ANNOTATION

Discusses manners and gives examples of good manners and bad manners.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Aliki makes manners accessible to children through colorful cartoon-style illustrations designed to teach some of the basics....Her lively primer sparkles with examples....There's plenty to learn, plenty to look at, and plenty to share in a cleverbook that demonstrates the importance of manners while it makes learning them fun."—Booklist.

Author Biography:

Aliki grew up in Philadelphia in a very Greek family. Her talent for drawing, first recognized by her kindergarten teacher, was encouraged by her parents and other teachers she will never forget.

After graduating from the Philadelphia College of Art, she started a career in advertising art. She married Franz Brandenberg and lived in Switzerland for three years, where she wrote and illustrated her first book, The Story of William Tell.

After they moved to New York, she wrote My Five Senses, the book that changed her career and her life. Besides her own books, Aliki has illustrated many by other authors, including Franz. Their children, Jason and Alexa, who have artistic careers of their own, appear in many of Aliki's books as cats, mice, or themselves.

Aliki loves music, theater, films, museums, reading, and digging in her garden in London, where she lives. She travels frequently to the United States, Greece, Switzerland, and other countries, many of which are reflected in her books.NOTES FROM ALIKI

0nce, when I was reading one of my books to Jason, who was just learning words, I asked him, "What is my name?" He said, "Byaliki." I laughed. But in many ways I am a bi-Aliki. Greek and American. Bilingual. Author and illustrator. Writer of fiction and nonfiction-books that come from inside out (feeling books),and outside in (research books).

I had no thought of becoming a writer until it happened. But early on, I developed a lifelong habit of writing down my feelings. I realized it helped me understand my hurt, anger, bewilderment, or happiness. Words flowed out into poetry, letters, and journals. It was practice for later on.

I wrote The Two of Them when my father died. I wrote We Are Best friends when we moved from New York to London. I wrote about my childhood seaside vacations in Those Summers. In fact, it was on one such family vacation that I was born unexpectedly (in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey-but we never lived there)!

Marianthe's Story, two books in one volume, is very much my own. In one of its two parts-Painted Words-Mari is lucky to have such an understanding teacher and the ability to express herself through pictures (as was 1). In Spoken Memories, the villagers are composites of family and friends, and the voice is often my grandmother's. She cared passionately about education and passed it on to us.

All by Myself! — snapped after watching my nephew Peter, who was just learning to dress himself We can take nothing for granted. All skills-from the simplest to the most complicated-are learned. They take patience, perseverance, and determination. With some, a little talent helps. Life is one big challenge. I'm still trying to learn to swim.

My research books come from a fascination with a subject I know only a glimmer about. It can take three years to read, delve, dig, write, and repeat the process for the illustrations. It can be torture, because Virgos dont like to make mistakes.

To write My Visit to the Aquarium, I visited eleven aquariums-the most fun research ever. But then I had to get the right fish into the right tank. My Visit to the Zoo was even harder. Nine zoos, hundreds of books, magazines, and related matter. And with all due respect to the author, the illustrator has twice the work. I call it hard fun.

All books-read or made-change lives. None more than William Shakespeare & the Globe. I was challenged by wanting to compress 40.0 years into 38 pages, to tell (in words and pictures) a story that comes full circle. It didn't help that we- know very little about Shakespeare the man. But I was enveloped by his words — which brought him to life. When I finally finished, the pain of loss-which lasted months-was like parting from a beloved friend.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

This popular and prolific author-artist here examines an important topic for children--good manners: how to achieve them and how to maintain them. Every page brims with etiquette tips, expressed by small-sized figures drawn in Aliki's customarily cheery style. If there is a problem here, it is one of excess: the dos and don'ts fly by so thick and fast that readers may have difficulty grasping them. A lack of organization may further confuse the book's users. The subjects are broached in no discernible order, and text is presented willy-nilly in captions under pictures and in cartoon-style balloons. One page bears the heading ``Ouch,'' and depicts two girls strolling down the street as another girl approaches. The copy above the picture reads, ``Here comes Alexa. / Let's ignore her,'' while two tiny birds below--they and several animal friends make pertinent and impertinent asides throughout--say ``bad manners and bad feelings'' and ``Is Alexa going to go home and cry?'' Cause and effect seem to be missing here, and the main issue glossed over. Though certainly well-intentioned, this book may prove more chaotic than constructive. Ages 5-up. (Oct.)

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