I spent much of tonight’s dinner reminding my progeny to sit facing the right way, use forks, and, you know, not actually shoot pieces of food across the room, please. For reals. It’s like they are being raised by wolves, except I am pretty sure I am not of the lupine persuasion, so I’m not sure how that happened.
What I will say is I haven’t used a lot of manners books, because most of them are no fun. There are notable exceptions, including the hilarious classic What Do You Say, Dear? by Sesyle Joslin, the lovable How Does a Dinosaur? series by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague, which are great fun (and yes, I have those), and Emily’s Out and About Book by Cindy Post Senning, which is still a bit earnest, but at least cute. But most? UGH.
Not this one! Judy Sierra is way too much fun for that.
Suppose You Meet a Dinsoaur
by Judy Sierra
Alfred A Knopf
ISBN: 978 0 375 86720 0
You’re shopping at the grocery store.
Surprise! You see a dinosaur.
This doesn’t happen every day.
What are you supposed to say?
This sets the scene and tone throughout, here. It’s preposterous, of course, but also amusing and gently prodding about the correct way to show you manners with those little niceties. (Kids love knowing the right answer, after all, why not use it to our benefit, am I right?)
The rhymes work – and I’d expect nothing less from Sierra, who really has a way with a fun couplet. The lessons are gentle and not preachy. The illustrations are bright and fun, and only emphasize the silliness of the situation, to good effect. I call this a good one to add to your own lessons on etiquette if you need a little assistance, as I clearly do.