What Do You Say, Dear?

Rating:
Summary: This one is going back (and staying!) at the library
Review: I am so glad to find this book on Amazon.com! I believe this book went out of print for a few years and was near impossible to find. This was my favorite children's book as a little girl. I used to make my older sister read it over and over again (Actually, I was the little sister, so I couldn't make her. She's just a good big sister.) The illustrations by Maurice Sendak are great, and the story is very witty. However, children will still get a health dose of good manners. I can't recommend this book enough!

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book as a child!!!
Review: I am so glad to find this book on Amazon.com! I believe this book went out of print for a few years and was near impossible to find. This was my favorite children's book as a little girl. I used to make my older sister read it over and over again (Actually, I was the little sister, so I couldn't make her. She's just a good big sister.) The illustrations by Maurice Sendak are great, and the story is very witty. However, children will still get a health dose of good manners. I can't recommend this book enough!

Rating:
Summary: This is a hilarious book!
Review: I love this book I remember reading it over and over again as a child and now am getting it for my children to read. It is funny and cleaver and leaves me thinking of my childhood.

Rating:
Summary: A Unique and Witty guide to Manners
Review: I loved this book the moment I read it. Maurice Sendak's hilarious and wonderful illustrations are a perfect match with Joslin's words. Humor is a great way to help children remember lessons, and "What Do You Say, Dear" is filled with funny /memorable scenarios that you and your loved ones will never tire of reading over and over again.

(...)

Rating:
Summary: A Unique and Witty guide to Manners
Review: I loved this book the moment I read it. Maurice Sendak's hilarious and wonderful illustrations are a perfect match with Joslin's words. Humor is a great way to help children remember lessons, and "What Do You Say, Dear" is filled with funny /memorable scenarios that you and your loved ones will never tire of reading over and over again.

(...)

Rating:
Summary: This is the most memorable book from my childhood!
Review: I read this book in 1963 when I was 8 years old (for all you math wizards, yes, I'm 45) I was a voracious reader and this one book stands out above all the others as my most memorable read. I read it over and over and laughed just as much each time. I read it to anyone who would sit still for me and even now, when I hear some ask some insane question like "Would you like me to shoot you in the head?", I think back to my early training and say, "No thank you!" I credit this book for helping form my young personality and believe in all sincerity that I have the warped sense of humor that I do because of my exposure to this book. Get it, read it and then, if they are very polite, share it with your kids!

Rating:
Summary: This one is going back (and staying!) at the library
Review: This was a recommended book for my 2 year old son, so I was mildly surprised when I saw the dragon get it's head cut off, but then disturbed when the little boy is taunted with "shall I shoot a hole in your head?". I would never read such violent text to my 2 year old. And "tieing up a woman for my ship"?!

After reading all the rave reviews on this book from folks saying it brought back "such wonderful childhood memories of reading it over and over and over again..." -- I now see why violence is rampant in our society now. It brings a chuckle to these people, when it should make you shake your head in disbelief that this is still in unedited print for young children.

Sad.

Rating:
Summary: More than a mere reference guide for proper social etiquette
Review: Years after reading this book from cover to cover, over and over again as a child, I still smile when I think of the appropriate response to Bad Bart's inquiry "Would you like me to blow a hole in your head?" (A polite smile, and a simple "no, thank you!" as you ride off into the sunset...) The author presents one scenario after another of children in adult "dress up" trying on the roles of appropriate adult interaction in a surreal world of bad guys, bears, and top-hatted talking alligators, made even more interesting by the eccentric behaviors of the "adults" (walking backwards downtown, landing airplanes in parlors, and so forth). Somehow, it all made hilarious, yet deep and satisfying sense to me when I was a little girl. Sendak's illustrations are half the fun!