Mind Your Manners BB Wolf

Amidst all his financial worries over the money he owes for settlements to various fairy tale characters, BB Wolf receives a welcome distraction in Judy Sierra's Mind Your Manners, B.B. Wolf.

The local librarian has invited the Big Bad Wolf to tea. Never having been to a formal tea he asks his best friend at the Villain Villa, the crocodile if he should go. After all, the wolf is not a fan of tea. The crocodile informs him one does not go for tea, but for the cookies. Before he heads off the crocodile gives him a list of rules to remember and the wolf creates a song as a memory technique.

The wolf is first thrown when he realizes that not only Red Riding Hood, but the Three Pigs, and several other characters he has hurt in the past are present. However, he holds on waiting for the cookies. His stomach starts to get upset after his third cup of tea and he forgets the rules regarding burping. He rushes to the computer to find a book on etiquette. He finds the word he seeks just in time as his burp nearly blows down the library. While the three pigs tease him and the gingerbread man flees in terror the librarian is impressed with his manners. She tests his will power once more when the only cookies she serves are gingerbread men. He refuses to eat them, but promises to return and tell her the real stories of the books she has on her table.

This was a cute Big Bad Wolf Story and it is part of a character series. The second book deals with telling the truth. It gets the message across in a cute way that will entertain children and perhaps even get them to remember the rules.

Grow Up Peter Pan!

In the early 1990's, Dr. Alvin Granowsky wrote a series of Point of View books for Steck-Vaughn Company. They were based on fairy tales and classic literature. I had only encountered the fairy tales when I was teaching. I recently came across some of the classic versions and the first of these was Peter Pan/Grow Up, Peter Pan!: A Classic Tale (Point of View) that I found in our library system.

These books have an interesting format. In this edition, the Peter Pan classic story is told in an abbreviated format if you hold the book in one direction. When you turn the book upside down and read it from the other direction, you get an alternate version of the story told from another character's perspective. Captain Hook tells the alternate story.

I would suggest reading the classic version of Peter Pan to get the full value of the story. The shorter version does leave something to be desired.

However, Hook's defense is remarkable. He claims he and his shipmates were running a legitimate business when they encountered Peter Pan. Hook offered Peter a chance to work, but Peter claimed he would never work for a living, which horrified the hard working Hook. Hook was further dismayed when he realized not only was Peter refusing to work, but he was kidnapping boys from their homes to join his crew. He continues to chronicle his misguided attempts to reform Peter and the Lost Boys. He claims he was greatly concerned that Peter would turn them to a life of crime. This is what he says eventually creates a confrontation between Peter and himself that results in his arm being eaten by the crocodile. Hook recounts that his lost leg and arm have left him reading the classics and tending his garden, hoping the authorities will get Peter into school and working.

This is a great companion read to Peter Pan. Children are often presented with boring compare and contrast exercises. Granowsky has provided a wonderful set of contrasting accounts for children to discuss and debate.