When hijacked airliners attacked U.S. targets on Sept. 11, 2001, major textbook publishers were in the final weeks of updating their social studies texts for the school year that begins this month.

Nearly two years after the tragedy, those books reflect the challenges of trying to write history while it's still a current event and still fresh in the minds of children.

Some editors chose not to run photos of the World Trade Center or the Pentagon, at least in part, they say, because some of their readers may have lost a loved one in the attacks.

"The American Nation,'' a high school text published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, devotes six pages to "A Day That Changed the World.'' The only photo showing any destruction features the Statue of Liberty prominently, with Manhattan veiled by heavy smoke.

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"We were looking for pictures that would show the significance of the event, would be memorable pictures for what we could show of the events, but also pictures that did show the patriotic feelings that it stirred up,'' said Robert Wehnke, managing editor of social studies for Holt, Rinehart and Winston, a division of Harcourt Education, which also publishes "Call to Freedom" used in middle schools.

The high school text included a mention of congressional members singing "God Bless America" on the Capitol steps and the large number of American flags that were sold.

Another high school and middle school textbook publisher, McDougal Littell, a division of Houghton Mifflin, chose a more graphic approach in its 14 pages devoted to its section, "The War on Terrorism." Its books are called "Creating America" for eighth-graders and "The Americans" for high school students.

The books include photos of the twin towers before the tragedy, a photo of smoke streaming from the World Trade Center after impact, and damaged sections of both the twin towers and the Pentagon.

"How can you tell the story?'' said Chris Johnson, editorial director of social studies at McDougal Littell. "We looked at literally hundreds of photos. We chose photos we felt would tell the story and give an idea of the devastation. We certainly were not going to show falling bodies and really gruesome aspects.''

But the text does note that some victims jumped from the skyscrapers to their deaths, and it spends a page recounting the story of an airline pilot who, a month after the hijackings, told passengers to beat up anyone who might try to take over the plane and gave them suggestions on how to do it.

Johnson said McDougal Littel issued the pages early last year as a supplement to those who already owned the books, and they were well-received.

Like some other publishers, McDougal Littell is in the process of more revisions. This time, Johnson said, it won't include the mention of people jumping or the pilot who advised self-defense.

"I think the story has changed. I think that now we have gone in, and we have toppled Saddam Hussein. I think the emphasis is going to shift a little bit,'' Johnson said.

The Holt book doesn't provide as wide a context of world terrorism as some other texts, but Wehnke said Holt wanted to concentrate on the events themselves because "we thought that is how it would be taught in a classroom situation.''

"In the balance, the events we picked up to talk about are still the events that people remember,'' he said.

"In 15 years, I don't think people will remember people jumping out of the building, but they will remember President Bush's speech, what Rudolph Guiliani did. They will remember the firefighters and policemen and their sacrifice.''

On the elementary level, publisher Scott Foresman, a division of Pearson Education, shows the New York skyline with and without the World Trade Center as well as a photo of firefighters raising the American flag. Firefighters and others who raced to the rescue are emphasized.

American history textbooks typically have a patriotic look -- rare is the text without at least a piece of the American flag on the cover -- but some added a few more flags to the pages after Sept. 11.

Prentice Hall, for example, added two pictures of the flag as well as rules for respecting the flag, the Pledge of Allegiance and historical information about the flag inside the back cover of "The American Nation.''

Its five pages on terrorism include just two photos, both with American flags and neither with a picture of destruction or the World Trade Center.

Some include the world support the United States received after Sept. 11, but do not mention criticism.

Many of the books note that the terrorism was done by Muslim extremists. The elementary text, "Our Nation," by McMillan, a division of McGraw-Hill, says, "Muslim Americans were quick to denounce the terrorist attacks.''

It says that many Muslim Americans are recent immigrants, adding, "Like earlier immigrants, the new immigrants have brought their customs, traditions and religion, and are working hard to be good citizens.''

Many schools won't have the latest textbooks because it wasn't time to replace the old ones. But they have a wide array of resources to keep students up-to-date, including the materials and links about terrorism and Sept. 11 to their Web sites.

Bob Rodrigues, social studies chairman in Chartiers Valley, said it was important for teachers to go beyond the texts.

"I just know kids have told me through the years when they are textbook-taught, they don't enjoy the course as much, particularly in the social studies. Social studies is a really live thing,'' he said.

Chartiers Valley is in the process of choosing new social studies textbooks, but, Rodrigues said, "I'm not going to pick a textbook based on 9/11."

"9/11 is a critical event, but it doesn't govern 180 days of kids learning,'' he said.