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Don't Do That!: A Child's Guide to Bad Manners, Ridiculous Rules and Inadequate Ettiquette
It’s Miss Manners for kids–as only Barry Louis Polisar could write it!! This funny and fun loving guide to misbehaving properly is perfect for introducing kids to manners because the examples are totally absurd. Topics “How to Play with your Food,” “Family Trips and Riding in the Car” and much more. Kids get the ideas and enlightened adults will see right through them to the warm-hearted sense underneath. Already a classic! A witty and hilarious book by the author whom Tom Lehrer described as “a delightfully subversive antidote to Mr. Rogers.”
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 12, 2012
For parents looking to invoke better manners in their tween-age children, this book is, ahem, not for you. If your looking to have fun with your child, or looking for a way to get a 10-13 year old reluctant reader to enjoy the rewards of a humorous book, then this might just be the book you are looking for. Don't Do That!, is a funny tongue-in-cheek look at everything from table manners to nose etiquette, as well as sage advice for "What to do when your parents do dumb things."
December 31, 2009
I loved it! Taught me everything I know.
February 2, 2020
Super funny!
July 23, 2015
Don't do that! : A Child's Guide To Bad Manners, Ridiculous Rules, And Inadequate Etiquette by Polisar, Barry Louis (Children's Library.org)
•
Category/genre- Picture Book
Estimate of age of level of interest- Grades 3-6
Estimate reading level
• 5.9
• Lexile Measure: NA
• Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Level: NA
Brief description
Polisar notes in his book that everyone needs rules but for now pay attention to just one of them, "don't take yourself too seriously!" (Polisar, 1986 p.33) In this humorous and zany book, Polisar uses paradoxical intention to point out all of the "bad" mannered things youngsters do from picking their nose to annoying their siblings and pretending they don't know their parents in public. Exaggerated full page cartoon-like illustrations take up the entire left hand panel of each open page with text on the right, making the book even more fun with the appearance of a "real" etiquette book. Lots of laughs!
Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and subgenre and discuss how they appear in your book
In a picture book, the message is conveyed equally through picture and word. (Huck, p. 65)
Polisar uses a technique of balancing the open page with a full color cartoon-like illustration on the left page and text on the right page to emphasize the "etiquette skill" being shared. This is quite effective and adds to the humorous approach the author is taking.
Choosing artistic conventions. (Huck p. 70)
Illustrations are cartoons which really work for the look and feel the author is after- fun and humor. The exaggerated illustrations emphasize each point the author is making and draw the reader to the picture first which introduces the "lesson to be learned".
In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?
As a book of humor, children of all ages will love to read this. Children love to laugh and, as concrete thinkers, any way you can reframe their behavior by pointing out they should do what they know they should not do becomes hilarious. Polisar turns the world of the child upside down to not only get them to laugh but to think as well.
Awards, if any
• none
Links to published reviews
School Library Journal August 1995
http://search.proquest.com/docview/21...
•
Category/genre- Picture Book
Estimate of age of level of interest- Grades 3-6
Estimate reading level
• 5.9
• Lexile Measure: NA
• Fountas & Pinnell Guided Reading Level: NA
Brief description
Polisar notes in his book that everyone needs rules but for now pay attention to just one of them, "don't take yourself too seriously!" (Polisar, 1986 p.33) In this humorous and zany book, Polisar uses paradoxical intention to point out all of the "bad" mannered things youngsters do from picking their nose to annoying their siblings and pretending they don't know their parents in public. Exaggerated full page cartoon-like illustrations take up the entire left hand panel of each open page with text on the right, making the book even more fun with the appearance of a "real" etiquette book. Lots of laughs!
Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and subgenre and discuss how they appear in your book
In a picture book, the message is conveyed equally through picture and word. (Huck, p. 65)
Polisar uses a technique of balancing the open page with a full color cartoon-like illustration on the left page and text on the right page to emphasize the "etiquette skill" being shared. This is quite effective and adds to the humorous approach the author is taking.
Choosing artistic conventions. (Huck p. 70)
Illustrations are cartoons which really work for the look and feel the author is after- fun and humor. The exaggerated illustrations emphasize each point the author is making and draw the reader to the picture first which introduces the "lesson to be learned".
In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?
As a book of humor, children of all ages will love to read this. Children love to laugh and, as concrete thinkers, any way you can reframe their behavior by pointing out they should do what they know they should not do becomes hilarious. Polisar turns the world of the child upside down to not only get them to laugh but to think as well.
Awards, if any
• none
Links to published reviews
School Library Journal August 1995
http://search.proquest.com/docview/21...
July 2, 2011
Publisher: Rainbow Morning Music ,distributed ... by Independent Publishers Group, p1994, c1994
ISBN-13: 978-0-938663-20-1
Illustrator: Clark, David
Viewed via International Children's Digital Library:
www.childrenslibrary.org/
Genre: Nonfiction
Subjects: Etiquette.
Interest Level: 3-6
Reading Level: 5.9
This looks like something out of a mild MAD Magazine or Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. Over-the-top examples of bad manners and etiquette, "...never eat food off the floor especially if it has been stepped on..." encourage children (and adults) to recognize good manners and behavior.
Table Manners, Proper Ways to Play with Your Food and New Foods and Ways to Avoid Eating Them name just a few of the topics discussed in "Don't do that."
Viewed via International Children's Digital Library, although also available through Follett.
Reviews & Awards
Publishers Weekly
School Library Journal 08/01/95
ISBN-13: 978-0-938663-20-1
Illustrator: Clark, David
Viewed via International Children's Digital Library:
www.childrenslibrary.org/
Genre: Nonfiction
Subjects: Etiquette.
Interest Level: 3-6
Reading Level: 5.9
This looks like something out of a mild MAD Magazine or Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. Over-the-top examples of bad manners and etiquette, "...never eat food off the floor especially if it has been stepped on..." encourage children (and adults) to recognize good manners and behavior.
Table Manners, Proper Ways to Play with Your Food and New Foods and Ways to Avoid Eating Them name just a few of the topics discussed in "Don't do that."
Viewed via International Children's Digital Library, although also available through Follett.
Reviews & Awards
Publishers Weekly
School Library Journal 08/01/95
January 9, 2012
liked all the pictures of the family..liked the book too..
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews