Emily Post's The Guide to Good Manners for Kids

November 1, 2004
Emily Post's The Guide to Good Manners for Kids by Peggy Post and Cindy Post Senning (the coauthors are Emily Post's great-granddaughter-in-law and great-granddaughter) offers guidance even adults will appreciate, with age-old advice on attending weddings to contemporary etiquette on cell phone usage. The authors also suggest wording for invitations to a bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah, and explain events such as confirmation and quinceanera ("a Latino girl's fifteenth birthday") and offer ideas for small get-togethers, such as a picnic or slumber party. Pen-and-inks by Steve Bjokman liven up the proceedings. .

December 1, 2004
Gr 3-7-Post and Senning pinpoint the three main factors in etiquette as respect, consideration, and honesty. The book begins with a chapter on everyday life, which consists of thank yous and other written and spoken words, privacy, greetings and introductions, and techno-manners. The treatment of chat rooms, message boards, e-mail, pagers, and computers offers guidelines that protect users while facilitating positive, healthy interactions. Subsequent chapters take on family relations within the home, situations at school, social events, manners at the mall and concerts, hospital visits, religious events and weddings, and travel. Eating out, whether fast food or fine dining, is covered, as are funerals, taxis, and interacting with a person with a disability. The writing is clear, friendly, and sometimes clever, putting readers at ease and raising myriad possibilities through the use of "what if" scenarios, complete with possible dialogue and even multiple-choice answers. Lists of "Always and Nevers" provide quick reference for things like taking messages, making introductions, and borrowing personal items. "Sticky Situations" offers solutions to avoid embarrassment. The advice is consistently practical and simple, and is addressed to boys as well as girls ("Always put the toilet seat down"). Divorce or remarriage is treated compassionately, with specific suggestions for reacting honestly and considerately toward all parties. Simple sketch drawings adorn the text sporadically, offering humor but no additional information. A fine update to Elizabeth James and Carol Barkin's Social Smarts: Manners for Today's Kids (Clarion, 1996).-Joyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS

Copyright 2004 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2005
Gr. 4-7. Now more than ever, young people need to know about etiquette--the social glue that keeps modern life from becoming like an episode of " Survivor." Certainly this book has its heart in the right place. It outlines good manners at home, at school, at play, while visiting or traveling, and at weddings and other occasions (including funerals). The tone, however, is often prissy, and some of the events--a picnic at the beach, miniature golf, a luau--seem to be straight out of the 1950s rather than the twenty-first century. The chat and e-mail rules also seem a little out of touch with real technology, and cell-phone etiquette is handled bravely if not well. Necessary but not fun. Illustrated with line drawings.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)