Trying to teach your kids good manners this season by threatening to tell Santa or the Elf on the Shelf about certain transgressions? There are year-round alternatives.
Has anyone out there read a charming little book titled, “Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf”? We stumbled onto it at the Main Library about six months ago. The author is Judy Sierra and the illustrator is J. Otto Siebold (of “Olive the Other Reindeer” fame). Knopf is the publisher.
Cover Art for "Mind Your Manners, B. B. Wolf"
With an erosion in our society’s discourse, it seems a greater challenge now than ever to teach children manners, particularly when the example of many adults is less than exemplary. We also live in a culture that has been labeled by some child specialists as one that smacks of too much parental involvement, a.k.a., “helicopter parents,” those who delay the ability of their children to learn how to make good decisions, whether or not it concerns personal interactions, behavior or future goals.
Named a top book for first-graders, “Mind Your Manners, B. B. Wolf,” places the legendary fairy tale character, the Big Bad Wolf, living at the Villain Villa Senior Center in relative ease, yet all he ever receives in the mail are bills for such items as the dry cleaning of a red hooded cape. One day, he receives an invitation to attend the local library’s Annual Storybook Tea. Having never been invited to such an event, B. B. doesn’t know what to do, whether to go, or not? After a visit with his good friend Crocodile, they decide he should attend, but not before brushing up on his etiquette. The rest of the story allows children to think about manners, rumors and reputations. From what I gather, some schools are attaching a nice lesson plan to this great book. My three-year-old delights in the song B. B. sings and in his extra-vigilant “Excuse me!”
Here’s hoping the book plants some seeds for good manners with our children–and with a few adults.
Tags: b. b. wolf, book, christmas gifts, manners, mind your manners
A pastor on leave and wife of U.S. congressman Vic Snyder, Betsy is the mother to a toddler son and infant triplets.
Oh I will have to try that one! Big sis does pretty good with manners like thank you and your welcome. But she is beginnig to forget please and there is a lot more “discussion” of what some might consider “talking back” going on as she tests her limits. We are always looking for good books that she would enjoy – and that teach valuable lessons.