A book that tells kids about manners and how and why we use them. Ages 3-7 ( )

A Child’s Book of Manners is an old book my mom had found way before I was born and I feel that this book is fairly outdated. For example, one page requests “If you want to leave the table, ask, ‘May I be excused?’ If Mother or Father says ‘Yes’ answer ‘Thank You’”. While I think that manners should not become a thing of the past, this book may need a little updating of some text and illustrations. From a multicultural perspective I found it alarming that there is only one person of color featured in the entire book and the majority of the children illustrated were blond, white, and boys. Some more diversity is need in this book to give a better representation for children. Additionally, out of nowhere at the end of this book I was surprise to see a switch to mannerisms for religion. This shifts the books point from learning good manners to behave well because Jesus wants you to. I think manners are good to teach in a classroom setting but I would not use this particular book. ( )