Table Manners - Hardcover

Raschka, Chris; Radunsky, Vladimir

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 076361453X ISBN 13: 9780763614539

Publisher: Candlewick, 2001

Synopsis

Celebrated artists Raschka and Radunsky join forces to give us all a valuable, riotous crash course in Table Manners.

Why is speaking with your mouth full a bad idea? Who is permitted to wave his napkin like a flag? What happens if you don’t chew your food? Two renowned artists, Vladimir Radunsky and Chris Raschka (and their alter egos, Dudunya and Chester), provide hilarious answers to these and other burning questions in Table Manners, the quintessential—and inimitable—guide to impeccable behavior at mealtime. A tongue-in-cheek "how-to" book, its topics include how to use a napkin, how to behave at a restaurant, the importance of chewing food properly, keeping one’s mouth shut while eating, and many more pearls of proper etiquette.

About this title

About the Author

Chris Raschka, also known as Chester, and Vladimir Radunsky, also known as Dudunya, are authors and illustrators of many great children’s books. But what is even greater about them is that they have recently acquired incredible table manners. Now they are looking for opportunities to demonstrate these manners to anybody kind enough to invite
them to a meal.

Reviews

K-Gr 3-A worthy addition to the slim collection of etiquette books that will actually be read and savored. Like Sesyle Joslin and Maurice Sendak's What Do You Say, Dear? and What Do You Do, Dear? (both HarperCollins, 1958) or Caralyn and Mark Buehner's It's a Spoon, Not a Shovel (Dial, 1995), Table Manners is a funny, artistic creation on the subject of living well. The text merrily mixes print, painting, and photography as the two heroes, Dudunya and Chester, are led through the maze of proper dining habits. "Chester's Chart of Full-Mouthed Speaking Accidents" (catastrophes like candied dog and cousin in cream sauce) is accompanied by the solemn warning "Dudunya, darling. Never speak with your mouth full. It's very, very, very important. This I learned from my father's father's father. One day you will pass this on to your children's children's children." A book to pass on, politely of course, to any deserving adult or child.

Kathleen Whalin, York Public Library, ME

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

This ever-so-cultivated manual, decorated with elegant script lettering, tablecloth gingham and snow-white doilies, praises courtesy while giving counterexamples of gauche conduct. The authors dispense the calls to etiquette in a stuffy style, ideally read with a clenched jaw ("Good Lord! The Queen is coming for breakfast! How will you fold the napkins?"), and a subtitle pledges to tell "the edifying story of two friends whose discovery of good manners promises them a glorious future." The companions are Chester, a "Virtuoso Eater" with a smooth blue jellybean of a head, and his untidy sidekick Dudunya, first pictured with a greasy green bean stuck to his bald pate. Dudunya asks plaintive questions ("But Chester, why a fork and knife?"), and Chester is glad to set a fine example. Brash, eye-jolting spreads track the conversation in an array of sharp colors and graphic typefaces; mock-helpful diagrams remind young barbarians to chew ("Chester's Chart of Full-Mouthed Speaking Accidents" displays a "glazed sister" and "cousin in cream sauce"), adding advice, with all the weighty importance of a family heirloom, never to speak with your mouth full ("This I learned from my father's father's father. One day you will pass this on to your children's children's children," says Chester). Readers also learn to say "please" and "thank you" in any of six languages. In a multiple-choice quiz about children's restaurant conduct, keeping one's seat always seems the "right" answer, but many desirable options e.g., chasing the waiter are in evidence. Typically, Raschka's (A Poke in the I) lissome brush strokes revel in free-spiritedness, and Radunsky's (Howdi Do) crazy-quilt collages and casual swats of paint lack even a trace of fussiness; together, these two are anything but uptight. Not surprisingly, this witty handbook dispenses the rules along with suggestions for breaking them. Ages 4-8.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Ages 6-9. Dubbing themselves, respectively, Chester and Dudunya, free-spirited illustrators Raschka and Radunsky concoct a decidedly postmodern guide to proper behavior at the table, scattering lines of display type in a wide array of sizes and concatenations through collaborative illustrations featuring geometric forms, broadly brushed cartoon figures, and an occasional clipped photo. Though it's generally playful, an oddly stern tone sometimes emerges, as when a picture of Dudunya dining "wild boar style" (sans napkin) is captioned "Filthy Ugly," or when a banner enjoins "No dessert until after you eat your vegetables!" Still, this breezy manual may be just the ticket for slovenly children (or adults) unwilling to sit still for Caralyn and Mark Buehners' It's a Spoon,Not a Shovel (1995) and other, more systematic guides to polite behavior. John Peters
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 076361453X
• ISBN 13: 9780763614539
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Raschka Chris, Radunsky Vladimir
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32