Manners
by Aliki, Greenwillow 1990; ISBN: 0688091989
Manners are the way people behave. Manners are the way you treat others. Good manners make you nice. They make others want to be with you. Read this book and find out all about manners." The creator of Feelings knows just how to explain important matters without being didactic, and she makes good manners make good sense. (Ingram)
Piggybook
by Anthony Browne, Knopf 1990; ISBN: 067980837X
Mr. Piggott and his sons are a male chauvinist lot who, outside of yelling for their dinner, don't exercise themselves much around the house. When Mrs. Piggott finally tires of the endless chores . . . she leaves the menfolk on their own, with a note saying, 'You are pigs.' . . . As in most of Browne's art, there is more than a touch of irony and visual humor here. Fun to read aloud. (Ingram)
Sunshine Home
by Eve Bunting, Clarion 1994; ISBN: 0395633095
When Tim and his parents visit Gram in a nursing home, all pretend that everything is as it was before Gram broke her hip. Tim, however, helps the adults realize that they must honestly convey their feelings to each other, including their love. Realistic watercolors appropriately illustrate an increasingly familiar and difficult family situation. (Horn Book)
Pass the Fritters, Critters
by Cheryl Chapman, Unknown 1993; ISBN: 0027179753
Chapman's first book is an ingenious exploration of language, rhymes, and manners: Peremptory requests in the spirit of the title ("Pass the muffin, Puffin") get a variety of negative responses ("Sorry"; "Never"; "Forget it") until a grown-up demands, "What's the magic word?" and the manners shape up: "Please pass the salami, Mommy." "After you, Kangaroo." A last exchange is just for fun: "Be my snack, Mac?" "No thank you, Alligator...See you later!" The toothy alligator and the other animals, plus a brown-skinned child, are all cheerfully rendered in arresting collages of paper and fabric in vibrant colors. (Kirkus)
The Meanest Thing to Say
by Bill Cosby, Scholastic 1997; ISBN: 0590137549
What would you say if someone told you you smelled like an old egg salad? Little Bill learns from his father that "So?" may be the best retort. This contribution to well-known comedian Bill Cosby's Little Bill series for beginning readers tackles the challenge of not only outsmarting mean-spirited bullies, but understanding them, too. (Amazon.com)
Metropolitan Cow
by Tim Egan, Houghton Mifflin 1999; ISBN: 0395960592
Bennett Gibbons, a young calf in a prominent cow family, is forbidden to befriend a nice young pig, Webster Anderson, because he was, after all, a pig. Bennett runs away, but Webster finds him, and the families become friends, taking delightful (if undignified) mud baths together. The splendid romp through bovine and porcine prejudice is made more pointed by the extremely urban and sophisticated setting, portrayed in richly colored watercolor and ink illustrations. (Horn Book)
Hands
by Lois Ehlert, Harcourt 1997; ISBN: 015201506X
In a book that resembles work gloves, an unnamed child speaks of hands: the hands of parents, and the child's own. In pages of vivid, saturated colors, ``my father'' builds birdhouses and plants vegetables, while ``my mother'' sews quilts and plants flowers. Their roles are traditional, but the child works, with joy, alongside both of them, and wants to be an artist. The clever shapes--a tin box that opens to reveal screwdrivers, a flap that turns out to be the lid of the child's box of paints- -lead to a satisfying final overlay of a child's hand print, Mom's heart-patterned gardening gloves, and Dad's work gloves-- the book's cover. It's a work that looks simple, but encompasses at least as many grand notions as Ehlert's first book, Growing Vegetable Soup (1987). (Kirkus) A great example of honoring your father and mother! (H.E.)
What Do You Say, Dear?
by Sesyle Joslin, HarperTrophy 1986; ISBN: 0064431126
"You have gone downtown to do some shopping. You are walking backwards, because sometimes you like to, and you bump into a crocodile. What do you say, dear?" This is just one of the delightful hypothetical situations introduced by award-winning author Sesyle Joslin in this "handbook of etiquette for young ladies and gentlemen to be used as a guide for everyday social behavior." Maurice Sendak's quirky, comical illustrations are perfect for this old-fashioned, whimsical guide to manners. First published in 1958, this Caldecott Honor Book and ALA Notable Children's Book is a time- tested, fun way to teach your children important lessons. By the way, "Excuse me" is the proper response to the crocodile above! (Amazon.com)
This is Our House
by Michael Rosen, Unknown 1996; ISBN: 1564028704
Taking possession of the house (a large cardboard box with a paper-towel-roll-and-coat-hanger antenna) as the other kids look on, George announces, "This house is all for me!" Every time the others try to enter, he refuses them pointedly, noting that it's not a house for girls, small people, twins, people with glasses, and so on. When George leaves to use the bathroom, though, he returns to find himself excluded. His hurt and anger cause him to rethink his premise and discover that the box is a house for everyone. The simple text and economical line drawings make the events and emotions clear and unequivocal. (Booklist)
Hi!
by Ann Herbert Scott, Unknown 1994; ISBN: 0399219641
Margarita says, "Hi," and waves to everyone as she stands in line with her mother at the post office, but the people are all too busy to wave back or even notice her. The simple text and lively watercolor double-page-spread illustrations show the toddler's view of people of many ages and cultures, each one an individual, with her or his kind of package, each absorbed in her or his own world. An old man is reading his newspaper; three teenage girls are talking to one another; a mother is taking care of her baby; a boy with earphones can't see beyond his pile of packages. By the time her mother gets to the front of the line, Margarita is downcast, but the post office lady smiles and greets her, and then Margarita waves good-bye all the way to the door. (Booklist)
Pierre, a cautionary tale in five chapters and a prologue
by Maurice Sendak, HarperTrophy 1991; ISBN: 0064432521
Oh, that naughty boy! No matter what his parents say, Pierre just doesn't care.
"I don't care!"
"Some lovely cream of wheat?"
"I don't care!"
Don't sit backwards on your chair."
"I don't care!"
"Or pour syrup on your hair."
"I don't care!"
Horton Hears a Who
by Dr. Seuss, Random House 1954; ISBN: 0394800788
Surely among the most lovable of all Dr. Seuss creations, Horton the Elephant represents kindness, trustworthiness, and perseverance--all wrapped up, thank goodness, in a comical and even absurd package. Horton hears a cry for help from a speck of dust, and spends much of the book trying to protect the infinitesimal creatures who live on it from the derision and trickery of other animals, who think their elephant friend has gone quite nutty. But worse is in store: an eagle carries away the clover in which Horton has placed the life-bearing speck, and "let that small clover drop somewhere inside / of a great patch of clovers a hundred miles wide!" Horton wins in the end, after persuading the "Who's" to make as much noise as possible and prove their existence. This classic is not only fun, but a great way to introduce thoughtful children to essentially philosophical questions. How, after all, are we so sure there aren't invisible civilizations floating by on every mote? (Amazon.com)
The Other Side
by Jacqueline Woodson, Putnam 2001; ISBN: 0399231161
A story of friendship across a racial divide. Clover, the young African-American narrator, lives beside a fence that segregates her town. Her mother instructs her never to climb over to the other side because it isn't safe. But one summer morning, Clover notices a girl on the other side. Both children are curious about one another, and as the summer stretches on, Clover and Annie work up the nerve to introduce themselves. They dodge the injunction against crossing the fence by sitting on top of it together, and Clover pretends not to care when her friends react strangely at the sight of her sitting side by side with a white girl. Eventually, it's the fence that's out of place, not the friendship. (School Library Journal)
