The two feature articles of this issue were keynote addresses delivered at the November 21-22, 1975 conference which the Council on Interracial Books for Children cosponsored with the General Assistance Center of Teachers College, Columbia University. The opening day's keynote address raises a number of issues that have vital implications for parents, educators, and publishers: text books in the U.S. often assault children rather than educate them; the recent publicity given to the Shockleys and the Jensens is another assault on black children; and the political aspects of the social sciences and the politics involved serve to maintain certain aspects of our society's value system. The second day's keynote address discussed a survey by the Council on Interracial Books for Children of 100 books on Puerto Rican themes, noting that the prevailing trends found were those of cultural stereotyping and historical misrepresentation. The topic of the address was "Responging to Racism and Sexism: Children's Books as a Liberating Force." (Author/JM)