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It's a Spoon, Not a Shovel
Are your manners monstrous? Or marvelous?
Victor Vulture, Crocodila Jones, and their friends demonstrate the right -- and wrong -- things to say and do in this humorous guide to proper manners. The correct answer to each manners question is hidden in the picture.
With hilarious artwork and many hidden animals to challenge sharp-eyed readers, this is a fun -- and surprising -- way to learn manners.
Victor Vulture, Crocodila Jones, and their friends demonstrate the right -- and wrong -- things to say and do in this humorous guide to proper manners. The correct answer to each manners question is hidden in the picture.
With hilarious artwork and many hidden animals to challenge sharp-eyed readers, this is a fun -- and surprising -- way to learn manners.
40 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
October 29, 2014
Wonderful way to teach children the basics about manners and proper etiquette.
May 15, 2019
A fun book for talking about manners (I think this won or was nominated for a Beehive Award). Each page has a situation, and a multiple choice list of answers of how to respond. Some of the answers are pretty goofy/obviously not the right answer, which is where the humor comes in to play. The pictures are really detailed, and some of the scenarios are a bit intricate, so maybe for kids older than preschool.
December 7, 2018
Interactive lessons about manners beats lecturing. However, not for one second are kids fooled by the multiple choice format. “You are supposed to choose the polite answer,” one kiddo told a bystander. The other choices are just funny.
September 14, 2018
Fun book in quiz format.
February 20, 2020
I will have to give this another read when I'm older since I don't understand the quiz format of this book. I did, however, learn a lot about manners.
November 26, 2022
This book is a multiple-choice quiz about manners. It's silly and adorable and such a fun way to teach and review these important skills with kids!
October 29, 2014
This book kept the attention of my 7-year-old for the first few pages but then he became bored.
Each page tells a short sentence or story, then asks a question and has a choice of answers. Your child chooses the answer and searches the picture to find the letter that matches the answer.
Example:
When Victor Vulture arrives late at the feast, he should say: A) "Move it, Buzzard!" B) "Excuse me." C) "Martians are green." You then search the picture of the Vultures having a picnic on the road in the desert and find a small "b" in the shape of a cactus.
Another example:
Baby Timmy Snaptooth has his napkin tucked under his chin. When he has swallowed the last juicy morsel, he wipes his hands and mouth on his napkin and places it neatly on the table. Timmy has shown himself to be: A) Courteous, thoughtful, and well trained. B)Finished. C) Both a & b. The photo shows Mom, Dad, and Timmy Turtle eating dinner on the pond. You search until you find the letter "c" in mothers hair.
Each page tells a short sentence or story, then asks a question and has a choice of answers. Your child chooses the answer and searches the picture to find the letter that matches the answer.
Example:
When Victor Vulture arrives late at the feast, he should say: A) "Move it, Buzzard!" B) "Excuse me." C) "Martians are green." You then search the picture of the Vultures having a picnic on the road in the desert and find a small "b" in the shape of a cactus.
Another example:
Baby Timmy Snaptooth has his napkin tucked under his chin. When he has swallowed the last juicy morsel, he wipes his hands and mouth on his napkin and places it neatly on the table. Timmy has shown himself to be: A) Courteous, thoughtful, and well trained. B)Finished. C) Both a & b. The photo shows Mom, Dad, and Timmy Turtle eating dinner on the pond. You search until you find the letter "c" in mothers hair.
June 5, 2010
Great way to talk about manners. Each spread has a multiple choice question and the letter of the correct answer is hidden in the picture. Some are really hard so I'm glad I checked out each page first so I could help. There are other little things hidden in each picture, but I couldn't find any reference to whether they all had the same things hidden in each or not. I found lots of bunnies and dinosaurs though my son didn't seem to.
August 10, 2016
All about good manners. Every page has an easy multiple choice quiz for the child to choose the appropriate behavior/response. If the answer was "A" then the letter "A" would be hidden on the given page. This would have been a good one-on-one read with a child when I had time for them to leisurely look for the respective answer.
November 20, 2012
I do this at Thanksgiving time with some of the classes. It's a humorous way to discuss manners in a multiple-choise quiz format. All but one of the answers for each question are zany, some laugh out loud silly. This also provides practice in taking turns as they hunt for hidden letters and creatures in the illustrations.
April 24, 2013
Written in a Q & A format, this book is good for reading with a friend or using in class for a group discussion. Different scenarios are presented and then several choices are given for the reader(s) to pick the correct response in each situation. The illustrations and many of the answer choices are very funny, which makes it an enjoyable lesson on good manners.
January 13, 2010
I love this book on manners. It is fun to read. There is a fun manner test on each page. To find out the answer to the manner test, you look in the picture to find the letter to the answer. It also has other fun pictures hidden inside the illustrations.
April 10, 2013
This book can definitely be used to teach manners, but I feel like the multiple choice aspect disrupts the flow of the book. It seems like it would be frustrating to read aloud but that maybe kids would enjoy it on their own.
January 29, 2015
Cute and clever way to learn about manners. I did have a difficult time finding some of the letter answers in the illustrations, so I wondered how difficult it would be for children. At least there is an answer page in the back of the book.
December 10, 2015
4.25 stars Long live the Buehner. A fantastic book about manners. And trying to find the letter of the correct answers was hard. I had to look at the cheat guide to find them. The humor is also hysterical! Fun one!!
February 4, 2009
This is a perennial favorite in my house. Painless, fun way to teach children the finer points of good manners.
February 11, 2008
the kids love to find the missing letters.
July 30, 2008
Great for teaching manners. Kids love this book...the absurdities they find hiliarious!
December 6, 2008
Didn't finish the book. It was a quiz that was too long.
December 16, 2008
Fun manners book.
April 5, 2009
I've never read this to a group of kids that didn't enjoy it. Funny and wonderful illustrations.
July 7, 2009
This book is a great and fun way to teach manners. Once again, great pictures! I didn't pass the quiz so I guess I have monstrous manners! :)
January 4, 2010
A must have for EVERY child. My kids laugh out loud!!!
January 13, 2010
Great book on manners. Caralyn Buehner makes learning manners fun for kids.
February 21, 2010
A hilarious picture book about manners. The illustrations are gorgeous, and the possible answers cracked me up.
March 8, 2011
Fun and great examples of minding your manners.
June 13, 2012
Humorous manners quiz read book w hidden messages in the pictures
June 13, 2012
This is a great book to talk about manners. This book is funny, and it gives the children choices of what their responses can be for different situations.
June 13, 2012
Book on manners that has multiple choice questions. Cool pictures.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews