Although I typically prefer children’s books with subtle messages about behavior, the board book collection by Free Spirit Publishing manages to share important social lessons without being garrulous.
These colorful, sturdy board books are ideal for the tiny hands of toddlers. They are hard to rip, easy to handle, and can be wiped clean.
Teeth Are Not For Biting ($7.95) reminds little ones that…”Ouch! Biting hurts!” Teeth are made for many purposes (chomping, chewing, talking, smiling)…but not biting.
Mealtime ($7.95) goes over basic table manners – including washing hands, saying please & thank you, and trying at least one bite.
Sharing Time ($7.95) explains how to ask for a toy nicely and what to do when a friend refuses to share.
Do you know of any other children’s books that teach about sharing, table manners, or not biting?
WIN IT! One winner will receive all three board books by Free Spirit Publishing! To enter, leave any topic-related comment on this post prior to Thursday, June 9 at 11:59 p.m. All generic comments like “Enter me!” or “Love it” will be disqualified. Winner must provide a US mailing address.
*UPDATE* The winner is #38 Jodi. Congratulations!
I’d love these for my twins.
The Mealtime book looks interesting, we model good manners at home but kids are exposed to so many bad manners in today’s society.
My twin boys love books!
These would be great for my daughter. Thanks
I don’t know of any other books that teach these things, but I think they’re great. My niece would definitely need the Teeth are not for Biting book because she hasn’t quite realized that yet :)
I do not know of other books with these topics.
As a teacher, it is so important for me to be reading with my son early. I think it is so important and these books (and all board books) are so wonderful because he can really get his hands on them and nothing gets ruined!
Board books are the best for little ones. These look great.
Adorable books, would make a great gift for my little niece.
I like the messages in these books.
My little one loves to be read to and I’m in favor of any books that send positive messages like being polite!
These books are great, and I love the durability factor.
When my son was young, these types of books were his favorite. He always referred back to them by saying, “Just like in the book, Mommy”!
Oh, I’m especially interested in the one on meal time. We have some work to do with our little one to help her understand good manners at the table! She likes to put her feet ON THE TABLE while she eats. Oh boy…
“Ouch, biting hurts!” ha! Yeah, I think most toddlers need a book like this one!
These books are just adorable! I think these are a great way to teach manners in a way that kids can really relate to. I think delivering a message this way is so much more effective than just trying to talk to kids about these issues.
my kid doesn’t have teeth yet but would still love these books!
I have a toddler so sharing time AND meal time are big issues around here. Maybe this would help. :)
I think that these are awesome books with a great message; I also love that the kids are different ethnicities and not just white (like me). I would love to win these so that I can share them with my friend who will be having a baby this year. Her husband is from Africa and they are both the sweetest people; I’m sure that they’ll have no problem teaching these messages on their own but it never hurts to have sweet books to back you up!
Hello, Stephanie~~
Been many months since I’ve talked with you~~been very busy caring for my little two year old grandson~I’m in heaven with him living nearby since my other three grandkids live 3 hours away so he fills in the void of not seeing them as often. We (his momma, daddy and I) read to him before naptime and bedtime~~he’s a cuddler at that time and is in awe with the stories we read. I think he’d enjoy these three books since he loves just about any subject (well, his favorite of course being firetrucks and bulldozers!! :) ) You can tell by his speech that his imagination takes over after being read too~~a special, loving time I so treasure with him!♥♥
Reading together is a special time for my little grandson and I. We both love it. These books would be a great addition to his library.
My 2-year-old grandson would enjoy these books.
MY GRANDSON BITES AND HIS MOTHER IS TRYING TO CORRECT HIM…I THINK THIS BOOK WOULD HELP A LOT
We have a set of Sesame Street books that talk about manners. These sound great too. Anything that reinforces positive behavior is welcome in our home!
My niece REALLY needs that not biting book. Never heard of any books with those topics before though i did have one about never talking to strangers when i was a kid.
ferriza2(at)yahoo(dot)com
I don’t remember any books on these subjects and think these would be great.
We’re expecting Baby #1 in January- never too early to build a library!
Cute books! I honestly think reading ANY books to children of all ages (start them young!) is very beneficial. I don’t have a toddler, but these books would be great at my 5 year old’s school!
Lately whenever we go to the library by 3 year old heads over to the board book section and she comes back with a pile that she wants. I can always see a certain trend. Our libary has books similar to this and Lily’s favorite is Potty Time. She has checked this book out about 3 times and the funny thing is, is that she is already potty trained. But Lily loves babies and I think that is why she likes these books.
I need all 3 of these! These are thing (especially sharing) I am trying to teach my toddler!!
I would like a book about how toys, food, forks, cups, and other heavy and potentially life-threatening objects are NOT FOR THROWING! LOL! :) do they make that title!? B/c that is what I’m dealing with with my son lately!
But seriously – these look really cute and I love that they are sturdy and wipe clean. I can’t think of other titles specifically but have you checked out Chronicle Books to see if they have something along that line – they always seem to have fantastic products! :)
We’ve been reading another book from the collection, “Hands are not for Hitting”….we haven’t gotten to the biting behavior yet! :)
We read “Teeth are not for Biting.” Unfortunately, El still bites!! My husband likes to say that is in self defense from other kiddos. ;)
Gosh, there are many good books out there. These look like a nother great resource for teaching little ones.
We have a sesame street book that talks about manners. Course we need one that conveys the message fingers not in the mouth- trying to break the thumb sucking habit
Growing up we read The Berenstain Bears, which do have pretty obvious messages to deliver about behavior, but I think they do so in a very appropriate way. I especially love the one that talks about “Too much Junk Food.”
I would love a few new books to add to our library, thanks for sharing!
Amanda
I would love to have these books! After having our third baby, and moving across the country last week, our 2 yo has not been handling the changes very well:(. She has been biting her older sister alot and not eating well. These books would be a big blessing to our family!
I generally avoid books like that. I’d especially be worried that the teeth book could actually reinforce the biting behavior by bringing so much attention to it, you know? But sounds like other people love it so maybe that’s not the case.
We have a biter here right now that I cannot seem to stop her from it! Maybe this book would be the ticket! Thanks for sharing. I do have some other random sharing/table manner books that I love, but I can’t remember the names right now!
My toddler adores books and “Teeth Are Not For Biting” is right up our alley right now!
I NEED the Teeth Are Not For Biting book asap! My son has been biting lately even though he is soon to be three years old. He only bites my husband and I when he is mad. He does not bite other kids, thank goodness. As an “attachment parent”, I can’t help but take offense that he can be so upset and violent with me. In fact, I almost bought him this book a few weeks ago.
My 2 year old twin niece and nephew have recently learned the word “turn” at daycare (as in take turns). There’s something hilarious about seeing one of them screaming turn at the top of their lungs with tears running down their faces when their twin is using whatever toy they want. Maybe it’s only hilarious to their mean aunt and uncle. I’m pretty sure my SIL could use the sharing book ASAP.
Sam really enjoyed Teeth Are Not For Biting when we were camping! :) And I think I would like the mealtime one, in hopes that it would make mealtimes more enjoyable (ie less stressful and chaotic!).
These look cute! I still have my records (yes, the vinyl kind) of manner songs I listened to as a little girl. For my birthday we’re going to get them put on CD so our daughter (now 3 months) can listen to them. They are no longer available, and they’re in French, so they are very precious to me!
Those books look so cute. I think its importatnt to teach character traits right from the beginning!
Those look so sweet. I can’t think of any other books I have come across that teach about those things.
My babe loves to grab books off her “library” shelves. I think the children’s “Bible” teaches sharing =)