Customer Reviews

D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners (Arthur)

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am a big fan of Marc Brown books. I have always enjoyed the messages that he communicates to his young audiences. I'm including him as an author in my annual Author Study in my school library. However, I was a bit taken aback when I saw that the words "poopy", "doo-doo head" and "fart" were included in the text. I believe that these crass words could have been addressed in a more polished manner. I never would think that I would have to really preview the entire text of a Marc Brown book before reading it to my first graders.

When I opened Marc Brown's D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners, 2006, I was expecting the same "say please and thank you" drill. The book does cover familiar ground as D.W. strives to be perfect for one day, at home and at school, following a dare from her brother, Arthur.

The familiarity of the Arthur franchise "helps the medicine go down" but there are some fun bits too, especially coming from D.W.

"I pick up my toys to make my room perfect. I can even make my own bed. You can too. It's no big deal--and, besides, it freaks out your parents...in a good way!"


The book works very well as a read aloud. This will be the money line:

"Perfect people say "I'm sorry"if they mess up or if they hurt someone. They don't say mean words like "shut-up," "poopy" or"doo-doo head," even when bad things happen."


We all know the word "UNDERWEAR" is the funniest work in the English language to an elementary age kid but "poopy" is right up there too.

There is an "Are you perfect yet?" test at the end of the book. The lowest score rates a "You need a lot of work. Please read my book again."

My 2.5 yr son loves D.W. books. I've bought several for him and he loves them all. His favorate (and also mine) is D.W.'s guide to preschool. I think it helped him adapt to preschool life. I didn't find the link to review that one so I'll just comment here. I think D.W.'s guide to preschool and D.W.'s guide to perfect manners have better pics and printing quality than the other books in D.W. series.

This is a horrible book for young children to read. I have a big problem with DW trying to be "perfect." Statements such as "The first thing need to do to be perfect is to look perfect" have no place in children's books. Children need to know that it is ok if they spill their drink or cry, and this book tells the opposite. I grew up with Marc Brown books, however I would never want my children to read this book.

My daughters 2 favorite DW books are this one and Dws guide to Pre School. A must have for all DW fans!

Marc Brown is the bestselling author and illustrator of the Arthur Adventure book series. His newest series introduces Arthur's little sister D.W. in D.W.'s Guide to Preschool and D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners.

Arthur dares his sister D.W. to be perfect for one entire day in D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners. Perfect involves the do's and don'ts of good manners. C.W. is enthusiastic, and accepts the challenge, has fun with it and teaches herself and others some valuable lessons.

D.W.'s day is one where she consciously decides to be helpful and polite. She strives to follow rules, hug those she loves, be respectful, help friends and family, smiles, says please and thank you and hello and good-bye, or excuse me.

D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners is a delightful book. It's educational and informative but also a lot of fun. C.W. has a quick wit that will make children and adults smile. It's written in a manner that will draw children into the concept and they will have fun practicing common courtesy.

Armchair Interviews says: Every family will benefit from Brown's D.W.'s guide to Perfect Manners.

Excellent book, beautifully illustrated. After reading the book to my 4 year old, she's becoming aware of the importance of being polite. Now, if I can only get her to say "excuse me" correctly--in time, I'm sure. I highly recommend this book. It's a fun, educational read. It quickly became her favorite!

In "D.W.'s Guide to Perfect Manners" (also known as "D.W.'s Guide to Being Perfect"), D.W.'s brother, Arthur, challenges her to be perfect for just one day. Of course, D.W. already knows how to be perfect --- she just doesn't always act that way.

In this book, we see that being "perfect" means being considerate of others --- at least most of the time. With trademark humor, D.W. suggests that it's a good idea to wash your hands before you eat --- because if you have a brother like hers, you might have "cooties!"

The back cover comes with a manners checklist and the final page of the book is a manners test to see if the reader is "perfect" yet. D.W. urges readers that if they're not perfect yet --- they can always read her book again --- not that they won't to anyway! The illustrations are wonderful as always --- full-page and vibrantly colored. There's also plenty going on to hold the interest of the reader.