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Whoopi's Big Book of Manners

Book Summary

Reviewed by Patricia Tauzer

Each page presents a topic and the related rule or rules of etiquette. Comical illustrations present a scenario in which those rules are being broken. In the lower right-hand corner, almost like a mantra, the suggestion that this particular offense (such as interrupting, talking in theaters, bad sportsmanship, or eating with your hands) is not as bad as... (the next bad habit or behavior) drives the reader to turn the page.

Is It Any Good?

4

The theme of WHOOPI'S BIG BOOK OF MANNERS is that knowing how to behave helps us get along in the company of others. This important message is told in language kids will appreciate and understand. Far from presenting a stiff set of rules, this book begins and ends with a reference to nose-picking and covers all the gritty ground in between. Readers familiar with Whoopi Goldberg will hear her voice in its pages, especially in the explanation of the rules, and she sounds friendly -- kids will feel she is on their side.

Goldberg covers some important issues that grandma never mentioned: behavior in theaters, proper times to use a cell phone, and the importance of good sportsmanship. She even shows how manners differ in different societies. A mixed-media presentation of googly-eyed comic-book kids with their googly-eyed pets, friends, and relations act out silly scenes that dramatize the do's and don'ts.

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