What Do You Say, Dear?

My friends and I read this I-don’t-know-how-many times in the media center at school.  And not just when we were little. “What Do You Say, Dear?” (penned by Sesyle Joslin, and illustrated by Maurice Sendak) is a great book that I will still like when I am 97.5 years old, and older. It’s hilarious, and at the same time it is teaching you something–manners! Well, I guess we all better learn them at some point, huh? Say you have just gotten married, and are looking forward to a nice long life with your true love. But first…you are starving. What do you say, dear? “Could you please pass the cake?” of course! This and more are just inside this little book, which is written with humor and imagination. Perhaps some parents would have a problem with the little bit about a cowboy, in which someone comes up to you with a gun and asks you if you would like them to shoot you in the head. (Obviously, you say “no, thank you”) But I don’t. Have a problem with it, I mean. Little kids run into violence in cartoons, movies, etc. This book is a winner. It’s a very fun way to teach kids manners! And I wouldn’t be surprised if a parent read it to themselves once or twice, just for the heck of it.

P.S. I don’t know if any of you have heard about this yet, but April 23, 2012 is World Book Night. This is an event in which people across the U.S.A. will each give away 20 books in their communities: In a mall, a park, or any number of other places! The idea is to encourage reading and, hopefully, make some new readers. (So you should probably not give books away in libraries or bookstores, or give them to people who are already holding them.) You can read more about this and sign up on the great website, and I hope you participate! I sure hope to.