What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that though this is a book on manners, it presents the gritty realism of kid behavior and puts a funny spin on it.

Families can talk about manners of course, and they can practice. They might also enjoy discussing the manners of different cultures and why different behaviors are acceptable in different places. As each page presents a new scene and a new story, parents can talk with kids about what is going on and why having manners might help the situation. What would happen, for instance, if people really ate like the kids in the pictures. Why does it help to use napkins and utensils rather than our hands? Why is it better not to smack, chomp, burp or talk with food in your mouth? They can practice phone manners and the proper way to meet new people. They can discuss how people act at the movies and why it is important to be quiet. And what about sportsmanship? Have spectators, players or coaches ever ruined one of their games with rude behavior? What would have been a better way to act?

Common Sense Media Review
Basically, the theme of WHOOPI'S BIG BOOK OF MANNERS is that knowing how to behave helps us all get along in the company of others. And this important message is told in language kids will appreciate and understand. Far from presenting a stiff set of rules that our heavy-handed grandmothers taught us, this book begins and ends with a reference to nose-picking and covers all the gritty ground in between.

People who are familiar with Whoopi Goldberg will hear her voice in its pages, especially in the explanation of the rules, and she sounds friendly. Kids will feel she is on their side. And, she covers some important issues that grandma never mentioned: behavior in theaters, the proper times to use a cell phone, and the importance of good sportsmanship. She even adds a section about how manners differ in different societies. For example, Asians greet people with a bow not a hand-shake and Italians kiss. A belch at a Korean table is a compliment, slurping soup in China is OK, and the Japanese do not eat while walking down the street.

A mixed-media presentation of googly-eyed comic-book kids with their googly-eyed pets, friends, and relations act out silly scenes that dramatize the various do's and don'ts. Some behaviors are a bit shocking, others just plain fun... but all work together to enforce Whoopi's message. "I gotta tell you:" she says, "everybody needs manners. Not because they're fancy. Just because people don't like to be around you if you don't have them. You know it's true."

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