What Do You Say, Dear? (urspr publ 1958; utgåvan 1986)

This book teaches/reminds children about proper manners by introducing ridiculous situations and then prompting children for the correct words to speak. For instance:

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?

Excuse me.

The repeated phrase "What do you say, dear?" (with the response on the following page) invites child readers/listeners to participate in the book and think up the correct answers for the increasingly absurd situations. A couple of the situations suggest violence (a gun appears in one, a kidnapped girl in another), which is my only issue keeping this from being a 5-star book.

The illustrations, in a muted palette of blue, gray, black and white, are notable for being the early work of famed author/illustrator Maurice Sendak. ( )

When prompted by a discussion in the Children's Books group I remembered this from my childhood. Funny.  Holds up well except for being just a bit sexist. Find it in your library before they cull it. ( )

33 months - O sits very still and listens intently but I don't know if she's really getting anything from this read or if she's in awe of the bizarre scenarios. Still a good read and lots of good manners displayed. ( )

I highly recommend this book to mothers of 4-6 year-olds. It's a hilarious way to teach (review) manners. ( )

This is a book teaches readers to be polite and some manners. The author offers many different and interesting situations to teach readers to use polite words in different situations. It is an interesting guide for readers of social behaviors. I will use this book to teach students to be polite.
Age: 6-9