Getting kids to care about history is hard as hell. How can you blame them, when history is usually delivered in the form of dusty textbooks, boring documentaries and trumped-up tales of the glory days from wise old granddaddy? Realistically, kids probably won’t read it, but The Big Book of the ’70s by Jonathan Vankin (Factoid Books, $14.95 at your favorite bookseller) at least puts history in a fairly objective and unique context of one- to two-page comics. As strange and difficult as it may seem, it is possible to put the entire career of Burt Reynolds in a two-page comic strip. Also covered: the Gas Crisis, Terrorism, “Welcome Back, Kotter,” CB radio, Fonziemania and the Reggie Jackson candy bar.

Tom A’Hearn pays attention here every other week. E-mail letters@metrotimes.com.