The Animal Etiquette Book of Rhymes

You can definitely feel the passage in time in this 1920s original. While the poems are short, clear and applicable, it would have been nice if the authors had included a few that would provide positive reinforcement. That said, a fun curiosity and worth considering as a good balance to some of today's books that are a bit too allowing. Great both for kids and for a culture or literature course.

This is a charming book of poetry that serves many purposes for the classroom: art, language arts, and social studies. The illustrations are charming, the poetry is catchy and gets the point across, and the etiquette lessons are very clear. Young children will enjoy this as a read aloud, older children will find the humor in the poems as they read the book themselves.

They just don't make books like this anymore, so a big "Thank you!" to Dover for reissuing this book!

Short and sweet, this 33 page book is full of easy to read rhymes and beautiful black and white drawings (by Maurice Day) that will be great to share with the pre-schooler in your life.

Each of the short poems is a miniature morality story, extolling the virtues of good behavior and pointing out bad behavior.  But all the 'children' depicted within are anthropomorphic animals, so parents who share this book with children can remind their tots about the bad behavior of "Danny Donkey" who didn't wash behind his ears, or Susie Squirrel who didn't like having her tail brushed, or Zebulon Zebra who didn't like to wear the nice clothes his mother thought best.

The rhymes were easy on the tongue, and there's still something that feels so nice when reading a children's book and having a nice rhyme scheme.

Maurice Day's art is fantastic.  I've often been partial to pen-and-ink artwork, and this is remarkably detailed (for prolonged viewing by the youngsters) while managing to be simple enough to capture immediate attention.  It's a tremendous skill that I haven't seen much in modern artists (with the possible exception of Jan Brett's work).

I really liked everything about this book.  It surprisingly didn't feel too dated, despite being 90 years old.

Looking for a good book? The Animal Etiquette Book of Rhymes is delightful and should be in the homes of everyone with a pre-schooler.

The Animal Etiquette Book of Rhymes is a set of 24 silly poems about animals who just won't mind their manners! The stories are very funny and cute, although some terms may be outdated or contain higher level vocabulary that may need explanation. The poems would be great read aloud with character voices where needed (the best for this would be "The Careless Little Early Bird"). Illustrations by Maurine Day depict the titular animals in dapper vintage fashion, which makes the rhymes even more hilarious! These poems would be great for children who love animals, rhymes, or who, like the characters, need to learn some manners!

If you and your child like vintage children's books and poetry, this is a charming book on etiquette with young animals as the naughty ones who need to learn manners. The illustrations are fun and the verse clever. In one instance a teacher spanked an animal for naughty behavior so some of the vignettes are dated. But you can tell your child this book is almost 100 years old, and see what happened to naughty animals back then. This book is probably best for children 6-8 years of age. It can spark a conversation on what good manners are important today: taking your turn, not interrupting, being patient, not talking with your mouth full etc. Love the idea of animal etiquette - think an updated version of this book by the publisher could be fun, too.

Beautiful prints, too bad they are b&w. It's a bit high brow for children, but great for reading aloud. Will recommend to fans of mother goose.

I would definitely say this would be considered a vintage book. Please be sure to tell your children that these stories are very old. In one instance a teacher spanks an animal which is a definite no-no now. This book does address the use of manners which is very important. This book can be used to help encourage children in learning how to take their turn at the proper time, not interrupting, being patient, not talking with their mouths full etc. I do think it would be wonderful if an updated version of this book were available though.

Little man JJ who is five years old liked the illustrations!

Cute but dated

Thank you Dover Publications, for bringing this charming, classic book of animal poems back into print. Whimsical, vintage-style, black-and-white illustrations accompany each poem. Giraffes, chipmunks, bears, rabbits, and a whole lot more. Five stars!