Dear Mr. Rogers, Does It Ever Rain in Your Neighborhood?

June 1, 1996
TV's incomparable but--he stoutly hopes--"imitable" Mister Rogers once more shares his skill at communicating to young children, this time by publishing children's letters to him, adults' letters about their children, and his responses to them. He arrays them in chapters entitled with phrases that reflect the kinds of questions ("Are you real?" "Do you have a job?" etc.) and childhood concerns ("Sometimes it's hard to behave," "My brother copies everything I do," etc.) that letter writers most often present to him. His replies are characteristically gentle and authoritative. He encourages children to speak about their feelings and what is on their minds, and he counsels parents to listen and respond truthfully and appropriately to their child's age and temperament. Quite often, he uses the lyrics of a song from "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" to make his point in a manner that faithful viewers will recognize. In short, this is a book of modeling for parents, although one that carefully brings forth many adult correspondents to Mister Rogers who are as caring and warmheartedly canny with young children as he is. ((Reviewed June 1 & 15, 1996))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1996, American Library Association.)