Gr 4-8-This guide is a helpful tool to introduce children to the basics of dining do's and don'ts. Divided into six chapters that cover a wide range of table-related topics, as well as picnicking in the park and on the beach, the book includes tips on how to use chopsticks, what to do if there's a fly in your soup, and how to eat corn on the cob. Each chapter includes quizzes, humorous black-and-white cartoons and diagrams as well as questions and answers in child-friendly language. Readers will find the index a handy way to look up a specific topic and appreciate the bulleted lists and numbered steps. Written for today's audience, the text offers advice on dining at a food court and how to eat fast food in the car. While intended for a juvenile audience, adults are sure to learn a new custom or two and may find their manners improving as well.-Maura Bresnahan, High Plain Elementary School, Andover, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

This helpful book opens with an apt quote from twentieth-century etiquette doyenne Emily Post (three generations up the family tree from the current authors): the purpose of table manners is to avoid ugliness. With that ruling principle in place, the writers get down to specifics in chapters on everyday table manners, special meals, table settings, tricky situations, meals as social events, and the host's responsibilities. Rules are given with reasons rather than rigidity, which should make them easier to follow, and with the caveat that in certain circumstances (when choking, for example), diners should throw manners to the wind. Adding touches of wit, Björkman's deft line drawings will appeal to middle-school students as well as younger children. Though perhaps most likely to be checked out by parents, this clearly written book offers practical advice that will help young people to feel more comfortable when dining with others and, of course, to avoid disgusting their companions.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2009 Booklist