#13- Are You Quite Polite?

# 13- Are You Quite Polite?

Are You Quite Polite?

Written by: Alan Katz

Illustrated by: David Catrow

First Scholastic Printing, September 2007

Poetry

“Are you quite polite having dinner every night? Do you stomp up to the table and then chomp in monster bites? Are you eating or just slurping? And do you conclude by burping? Are you quite polite?”

This book is a collection of poems all about manners. The poems are silly, but they all teach very necessary lessons. The book includes topics such as chewing gum, cleaning your room, rules, being quiet in the library, and sneezing. Each poem can be sung to a particular popular song. For example, the poem “Are You Quite Polite?” is to be sung to the tune of “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” The poems are very comical, and children really seem to enjoy reading them.

Catrow uses watercolors, colored pencils, and ink to make these exaggerated, silly illustrations. All of the pictures are drawn on a double-page spread. The pictures are not at all realistic, but very funny. Each page is full of color, and there is very little negative space.

This book could be used in any elementary classroom, but I believe 2^nd-4^th grade students would be able to appreciate it. It could be used for a lesson about making your own poem. The teacher could play a song for the class, like “America the Beautiful.” The students would then have to create their own poem that can be sung with the assigned song. The topic for their poem would have to be about good classroom manners.