I say please and thank you Lift-the-flap manners

This manners book for young children includes the basics, of course, with some more unusual but helpful suggestions, too. Each double-page spread shows a child in a situation that calls for a particular response; a flap on the right-hand page, when opened, provides it: "If I step on someone's foot, I say... [flap opens] 'I'm sorry,'" with the illustration showing a little ballerina apologizing to a large ostrich in ballet shoes. Isadora uses expressive pen-and-ink lines together with watercolors against white backgrounds, with lots of yellow and pink making each page cheery and energetic. The book is neatly square, with thick pages and with flaps that are carefully folded so the pictures line up perfectly. Humor shines throughout, as when a birthday package bounces across the page with what clearly are bunny limbs and ears sticking out. Parents and children alike should appreciate the spread devoted to a very common, if rarely addressed in polite company, situation: "I farted. So I say...'Pardon me.'" A final spread has flaps on both sides, with many of the characters greeting a child and dog arriving home in a striped hot-air balloon, saying, "It's great to see you again!" With lots of opportunities for children to notice things in pictures and to make predictions about what happens next, this is both entertaining and useful in helping them learn what's expected. Susan Dove Lempke November/December 2021 p.75(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.