Steven Heller has an interesting bit in the NYT Book Review on a new book that explains the 1960s to kids. Writes Heller,

“The ’60s are often portrayed now as a permissive, hedonistic moment when sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll reigned supreme. Though all that is true, they were also an incredibly volatile period when youth culture challenged politics and society in ways that continue to exert influence. The decade was more than a mere freak show of baby-boomer rebels. It was a time when young people acted positively, as individuals and en masse, to redress a slew of grievances. So it’s about time that today’s kids were introduced to the period in a manner that is not simply a reprise of camp clichés.”

The titles under discussion are a new book version of Puff the Magic Dragon and a book called America Dreaming, by Laban Carrick Hill. Full disclosure: my not-quite-hippie parents sang me Peter, Paul, and Mary songs and I still remember every single word.