Manners Time
By: Elizabeth Verdick
Illustrated By: Marieka Heinlen
Publication: August 1, 2009 by Free Spirit Publishing
24 pages
Genre: Children's Literature, Picture Books, Parenting
Goodreads description--Manners start with a smile—then you add the words. There are polite words to use when you greet someone, ask for something, or (oops!) make a mistake. There’s even a nice way to say no. This book gives toddlers a head start on manners, setting the stage for social skills that will last a lifetime.Book Board BookPublication 8/1/2009 24Reading Age 4 and Up
We have been doing a "unit" study on manners in our homeschool. I'm not sure you can call it a unit study because we've been learning about manners all year long so far, and considering we still have much to improve upon, I think we'll keep right on trucking with our manners "study" until we see some improvement. So when I saw Manners Time for review, I grabbed it.
The content seems best suited for smaller children. My youngest son is currently 4 years old, and I think he would benefit the most from this book. He already knows these concepts, but seeing them and hearing them in book form would hopefully help to solidify these in his mind.
At the same time, the words are written in simple enough terms that my 7-year-old old who is reading more and more could easily read this book. And now that I think about it, I will probably make him do just that.
The concepts are basic. Say hi. Look people in the eyes. Say please, thank you, and you're welcome. Say "I'm sorry. " Etc. I would add that I'm a little bit frustrated by equating "I forgive you" with "That's okay." On the one hand, I appreciate that the book encourages saying "I forgive you" instead of "That's okay" after someone else apologizes. That's something I've taught my kids. But I've taught my kids to say "I forgive you" instead of "that's okay" because it isn't "okay." If one of my children hits another one, it isn't "okay", but my other child can say "I forgive you" and that can be true. This is a little bit semantics, but I did want to note it.
All in all, I think Manners Time gets 4 Stars. Have you or your child read Manners Time? What did you think? Let me know!
