MANNERS MASH-UP

The advice in this compendium is completely straightforward: In the cafeteria, “don’t take food from others’ trays”; on the playground, “Always watch out for the little ones.”  The delivery, however, is ridiculously, hilariously varied, as 14 illustrators each take a double-page spread and sprinkle those gentle aphorisms among madcap images. Henry Cole illustrates “Don’t stare at” with items it is impossible not to—the hairy wart, the plumber’s crack and the school receptionist, with cat's-eye glasses and long red fingernails, wearing her bra on the outside of her blouse. Tao Nyeu’s beautifully embroidered pages exhort the cute animals therein not to pick their scabs, their belly-button lint or their teeth in public. Adam Rex has a different take entirely on “Table Manners,” with a John Waters–like Dr. Frankenstein at the table with Igor (“don’t slouch”) and a three-headed boy stuffing all his mouths full. At the end, each illustrator recounts personal manners mishaps, complete with self-portraits or photos. Good advice waggishly packaged and not completely tasteful—a winner. (Informational picture book. 5-9)