How to Be: Six Simple Rules for Being the Best Kid You Can Be

PreS-Gr 3—Perhaps best known as the author and illustrator of The Story of Ferdinand, Leaf also wrote several beloved guides on proper behavior and manners. Four of his guides, originally published over 50 years ago, are abridged and collected in this attractive volume. Accompanied by naive-style, stick-figure illustrations, the book opens with Leaf's "Six Best Rules for Getting Along in Life." Most adults will be pleased to see that these include being honest, fair, healthy, polite, friendly, and wise. Some of the advice is age-old and has weathered the test of time quite well, such as admonitions against stealing and cheating and suggestions to share and take turns while playing with others. Other aspects will ring a sour note with many modern readers, such as the use of the term Eskimo or the description of a bully as "a stupid person." Students of children's literature and sociology, and those interested in changes in cultural mores and attitudes toward children over the last century will likely be intrigued by this collection of popular mid-century manners guides.—Kiera Parrott, School Library Journal