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Mr. Panda #1
Please, Mr. Panda
What is the proper way to ask Mr. Panda for doughnuts? Patiently and politely, Mr. Panda asks the animals he comes across if they would like a doughnut. A penguin, a skunk, and a whale all say yes, but they do not remember to say "please" and "thank you." Is anyone worthy of Mr. Panda's doughnuts?Steve Antony has captured a cute panda, delightful animals hungry for doughnuts, and a manners lesson. With the black-and-white animals, plain backgrounds, and brightly colored doughnuts, Antony's art is bold, striking, and engaging.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published December 27, 2014
23 people are currently reading
1476 people want to read
About the author
Steve Antony
53 books118 followersSince his 2014 debut, Steve Antony has so far written and illustrated over 20 picture books, including the Mr Panda series, The Queen Collection, Unplugged, Green Lizards Vs Red Rectangles, Amazing and You Can. Steve has been nominated seven times and long listed once for the Kate Greenaway Medal. The Queen's Hat was adapted into a musical concert by the London Symphony Orchestra and won the Evening Standard's Oscar's Book Prize. His award winning Mr Panda series has so far sold over one million copies worldwide and has been optioned for TV. Steve also illustrated Tim Minchin's When I Grow Up, a cover of the Famous Five and the all-new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (adapted by Peter Bently). He has contributed work to the LGBTQ+ Pride YA anthology and Drawing Europe Together.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 685 reviews
February 2, 2020
oh god this book is just wonderful. not only is it freaking adorable, but it is one of those children's books that teaches a Very Important Lesson about how being the one polite creature in a world full of rude animals gets you delicious rewards.
and how, at least between this book's covers, those rude animals will get nothing except sorrow and bewilderment.
an adorable panda has a box full of donuts to give away, but they're not for just any old animal - this panda has a healthy respect for good manners, and animals who are rude and grabby don't stand a chance.
and in his quest to find someone to give the donuts to, he will leave behind a trail of disappointment, and a particularly rude ostrich
until he is able to find one creature, a polite and enthusiastic lemur, whose good breeding is evident in the way he says "please."
it's the cutest thing ever, and i always appreciate a good lesson.
don't be an ostrich, people. be a lemur. always be a lemur.
come to my blog!
and how, at least between this book's covers, those rude animals will get nothing except sorrow and bewilderment.
an adorable panda has a box full of donuts to give away, but they're not for just any old animal - this panda has a healthy respect for good manners, and animals who are rude and grabby don't stand a chance.
and in his quest to find someone to give the donuts to, he will leave behind a trail of disappointment, and a particularly rude ostrich
until he is able to find one creature, a polite and enthusiastic lemur, whose good breeding is evident in the way he says "please."
it's the cutest thing ever, and i always appreciate a good lesson.
don't be an ostrich, people. be a lemur. always be a lemur.
come to my blog!
August 9, 2018
This book did not work for me. Panda’s friends don’t say please, so he takes back his offer of a doughnut. While yes, please is a polite response, I think real life has most people saying yes, taking a doughnut, and then saying thank you. Panda himself comes across as mannerless and haughty and certainly any opportunity to instill manners in his friends is lost in his bad behavior. I would not recommend this book as an example of good manners.
Want to read
May 1, 2016In our 2010 paper "What's the Magic Word?", the experimental evidence suggested that "fucking" is a more useful phrase than "please" when you're an Australian native speaker addressing a speech recognizer that has both words in its vocabulary. I look forward to reading Give Me a Fucking Doughnut, Mr. Panda.
June 28, 2015
UPDATE 06/27/2015: Upon reading this to actual children, I am bumping this up a star - from 3 stars to 4 stars. This book delighted children, who immediately began offering me treats and then gleefully snatching them back when I accepted, shouting "NO TREATS FOR YOU!!!" One particularly enthusiastic five-year-old got a hat (not like Panda's hat in the book, though, her's was more like a French beret), a tray (with Frozen characters on it), and of course a whole array of (plastic) sweets, treats and pastries that she could enthusiastically deny me.
Total win. We must have reenacted this book for a solid half hour. Of course, I was never Panda, always the hapless animal who was crying because she couldn't have any doughnuts.
...
"Would you like a doughnut?"
"Give me the pink one."
"No, you cannot have a doughnut, I have changed my mind."
A grumpy panda with a box of doughnuts offers them to various black-and-white animals. But when they accept, he refuses to give them any.
NOTES:
The book made no sense.
The ending made no sense.
I like the pictures.
P.S. Oh, a quick look at the blurb tells us that this book is supposed to be a lesson in manners. I did not get that AT ALL from the text and remained baffled throughout the whole book, thinking that Panda possibly had some sort of weird personality disorder that involved offering people doughnuts and then refusing to give them any. o.O I mean, the orca cries when Panda refuses to give him any doughnuts. HE CRIES. It's cruel.
Panda is supposed to be the "moral" guy here, who is pissed when people don't say 'please' or something, but he comes off as a huge jerk. :(
Total win. We must have reenacted this book for a solid half hour. Of course, I was never Panda, always the hapless animal who was crying because she couldn't have any doughnuts.
...
"Would you like a doughnut?"
"Give me the pink one."
"No, you cannot have a doughnut, I have changed my mind."
A grumpy panda with a box of doughnuts offers them to various black-and-white animals. But when they accept, he refuses to give them any.
NOTES:
The book made no sense.
The ending made no sense.
I like the pictures.
P.S. Oh, a quick look at the blurb tells us that this book is supposed to be a lesson in manners. I did not get that AT ALL from the text and remained baffled throughout the whole book, thinking that Panda possibly had some sort of weird personality disorder that involved offering people doughnuts and then refusing to give them any. o.O I mean, the orca cries when Panda refuses to give him any doughnuts. HE CRIES. It's cruel.
Panda is supposed to be the "moral" guy here, who is pissed when people don't say 'please' or something, but he comes off as a huge jerk. :(
December 30, 2014
This panda is a jerk! He goes around with a box of donuts and offers them to other animals but won't give them any when they say "yes" just because they didn't say, "please." If the animals had been asking him for the donuts, then the lesson in manners would make sense, but since the panda offers and then denies each one, it just makes him seem very rude. It ends with a lemur finally saying, "Yes, please" when asked if he would like one. The panda says, "You can have the whole box. I don't even like donuts".
Although the animals are fairly cute in an expressionless kind of way, their are no environments and the background is just grey, so there is little visual appeal.
Although the animals are fairly cute in an expressionless kind of way, their are no environments and the background is just grey, so there is little visual appeal.
January 16, 2015
Completely unrealistic. Everybody knows pandas don't eat doughnuts or wear hats. Also they probably don't care if someone says please or thank you; Im pretty sure all they give a shit about is bamboo. I'm giving this book 5 stars however based on the illustrations and the superb translation (given that obviously, Pandas only know how to speak Chinese. You could never tell!)
July 29, 2017
Some pandas have their own way of teaching you manners of saying "please" and "thank you".
Seems like this Mr. Panda had the ultimate way to do that.
I wish it had some twists in the end.
Seems like this Mr. Panda had the ultimate way to do that.
I wish it had some twists in the end.
February 6, 2018
Por que un simple "please" puede hacer la diferencia.
Este libro es adorable. Las imágenes son súper tiernas y lindas. Y la historia con todo y plot twist es genial.
Recomendado para alguien que necesite aprender de modales y para todo el mundo, porque obvio todos aman a los pandas. XD
Este libro es adorable. Las imágenes son súper tiernas y lindas. Y la historia con todo y plot twist es genial.
Recomendado para alguien que necesite aprender de modales y para todo el mundo, porque obvio todos aman a los pandas. XD
March 12, 2015
I'm not really sure how I feel about this book. It illustrates the importance of being polite, and the pictures are cute. At the same time, Mr. Panda is kind of a jerk. He's the one who offers everyone doughnuts in the first place. When something is offered, the recipients don't say please. They say thank you.
Here's how the interactions go in the book:
Mr. Panda: Would you like a doughnut?
Other Animal: Yes! I'll take this one.
Mr. Panda: No, you cannot have a doughnut. I have changed my mind.
Other Animal: ---?
Here's how the interaction usually goes in real life:
Mr. Panda: Would you like a doughnut?
Other Animal: Yes! I'll take this one.
*Other Animal reaches into the box and takes a doughnut*
Other Animal: Thank you!
So yeah...If there's a kid who really needs a lesson on when to say Please...well, skip this one. Try Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners instead.
Here's how the interactions go in the book:
Mr. Panda: Would you like a doughnut?
Other Animal: Yes! I'll take this one.
Mr. Panda: No, you cannot have a doughnut. I have changed my mind.
Other Animal: ---?
Here's how the interaction usually goes in real life:
Mr. Panda: Would you like a doughnut?
Other Animal: Yes! I'll take this one.
*Other Animal reaches into the box and takes a doughnut*
Other Animal: Thank you!
So yeah...If there's a kid who really needs a lesson on when to say Please...well, skip this one. Try Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners instead.
February 3, 2017
Judging by the reviews of those who have shared this with children, the target audience and I agree that this is effective, and funny. I have long preached that Please and Thank You are *not* "magic" words; they are *polite* words. (After all, you don't always get what you say Please for, but of course you won't get it if you don't say please! And besides, magic isn't real.) This book suits me, and I will try to find its companions.
Btw, I wonder why I don't see others noting the artistic motif. I noticed right away that all the animals are black & white, and other than beaks and the eyes of the polite lemur, the only thing colorful is the box of donuts.
Fortunately the donuts are so garish they don't appeal, and I'm not fighting a craving to break my diet....
Btw, I wonder why I don't see others noting the artistic motif. I noticed right away that all the animals are black & white, and other than beaks and the eyes of the polite lemur, the only thing colorful is the box of donuts.
Fortunately the donuts are so garish they don't appeal, and I'm not fighting a craving to break my diet....
March 21, 2019
I think this is one of the stupidest picture books I've come across recently. The main issue is, the animals aren't asking for doughnuts. Mr. Panda is asking if they'd like one. If they're not sufficiently polite in their response, he gets passive aggressive (and rude), turns his back on them, and says they can't have one! He even makes the whale cry.
The pictures are kind of disturbing. Mr. Panda has no affect. He looks bored the whole time he's playing these mind games. I suspect he might be a sociopath.
Look, saying "please" and "thank you" are polite, and if the animals had encountered Mr. Panda and his box of doughnuts and said, "Give me one right now!", he might've been justified in refusing. But the fact that he offered, and then reneged on the offer when the response didn't meet his own unknowable threshold for politeness, just makes him look rude. (If this were a book for adults, I would suspect that might be the point. You know, an ironic statement about the people who demand etiquette but don't show much themselves. Sadly, I think this book is just a poorly conceived, preachy children's book.)
This just isn't a very good book, either in concept or execution. Preachy to the point of pathological, Mr. Panda should take his doughnuts and--well, at the risk of sounding impolite--shove 'em.
The pictures are kind of disturbing. Mr. Panda has no affect. He looks bored the whole time he's playing these mind games. I suspect he might be a sociopath.
Look, saying "please" and "thank you" are polite, and if the animals had encountered Mr. Panda and his box of doughnuts and said, "Give me one right now!", he might've been justified in refusing. But the fact that he offered, and then reneged on the offer when the response didn't meet his own unknowable threshold for politeness, just makes him look rude. (If this were a book for adults, I would suspect that might be the point. You know, an ironic statement about the people who demand etiquette but don't show much themselves. Sadly, I think this book is just a poorly conceived, preachy children's book.)
This just isn't a very good book, either in concept or execution. Preachy to the point of pathological, Mr. Panda should take his doughnuts and--well, at the risk of sounding impolite--shove 'em.
January 13, 2015
Aha! The peril of NOT using your manners very aptly illustrated (though is it me or does Mr. Panda look rather grumpy? Maybe it is just all the animals forgetting to say please that bums him out?)
Poor surly Mr. Panda, I rather think he is in the wrong business. He shouldn't be working with the public.
Poor surly Mr. Panda, I rather think he is in the wrong business. He shouldn't be working with the public.
March 13, 2016
I identified with the orca in this book because I too would be rude about donuts and then cry if they were taken away.
December 26, 2021
A riveting account of my two favorite hobbies: handing people items and taking them away.
January 10, 2015
This book is so adorable and quirky! I think the humor and lack of too many words on each page would make it a hit with preschoolers.
December 9, 2024
A rude panda rewards good manners. Panda paradox?
I get the purpose of etiquette, but why is the teaching of it often so spiteful or ill-mannered?
I get the purpose of etiquette, but why is the teaching of it often so spiteful or ill-mannered?
March 12, 2015
Mr. Panda is cute. But he's also a meanie.
Maybe I just don't get it. I think this is supposed to be a message book, teaching kids to say please when they want something. But I find Mr. Panda more rude than all the animals who forget to say the secret word.
To get specific: (I'm about to spoil the book, fair warning if you haven't read it) Mr. Panda goes around offering animals doughnuts. When they don't say they want one PLEASE, he takes back his offer and tells them they may not have any doughnuts. What?!?
I guess it's okay to be a jerk if others don't live up to your high standards. Or maybe it's a modern tale illustrating how arbitrary life can be. But I think Mr. Panda should do a little self-examination before he goes around judging everyone else. That's the real lesson I'm hoping kids can take from this book.
Maybe I just don't get it. I think this is supposed to be a message book, teaching kids to say please when they want something. But I find Mr. Panda more rude than all the animals who forget to say the secret word.
To get specific: (I'm about to spoil the book, fair warning if you haven't read it) Mr. Panda goes around offering animals doughnuts. When they don't say they want one PLEASE, he takes back his offer and tells them they may not have any doughnuts. What?!?
I guess it's okay to be a jerk if others don't live up to your high standards. Or maybe it's a modern tale illustrating how arbitrary life can be. But I think Mr. Panda should do a little self-examination before he goes around judging everyone else. That's the real lesson I'm hoping kids can take from this book.
July 27, 2016
I really wanted to like this book...more than I think I actually ended up liking it. I see what it's trying to do with teaching about manners; however, I actually thought Panda just ended up seeming mean about it. I wish he had done more to try to teach the other animals about using polite manners, by being polite himself, so I'm torn.
October 4, 2022
It isn't possible that I should walk by a picture book about pandas, penguins, or cats without giving it a close look. This one includes a lemur, which is pure bonus points. I don't care much for picture books that have a MORAL, but this doesn't read like that at all. Fun art, cute doughnuts, and a snippy panda. It's good.
library copy
library copy
February 8, 2015
Mr. Panda is rude while trying to teach his friends about manners.....strange. I think it was a good idea. But Panda probably should have had good manners while teaching about manners.
Read
August 3, 2025Read this with my nephew. Truly did not pick up on the fact that the story is about saying please and thank you. I just thought the panda was a jerk for rescinding his offer of doughnuts.
February 19, 2015
There seems to be a controversy brewing about Please Mr. Panda by Steve Anthony! This is kind of shocking since this books seems to be simply a book to teach children to use “please” and “thank you”. Mr. Panda in this story withholds his colorful doughnuts from all animals who do not use those words. I can remember when I grew up, I heard a lot of parents ask “What are the magic” words in order to prompt their children to say the words.
Aside from that controversy, the illustrations are wonderful. There is a gray background to all the pictures but that helps children focus on what is happening in the story. The penguin says “Give me the pink one”. I really like that because I have always hated it when people, children or not say “Give me”!
The lemur already knows what to say. He doesn’t have to be prompted. This is when I wish I had a child here to see what they thought of this book. But I don’t. I love that Mr. Panda is giving away the doughnuts because he does not like doughnuts. That was fun. You remember that pandas only eat bamboo. But is it fair for Mr. Panda to withdraw the doughnuts when “please” and “thank you” are not said?
There is another way at looking at this. It makes a great opportunity for discussion with children. I think this book goes deeper than manners!
I received this as a pick from Amazon Vine in exchange for a fair review. That did not influence my thoughts or feelings about this book.
Aside from that controversy, the illustrations are wonderful. There is a gray background to all the pictures but that helps children focus on what is happening in the story. The penguin says “Give me the pink one”. I really like that because I have always hated it when people, children or not say “Give me”!
The lemur already knows what to say. He doesn’t have to be prompted. This is when I wish I had a child here to see what they thought of this book. But I don’t. I love that Mr. Panda is giving away the doughnuts because he does not like doughnuts. That was fun. You remember that pandas only eat bamboo. But is it fair for Mr. Panda to withdraw the doughnuts when “please” and “thank you” are not said?
There is another way at looking at this. It makes a great opportunity for discussion with children. I think this book goes deeper than manners!
I received this as a pick from Amazon Vine in exchange for a fair review. That did not influence my thoughts or feelings about this book.
January 28, 2019
A grumpy Mr. Panda offers a series of animals his delicious-looking doughnuts in this picture-book from British author/artist Steve Antony, only to change his mind, when creature after creature doesn't respond as politely as he would like. Finally, an enthusiastic lemur says the magic word, and our ursine hero rewards him with the entire box. Apparently Mr. Panda doesn't like doughnuts...
I have rather mixed feelings about Please, Mr. Panda, which I found visually charming, but rather unsatisfactory in other ways. The artwork, featuring black and white creatures and vividly colorful doughnuts, is immensely engaging. Antony captures Mr. Panda's grumpiness perfectly, and his depictions of the various animals' expressions, before and after they are offered and then denied the treat, are skillful. The decorative endpapers, featuring those colorful doughnuts, are mouth-watering! That said, I was troubled by the implication that when people fail to live up to our expectations with regard to courtesy, that the appropriate response is to be discourteous in return. Of the two things - failing to say please when offered something, and offering something, only to retract it - it seems to me that the latter is the worse infraction, as it is done deliberately. I have seen this book praised for teaching manners, but it seems to me that the lesson is a flawed one. Still, the artwork is adorable, and is for that that I would recommend it.
I have rather mixed feelings about Please, Mr. Panda, which I found visually charming, but rather unsatisfactory in other ways. The artwork, featuring black and white creatures and vividly colorful doughnuts, is immensely engaging. Antony captures Mr. Panda's grumpiness perfectly, and his depictions of the various animals' expressions, before and after they are offered and then denied the treat, are skillful. The decorative endpapers, featuring those colorful doughnuts, are mouth-watering! That said, I was troubled by the implication that when people fail to live up to our expectations with regard to courtesy, that the appropriate response is to be discourteous in return. Of the two things - failing to say please when offered something, and offering something, only to retract it - it seems to me that the latter is the worse infraction, as it is done deliberately. I have seen this book praised for teaching manners, but it seems to me that the lesson is a flawed one. Still, the artwork is adorable, and is for that that I would recommend it.
September 15, 2015
Yeah, Please, Mr. Panda is pretty terrible. The premise is that a panda has a bunch of donuts. He goes around offering them to other animals, but he doesn't actually give them away (despite not liking donuts) until somebody says please.
But he's offering them. He's saying, "Would you like a donut?" It's true that we often teach kids more manners than adults use (Louis CK had a comment about this . . . ), but I think that Mr. Panda is actually pretty rude. A "thank you" would certainly suffice in this situation, and I don't see the point of teaching children that it's okay to be rude to somebody if you think they weren't the exact right amount of polite to you first.
Treat others as you'd like to be treated; do not treat others how they treat you. Mr. Panda should learn some manners.
But he's offering them. He's saying, "Would you like a donut?" It's true that we often teach kids more manners than adults use (Louis CK had a comment about this . . . ), but I think that Mr. Panda is actually pretty rude. A "thank you" would certainly suffice in this situation, and I don't see the point of teaching children that it's okay to be rude to somebody if you think they weren't the exact right amount of polite to you first.
Treat others as you'd like to be treated; do not treat others how they treat you. Mr. Panda should learn some manners.
February 18, 2015
The illustrations are wonderful. Mr. Panda is emotive and his companions are equally so when Panda refuses their requests or demands for his doughnuts. Spoiler - I know its silly, but in a story that is about encouraging kids to say please - it doesn't fit that the Panda only wants to give them away because he doesn't liek them.
December 28, 2014
Mr. Panda won't share his donuts with anyone who doesn't say "please" or "thank you." He's a little obnoxious about, it, though, in my opinion. I'm not sure I'd use this book to teach young children to be polite.
January 14, 2015
I am going to buy this for myself. This is basically how I would hand out donuts. Henceforth I would like to be known as Mr. Panda. Teaches an important lesson in such a cute way. (Especially if you have noticed a seed of snarkyness in your child)
April 30, 2015
I love pandas and I love food, so I was really excited to see a panda holding food on the cover. However, when I read through the story, my first impression was that it was just a jerk teasing other animals with doughnuts by offering them the doughnuts then denying them. When I read through it again, only then did I realize it was about teaching kids manners.
It's a good idea, but the snobby-looking panda is hard to appreciate or love. Perhaps the panda is simply a bone dry stickler, and if he is, I accept that because there are different types of personalities in the world, but I will not be purchasing this book.
It's a good idea, but the snobby-looking panda is hard to appreciate or love. Perhaps the panda is simply a bone dry stickler, and if he is, I accept that because there are different types of personalities in the world, but I will not be purchasing this book.
November 5, 2018
I think we read this at least 15 times the first day we read it. Loves when the lemur enters the story!
July 2, 2016
This book is about thirty pages of NO and DON'T BOTHER. It does not live up to its potential, and is very disappointing. The illustrations are adorable, there aren't too many words per page, which makes it great for story time. However, Mr. Panda is a straight up jerk. He walks around offering donuts to the other animals, but then when they accept, he refuses to give them up and moves on. What kind of bull is this?!?!?!? This story makes no sense whatsoever and if it's aim is to teach small children manners, well I think it fails.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 685 reviews