Writing books for children is more difficult than it may appear; for an adult to get into the mind of a child is no easy task. In the final analysis, the only true measure of success is whether young readers enjoy — and keep returning to — the finished product.

Three recent books by Maine authors are noteworthy because of their simple messages. All celebrate life and advance children’s knowledge of its many obstacles and how they can be overcome.

TINY GOES TO THE DOCTOR!, by Jeannette N. Hafford of Bangor, is one woman’s story of how positive thinking helped her overcome her physical disability and lead a reasonably normal life. The latest children’s book by this multnorthern Aroostook County, when she was born weighing only 2 pounds and was kept alive by being wrapped in blankets and put in a warming oven in her mother’s kitchen.

Writes Hafford, “Over the years Tiny watched the colors of the leaves on the trees change from a deep green in the summertime to deep red, brilliant gold and burnt orange in the autumn time. Just as the leaves on the trees changed so did the lives of those around her. Tiny watched while the lives of those around her took on those changes while her own life remained almost the very same season after season and year after year.”

With adulthood came new challenges, which Hafford met with great strength and faith in God. She tells of her problems in school and later in the workplace. She also tells of being able to walk for the first time because of the generosity of Dr. Rowland Pritchard, an orthopedic surgeon who performed many operations that allowed her to walk.

The 50-page book is for children of all ages, costs $8.22, and is available from Hafford, 174 Main St., Box 401-W, Bangor 04401.

ONE, TWO, ONE PAIR! (Scholastic Books, 32 pages, $12.95), written and photographed by Bruce McMillan, is intended for young readers ages 3 to 6. Vibrant photos depict Maine students Jessica and Monica, fraternal twins who posed for McMillan on East Sebago Lake and in his Shapleigh home.

The book teaches the concept of the simplest mathematical number set of all — the pair. Readers will find pair after pair as they follow a young girl getting ready to ice skate. Through the repeating visual pattern the reader learns to predict and to associate what will follow, and so learns to construct a pair.

RAVEN’S LIGHT (Atheneum Publishers, 32 pages, $13.95), subtitled, “A Myth From the People of the Northwest Coast,” is retold by Susan Hand Shetterly and illustrated by her husband, Robert Shetterly of Surry.

The mysterious story, intended for readers ages 6 to 10, rooted in the pagan beliefs of tribes in the Pacific Northwest, centers on Raven, the “trickster” of the Northwest coast, who creates the world when he drops a stone into the sea. The stone stretches into the mountains and falls into valleys. It scatters into plateaus that spread away from the stars.

From a sack hung around his neck, Raven pulls out plants and animals to populate the world. Raven knows his Earth is beautiful, but he can see it only by the light of the stars.