When my boys were small, I bought them a book with the above title. It was written by Ruth Shannon Odor and has the format of a Little Golden Book, including the gold spine. However, it is called a "Happy Day" book, put out by Standard Publishing of Cincinnati. The illustrations, drawn by Robert Burchett, are colorful, a bit cartoonish, perfect for a child.
The book begins with the usual manners we all try to teach our children, but divides them as to location—home, playground, school, and most interesting to me, church! By the end you realize that the point of the whole book is that when you try to be like Jesus, you will be courteous and considerate of others. In short, you will have good manners!
My boys loved that book. I occasionally took it to the children's Bible classes I taught and they loved it too. And now I have introduced it to my grandsons and they love it. And all of this is in spite of the fact that they occasionally see themselves in the book and hang their little heads in embarrassment.
I think its appeal might be the characters that are included:
Me-First Millie
Sulky Sue
Look-at-Me Louie
That's Mine Thelma
Picky Pete
Messy Bessy, and a few others.
All come with pictures to match. Over the years, my own boys were apt to look at one another and say, "Now don't be a Look-at-Me Louie!" or some other of the characters.
I thought it might be interesting over the next few weeks, on Mondays as often as I can manage it, to see what kind of people some of these characters might have grown up to be, if they were real. And oh yes, they are real. We run into them every day, and sadly, even among our brethren. We might ourselves still be clinging to childish ways without realizing it. But this is important for, as the book concludes:
"Jesus taught us to be kind, to love others, to treat others as we would like to be treated…If we try to be like Jesus in all we say and do, then good manners will be as easy as 1-2-3, A-B-C."
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Phil 2:3-4)
Dene Ward
The book begins with the usual manners we all try to teach our children, but divides them as to location—home, playground, school, and most interesting to me, church! By the end you realize that the point of the whole book is that when you try to be like Jesus, you will be courteous and considerate of others. In short, you will have good manners!
My boys loved that book. I occasionally took it to the children's Bible classes I taught and they loved it too. And now I have introduced it to my grandsons and they love it. And all of this is in spite of the fact that they occasionally see themselves in the book and hang their little heads in embarrassment.
I think its appeal might be the characters that are included:
Me-First Millie
Sulky Sue
Look-at-Me Louie
That's Mine Thelma
Picky Pete
Messy Bessy, and a few others.
All come with pictures to match. Over the years, my own boys were apt to look at one another and say, "Now don't be a Look-at-Me Louie!" or some other of the characters.
I thought it might be interesting over the next few weeks, on Mondays as often as I can manage it, to see what kind of people some of these characters might have grown up to be, if they were real. And oh yes, they are real. We run into them every day, and sadly, even among our brethren. We might ourselves still be clinging to childish ways without realizing it. But this is important for, as the book concludes:
"Jesus taught us to be kind, to love others, to treat others as we would like to be treated…If we try to be like Jesus in all we say and do, then good manners will be as easy as 1-2-3, A-B-C."
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Phil 2:3-4)
Dene Ward
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