skyscraper.

Inventions is one of Simon and Schuster’s InSiders series of educational books for young readers. Parents could do worse than having this 64-page edition for $ 16.99 on hand. Introducing the concept of an invention with the term’s Latin origins—it means to find or come upon—each invention gets a two-page spread with colorful, computer-generated illustrations and informative captions and copy. Subjects in the squarely shaped volume include the wheel, telescope, engine, bionics, trains, camera and computer. There’s also a glossary, index and a timeline. A word of caution: Inventions tends to downplay the role of the inventor. Readers are encouraged to use Inventions as a springboard for further research and readings into each entry’s history, development and application.

As promised, I saw my first horror movie in years this week. Readers might be surprised at the response. Read my review of Rogue Pictures’ The Last House on the Left, opening today, here.