Manners Time / Los Buenos Modales

Toddler Tools

by Elizabeth Verdick, Marieka Heinlen (Illustrations)

Teaching manners to toddlers is easier than you may think. Manners start with a smile—then you add the words. There are polite words to use when you greet someone, ask for something, or (oops!) make a mistake. There’s even a nice way to say no. This bilingual board book gives toddlers a head start on manners, setting the stage for social skills that will last a lifetime.
 

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Parenting

24 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Elizabeth Verdick has been writing books since 1997, the year her daughter was born. Her two children, now ages 13 and 8, are the inspiration for nearly everything she writes. Before becoming an author, Elizabeth edited books for children and parents.

These days she writes books for toddlers to teens, and everything in between. She especially loves creating new board book series for toddlers—the latest series is Toddler Tools™, which helps young children and their parents cope with those tough times and transitions that happen every day (like naptime and bedtime). The Best Behavior™ series helps toddlers reach new milestones and improve their day-to-day behavior.

Elizabeth also enjoys getting the chance to look at the funny side of life in the Laugh and Learn™ series, which helps kids ages 8–13 get a handle on the social/emotional skills they’re developing throughout the elementary– and middle school years. Elizabeth lives with her family and five pets near St. Paul, Minnesota.

Reviews

[E & E’s Mama]

We love the Toddler Tools series (Calm-Down Time is our favorite!). This is a great one for introducing manners such as using please, thank you, you’re welcome, excuse me, and no thank you. I think it would be age-appropriate from 1.5 years old and up

Update: at 2.5 years old, Elliot is really understanding a lot more about manners and is saying “I’m sorry” and “thank you” independently.

[Theediscerning]

There's a great collection of these books to be had, going back over the last several years. The script is pared back to really junior level – on the main pages, that is, not the two pages of for-adults material at the end each time. There's a sort of rhyming sensibility to many pages – and if there isn't there is an element of repetition that forces a kind of rhyme through anyway. The artist sustained her ability throughout, too, using striking fabric patterns to make her cartoonish characters a lot more detailed than otherwise expected, in a sort of broad-lined cutout style. They all get a strong four stars from me, for their competent and quick lessons.

Manners Time (ISBN 9781575423135) shows the merits of being polite and positive, from our 'hello' and 'goodbye' to saying 'sorry' when we burp or break toys.
Sharing Time (9781575423142) is to get us to share our things – and how to react properly when we're honestly told we can't share someone else's items.
Bedtime (9781575423142) is a lullaby that also gets around to telling us why we're expected to sleep properly – "I do my best growing when I'm sleeping".
On-the-Go Time (9781575423791) is all about getting ready for a day out – and some of the behaviour we should consider when in public, such as the "indoor voice".
Mealtime (9781575423661) is a simple look at a matter-of-fact success of a school lunch, where there is no drama, and everybody tries everything at least once.
Bye-Bye Time (9781575422992) reminds the kid who has had to say goodbye to the parents at the start of the school day that without it there would be no need for that lovely "hello" at the end of it.
Clean-Up Time (9781631981548) turns classroom tidies into pleasures – and classrooms into tidy pleasures at the same time, obviously.
The much newer Outdoor Time (9798885543934) shows a school break spent outside, where the right moves, activity and voice level is different to the ones allowed inside. But it should only be a simple switch on and off, anyway.
Wriggly Time (9798885548021) shows the on-and-off nature of the class physical activity session, too.

Add to those the unseen Naptime, Try-Again Time, Calm-Down Time, and Listening Time volumes, and you have a grand little shelf of very early development guides, all with – to repeat – their own spread of bespoke information for adult consideration.

NB some of the above ISBNs are for a bilingual English-Spanish edition, so double-check first. I have no connection with either creator, or the publishers, and volunteer these honest opinions based on files submitted to edelweiss.

[Sandy]

We have been doing a "unit" study on manners in our homeschool. I'm not sure you can call it a unit study because we've been learning about manners all year long so far, and considering we still have much to improve upon, I think we'll keep right on trucking with our manners "study" until we see some improvement. So when I saw Manners Time for review, I grabbed it.

The content seems best suited for smaller children. My youngest son is currently 4 years old, and I think he would benefit the most from this book. He already knows these concepts, but seeing them and hearing them in book form would hopefully help to solidify these in his mind.

At the same time, the words are written in simple enough terms that my 7-year-old old who is reading more and more could easily read this book. And now that I think about it, I will probably make him do just that.

The concepts are basic. Say hi. Look people in the eyes. Say please, thank you, and you're welcome. Say "I'm sorry. " Etc. I would add that I'm a little bit frustrated by equating "I forgive you" with "That's okay." On the one hand, I appreciate that the book encourages saying "I forgive you" instead of "That's okay" after someone else apologizes. That's something I've taught my kids. But I've taught my kids to say "I forgive you" instead of "that's okay" because it isn't "okay." If one of my children hits another one, it isn't "okay", but my other child can say "I forgive you" and that can be true. This is a little bit semantics, but I did want to note it.

All in all, I think Manners Time gets 4 Stars. Have you or your child read Manners Time? What did you think? Let me know!

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams]

A sweet, straightforward book about manners.

** Talking Points: What are some situations where you should use your best manners. Are there ever any times when it's okay to be rude? Why are please & thank you such magic words? Is it usually easy or hard for you to say "I'm sorry."?

** Essential Oil Pairing Tip: I'd pair this book with rose essential oil. It's made especially for children. It's an oil that helps us feel loved. And manners are all about showing love.

[Alicia]

For: manners fans; readers looking for a simple, clear introduction to basic manners (with some additional talking points for parents/caregivers in the back).

Possible red flags: upset/accidentally breaking a toy.

[Rachel Willis]

A couple bits were very tricky for me to enunciate correctly as I don't actually speak Spanish lol. But the bebe started babbling along and at one point I think he was speaking Spanish. So all the exposure in music, movies, and now books is working! Yay!

[Donna Mork]

Goes through the basics of manners in simple to understand terms.

[Kelly]

Perfectly told for a child.

[Isabel Hernandez]

This books is good for children, because it teaches manners, it also teaches children social skills. Manners are very important, and it's important that we teach children manners.

[Bella Noorbakhsh]

This book talks about manners! The right ones and gives multiple scenarios that manners need to be implemented.

[Kelsey]

These books are great resources for teaching toddlers important skills! The illustrations are colorful and pretty to look at too.

[Abdullah Arjomand]

Baby loves it

[Emelda]

GREAT introduction to manners and social cues for the youngest kids and/or younger kids with a hard time with those social behaviors. And there is a great, easy "parents and caregivers" section in the back. I really have to look into the entire series of "Toddler Tools" that Free Spirit Publishing puts out!

[Stephanie]

A great book for introducing manners. My 20-month-old requests I read this daily.

[Amber]

1 copy

[Principle Based Learning]

(recommended by: Ashley B)
Click here for the full article on: More Than Just Fairytales

[Astrid]

Great book!

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023)]

4* art
3* story/concept

[Angie]

This author is consistently getting it right for the toddler crowd. Perfect for my story times with two year olds.

[Maria Morrison]

A great book for introducing social niceties to young children.

[Alma Gomez]

This is an informational book to show students how to have manners. This is a great book for younger students to learn about manners.

Grade: k-2