Ira Wolfman’s “Climbing Your Family Tree,” just published by Workman Publishing in New York, is billed as genealogy “for kids,” but really it’s a book for genealogists of all ages.

Originally published some years ago as “Do People Grow on Family Trees?,” the volume is also “The Official Ellis Island Handbook.” But your ancestors don’t necessarily have to have arrived through that port.

The book is arranged well, written simply and has good illustrations and lists of tips. There is also a free Web site, www.workman.com.familytree, which is suitable for children – and beginners – to use. It offers charts you can print out, links to other sites and activities for youngsters.

Wolfman is the former editorial director of Sesame Street Publishing.

The thing about a book designed for kids, of course, is that it can help any of us get back to basics. After five or 25 years of research, we can get bogged down in names and dates and photocopies, and overwhelmed with the idea of organizing it all.

The simple questions, the easy tasks may help us focus, and even decide the emphasis we want to take.

Despite the wonders of computers, I’m sure I’ll always keep a book of charts on paper. They’re a concept that keeps some order to my ancestors.

Wolfman suggests color-coding your families – one color for each of your four grandparents’ last names. That’s a great idea.

And how about a page of addresses for each pair of ancestors, each marked with the years they lived at each location?

There are suggestions for doing interviews, how to use the census Soundex index, and good information, of course, on Ellis Island.

All four of Wolfman’s grandparents came here through Ellis Island, and he has traced his family to 1740s Poland.

Perhaps because he doesn’t have the “old Yankee” forebears that are familiar to so many of us Mainers, Wolfman is very sensitive to the great variety of ancestors Americans may have. There’s also a chapter that takes into account the fact that many people come from stepfamilies, adopted families or other backgrounds.

At 200 pages, the book includes far more information than we can mention here. The cost is $13.95, and “Climbing Your Family Tree: Online and Off-line Genealogy for Kids” can be obtained through bookstores.

You also will find a variety of “getting started” books in local libraries.

Phil Getchell, longtime volunteer at Bangor Public Library, will once again offer his “Introduction to Genealogy” course through Bangor Adult Education.

The seven-week course will be held 6:30 p.m. Thursdays beginning Oct. 17 – the first week at Bangor High School, and the next six weeks at Bangor Public Library. It’s a great opportunity to become familiar – or more so – with the library’s resources.

The cost is $30 for Bangor residents, $40 for nonresidents. Register in person at Bangor High School. For information only, call 941-6310 or check the Web site at members.mint.net/tlc.

The second issue of “Narramissic Notebook: Pictures, poems and stories from neighboring towns” has been published, offering poetry, reviews and articles such as Nancy Wasson’s piece on attending a one-room school in Orland. A neat photo from Northeast Historic Film in Bucksport shows Will Farnum, a Bucksport man who starred in silent movies.

In addition, the publication offers information on historical societies, museums and libraries in Orland, Orrington, Bucksport, Ellsworth, Castine, Dedham, Penobscot and Prospect.

The magazine will be published twice a year. The current issue is available for $4, and the first issue also is available for $4. Write to Narramissic Notebook Project, P.O. Box 106, Orland, ME 04472; or e-mail narramissicnotebook@yahoo.com.

Sharon Bray is the editor of the publication, which is “dedicated to preserving and sharing pictures, stories and poems from our communities.” Photos and other items are welcome – include a self-addressed stamped envelope for return. Bray also welcomes items by e-mail.

3199. HOWARD-SHORTRIDGE. Seeking parents, ancestry of Capt. James Howard, fisherman of Kittery, b. 1660, and wife Mary Shortridge, b. Oct. 4, 1661, Hampton, N.H. She was daughter of Richard Jr. and Esther (Dearborn) Shortridge. Danny W. Howard, DECF Box 428, Machiasport, ME 04655.

Send genealogy queries to Family Ties, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402; or send e-mail to familyti@bangordailynews.net.