A CHILDREN'S CHORUS

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child,"" which was adopted by the General Assembly of the UN in 1959, here are double-spread illustrations for its ten principles, each by a well-known illustrator. This earnest effort certainly deserves purchase just to publicize the Declaration, printed without comment or explication on the last two pages; but its success as a book is mixed at best. The illustrators, from many countries, are merely listed without so much as their nationality. And not only their styles but their approaches to the assignment vary wildly: Heine contributes a painting of a tiny innocent balanced against a huge, stern adult; Tony Ross's idea of ""freedom and dignity"" involves a fey gentleman sprinkling a child growing out of a plant with a watering can while at the same time shielding it with an umbrella; Anastasia Arkhipova has babies arriving conventionally by stork, with hats to indicate their countries; Zelinsky's tribute to the needs of the handicapped is stolidly realistic. Only Michael Foreman's giant dove--protecting two children from ""times of trouble,"" dramatically suggested by his use of background color--rises to the true seriousness of this occasion. Still, there's lots of food for thought and/or discussion here.