How to use this Page

Author: Babette Cole
Illustrator: Babette Cole
Published: 2001 Peachtree Publishers
ISBN: 1561452572 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Growls, scowls and rowdiness meet high-brow how-to in this boisterous blend of rules and rule-breaking. Speaking of civility, we do apologize — this chat accidentally spirals into Babette Cole related babbling…

Other books mentioned:

• Mommy Never Told Me
• Dr. Dog

Author: Lisa M. Chalifoux
Illustrator: Heather Castles
Published: 2008 Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1425155472 Trafford.com Amazon.com

What could be more giggle-inducing than recognizing our own human foibles in a pair of sweet and spunky turtles? With its slapstick, smiles and airy, upbeat illustrations, this simple story helps us laugh at the silliness of squabbles and invites us to find a better way.

You can sneak a peek at the whole book on Heather Castles’ blog, here!

More turtles on JOMB:

• Nanabosho: How the Turtle Got Its Shell
• Tudley Didn’t Know

Emily Post: Emily's Magic Words; Please, Thank You, and More
by Cindy Post Senning and Peggy Post; illustrated by Leo Landry

HarperCollins

Gee, bet you can't guess those magic words. If you said "back off" "up yours" and "drop dead," you'd be ... wrong. Of course.

Yet I found it hard to snicker for all the wrong reasons while reading how "please" and "thank you" can open doors, "hi" and "bye" can make you friends, "sorry" can fix boo-boos and all that sort of rot. Yeah, yeah, it'll help reinforce basic etiquette. It's nice to be nice, etc.

And it is awfully cute when my toddler looks up at me with her chocolate-smeared face and squeals "thanks, Mommy!" Of course, she also sits behind me in the minivan, where she learned to say "honk honk!" and "schmuck!" while waving only one finger. I'm working on her fine motor skills. Ahem.

I do try hard to be polite. I'm polite when people cut in front of me in line, have more than 15 items in the express checkout, clog my inbox with spam, lecture me on how to raise my kids, etc.

Being polite would be more fun if everyone else did it too. What Emily Post's heirs really need to write is a sequel for how to avoid a murderous rage when the rest of the world doesn't take etiquette lessons.

Rating: *\*\

Author: Shannon Riggs
Illustrator: Jaime Zollars
Published: 2007 Albert Whitman & Co. (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0807557641 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Classroom shenanigans, expressive illustrations and the delicate weaving of carefully chosen details make this important story a haunting yet hopeful nudge toward breaking the silence of sexual abuse.

Shannon Rigg has supplied the following resources to help start making noise about sexual abuse:

• Darkness to Light
• Center for Disease Control Sexual Violence Fact Sheet
• Child Help USA

Author: Carolyn Crimi
Illustrator: Lynn Munsinger
Published: 1999 Random House (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0440415322 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Scowls, howls and insults abound in this heartwarming story of friendship lost and the slow, solitary struggle to disarm, soften and befriend again.

Author: Sam Swope
Illustrator: Barry Root
Published: 2001 Farrar, Straus & Giroux (on JOMB)
ISBN: 0374303908 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Stagnant submissiveness meets infectious effervescence in this rousing exploration of supremacy, perspective and the power of partnership.

Other books mentioned:

• The Swine Snafu

Of the 22 replies about the "Fred and me" "me and Fred" thing waiting when I got up this morning, there were a few who said things like, As far as I remember from my parents' childhood teachings, it is considered sort of impolite to put oneself first when naming several people and I also grew up being told by my parents to always list myself last as well -- so you say my friends and I went to the store, not I and my friends... In terms of where it originates, I grew up in the States, but I think the grammar lesson came from my English father. But as far as I know it's a convention only - more about politeness than correct grammar. It's only the me/I distinction that's cold hard grammatical rules..

I can't imagine saying "I and Fred went to market" because it sounds wrong....

There was one that seemed to have got the whole thing a bit upside down, which I'm posting in case anyone else is puzzling over it...

Interesting about the me first or last thing, but it is somewhat irrelevant, because if one looks at the sentence and the dependent clause, "me" is incorrect anyway as it should be I as part of the plural subject of the word "chatting." So "Susanna and I chatting" or "I and Susanna chatting" is the object of "hear" but you made the common mistake of using "me" thinking of it being the object of "hear."

Not that you need a grammar lesson from a veterinarian, but I could not keep it to myself.

Shera

(Um, probably you should have done. You're suggesting that the sentence should have read And for those of you who want to hear we chatting (or who missed it because of the fire alarm...) or, removing Susanna from the sentence (an easy way to check your Is and Mes), And for those of you who want to hear I chatting (or who missed it because of the fire alarm...) which is slightly wrong unless you're in those parts of rural England in which it's perfectly fine.)

This was the most definitive of all the replies...

This is not a question but rather a response to yours. "Me and..." constructions are just as grammatically correct as "...and me" constructions, when usage suits them. Which, to be frank, yours did. I've never heard of citing "me" last as a preferred method of construction, and I've been a bona fide "Gloomy Grammarian" most of my life.

That said, in the "I could be wrong" vein, coupled with the "now I'll be up all night wondering" urge, I consulted a few books. "The Style Booklet" (David Sonstroem, University of Connecticut) says nothing useful, nor does the Associated Press style manual. Margaret Shertzer's "The Elements of Grammar" spends a great deal of time on nominative (I, you, she, he, etc) and objective (me, you, her, him, etc.) case personal pronouns but cites no preference for the specific order in which said pronouns should appear. "The Elements of Style," that Strunk and White classic, also speaks of the nominative and objective forms of personal pronouns but does not cite specific order as preferred. Finally, the college textbook "Analyzing English Grammar", fourth ed., Thomas P. Klammer, Muriel R. Schulz, and Angela Della Volpe, authors, examines personal pronouns at length and never cites a word order preference. I did not check the MLA handbook, but I imagine its focus is less on usage and more on proper citation (as it should be).

Now - one thing I did notice is that, by and large, many of the examples presented tended to be in the "she and I," "him and me" order. Perhaps your reader has used this prevalence to inform his (or her?) understanding that this order is, in fact, the correct usage? If so, that would be an error of quantity rather than kind - BUT "me and him" and "him and me" are equally grammatically correct, in their contexts as personal pronouns used in the objective.

In short (too late!), as far as I can tell, you and I are correct in our assumptions about when to use "me and Catherine," or "Catherine and me." It's a matter of personal preference, really.

And yes, now that it is 4:00 AM, eastern standard time, I can at last rest easy in my understanding of pronoun usage. Can you tell I am about to earn my Master of Arts degree in English?

Sincerely, yet somehow also Grammatically Yours-

Patricia Lafayllve

and this one, which made me smile, and may have something to do with it...

Sure, I've been told it's generally good form to put yourself last, but in this case, the sentence you wrote was iambic. Had the words been reversed, it would not be thus, and therefore less pleasant to read.
Cheers,
Annie

You mentioned that they used CGI to ".... cover Charlie Cox's naked torso because it would bring down America." Do you know if they are planning to restore the scene (and any others they deemed too adult for us Americans) in the DVD release? ~lindac

I don't know. I'm sure there will be some stuff that was cut, but I have no idea what... (ghosts I hope. Lots of really funny ghost bits went away.)

Author: Frank Remkiewicz
Illustrator: Frank Remkiewicz
Published: Lothrop, Lee & Shephard Books
ISBN: 0688102956 Alibris.com

Full of understated humour and told from the perspective of a disgruntled older brother, this hilarious tale of family forbearance gives fresh meaning to the “It’s just a phase” refrain.

Sadly, this is another wonderful book which has fallen out of print. I hope your library has a copy.

You can read about the quote “Let them eat cake!” here.

Author: Wong Herbert Yee
Illustrator: Wong Herbert Yee
Published: 1996 Houghton Mifflin Company
ISBN: 0395779421 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Snappy rhyme and funky, expressive illustrations tell a quick and entertaining tale of boundaries, bad behaviour and the baby inside the bully. Our girls are just as tickled by this book now, at ages 5 and 7, as they were during its billions of readings in their toddler years.

Other books mentioned: Angel and the Polar Bear

Author: Laurie Kransy Brown
Illustrator: Marc Brown
Published: 2000 Little Brown and Company
ISBN: 0316101834 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

With its casual, fun storybook approach and its familiar Marc Brown illustrations, this book smoothly and effectively demystifies sexuality, privacy, gender stereotypes, and more, well before mystification has a chance to begin. Our girls think this book is a riot!

Author: Audrey Wood
Illustrator: Audrey & Don Wood
Published: 2001 Harcourt Trade Publishers
ISBN: 0152013679 Chapters.ca Amazon.com

Today we team up with Associate Professor Vivian Vasquez’s Critical Literacy In Practice (CLIP) Podcast to bring you two distinct discussions of “Elbert’s Bad Word”. Click below to hear our Just One More Book discussion, pop over to Vivian’s site to hear the story unpacked from the critical literacy perspective, and then share your thoughts on the subject by posting comments on either of our sites.