I love manners books – both serious and silly manners books! Today, I’m sharing the favorite books from our current manners unit.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Just choose books based on your child’s age and what you think will engage your child’s interest. I recommend checking out the “Read Sample” feature on Amazon and reading reviews there. Another place to learn about a book is on YouTube. You can typically see the entire book there.
Montessori-friendly books use photos or realistic illustrations. They don’t have talking animals or a lot of fantasy. But many books that have fantasy and talking animals are wonderful books, and I love sharing them with children who understand the difference between fantasy and reality.
For toddlers and preschoolers, about ¾ of the books I use are typically Montessori friendly (focusing on reality without smiling or talking animals or smiling or talking vehicles). More than ¼ of the books in this unit aren’t Montessori-style books even though the topic is perfect for Montessori.
Books for a Manners Theme
Here’s a fun Instagram reel:
Books for a Manners Theme
I’m featuring books here for a manners theme for preschoolers through elementary-age kids.
Top Shelf of Forward -Facing Display:
2nd Shelf:
- Manners by Aliki is recommended for ages 4-8. The pages are rather busy with many different concepts being reinforced, so it’s best for older preschoolers through early elementary. This is a good book for taking the time to discuss manners concepts with your child. This is a book I had from when my kids were little.
- Give Please a Chance is a simple book focusing on saying “please” for toddlers and young preschoolers. For beginning readers, it would be a good book to read to a younger sibling or classmate. I would change the often-awkward wording when reading this book to a toddler or preschooler. For example, there is a double-page spread with a boy looking at a plate of cookies with the word “Please?” below it and “I really, really, really need a cookie!” on the preceding page. I would point to the word “Please?” and say, “Please. May I please have a cookie?”
- Give Thank You a Try is the follow-up to Give Please a Chance. It isn’t quite as easy for beginning readers to read, but I prefer the writing in this book.
3rd Shelf:
- Cheri J. Meiners M.Ed., has a helpful, Montessori-friendly series of books about learning to get along. Many of them are available in English and Spanish as well as in English. For our manners unit, we have Be Polite and Kind: Ser respetuoso y amable. If you prefer, the book is available in English alone.
- I love the silliness of Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners by Laurie Keller. The book is recommended for ages 4-8. I recommend it for older preschoolers through early elementary because of the busy pages and humor that could be above the heads of younger children. It’s a fun book that wasn’t around yet when my kids were little.
- I Say Please and Thank You: Lift-the-Flap Manners
4th Shelf:
Bottom Shelf
I have some manners fun fiction books on a shelf across the room:
Shelf with Manners Fun Fiction Books
- Note: Even though the Berenstain Bears books were loved by my kids, The Berenstain Bears Forget Their Manners isn’t one of my favorites. I just feel the negative behaviors might make more of an impression than the good manners in the book; I don’t like penalties for forgetting manners; and I didn’t like how the dad is portrayed in the book.
- Clifford, the Big Red Dog is a lovable children’s book character who’s been around for years. My now-adult children loved the Clifford books, and I still have the series. Clifford’s Manners by Norman Bridwell isn’t an elaborate story, but it clearly emphasizes a number of etiquette techniques and the importance of good manners.
- Curious George Says Thank You has Margret and H.A. Rey’s Curious George
, but it’s written by Emily Flaschner Meyer and Julie M. Bartynski and illustrated in the style of H. A. Rey by Anna Grossnickle Hines. The book is recommended for ages 4-7, but I think most preschoolers will love it. Young children often identify with Curious George. This book has a positive message about the importance of saying thank you.
- Richard Scarry’s Please and Thank You Book
- Little Critter’s Manners
We have a grace and courtesy book on our peace table right now.
Grace and Courtesy Book on Peace Table
I think Grace and Courtesy: a picture guide for children and adults by Alicia Olson is great for Montessori classrooms and parents who have a child attending a Montessori school. Each page has a an illustration of a child or children demonstrating an important grace and courtesy rule in the Montessori classroom. The book is designed to stand up on a shelf like an easel. It’s a wonderful book to set up on one of the Montessori shelves, changing the picture shown to remind children about rules that are important in a Montessori classroom. It’s also helpful for a Montessori homeschool and can be used to remind children of Montessori rules that are being used at home.
I have more manners books from previous posts in a book basket:
- Manners Can Be Fun
- Fill a Bucket: A Guide to Daily Happiness for Young Children (just one of the bucket-filler books. See my bucket filling post at my BitsofPositivity.com blog for more!)
- Please, Mr. Panda: Por Favor Sr. Panda
- Thank You, Mr. Panda: Gracias, Sr. Panda
- Fancy Nancy: Tea Parties
- May I Please Have a Cookie? (Scholastic Reader, Level 1) by Jennifer Morris is for preschoolers in general and an easy reader for beginning readers. It’s definitely silly and unrealistic, but it emphasizes the importance of saying please in a fun way.
- Books from my post The Best Books about Manners for Preschoolers
- Books from my post The Best Children’s Books About Taking Turns and Sharing
You can see many manners books here: Manners Books for Kids (including books as they’re published)
More Manners Resources
- Free Manners Printables and Montessori-Inspired Manners Activities
- How to Teach Your Child Manners Using Montessori Principles
- How to Teach Your Child to Say Thank You for Holiday Presents
- How to Help Your Child Feel Comfortable Greeting Relatives
- Halloween Grace and Courtesy
- Montessori-Inspired Kids’ Gift Wrapping Activities
- Geometric Solid Dressing, Wrapping, and Gift Giving (and Receiving)
- How to Manage Interruptions in Your Montessori Classroom or Homeschool
- Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy Is Out!
- Free Grace and Courtesy Printable {Manners Matching Cards}
- The Best Way to Teach Manners to a Toddler
- Focusing on Toddler Manners in the 100 Acts of Kindness Challenge
- Completing 100 Acts of Kindness (Toddler Manners Challenge) and Starting 100+ Acts of Kindness
- How to Have a Healthy and Courteous Tea Party Picnic
- How to Have a Healthy and Courteous Teddy Bear Picnic
- How to Teach Toddlers and Preschoolers to Take Turns and Work Together
- The Best Children’s Books About Taking Turns and Sharing
- How to Have a Healthy and Courteous First-Day-of-School Tea Party
- Simple Way to Teach Kids to Stop Interrupting
- Holiday Manners
- How to Have a Fun Fraction Party for Toddlers and Preschoolers
- How to Have a Healthy and Courteous Back-to-School Tea Party
- Free Manners Songs for Home or Classroom
- 20+ Free Printable Manners Cards, Booklets, Charts, and Games
- The Best Books about Manners for Preschoolers
- Free Royal Tea Party Videos {Grace and Courtesy Resources}
- How to Have a Healthy and Courteous Royal Tea Party
- How to Teach Your Child Table Manners for Holiday Gatherings
- How to Teach Your Child Manners and Good Character Through Golf
- Grace and Courtesy for a New School Year
- Grace and Courtesy Games at Home or School
Montessori-Inspired Manners Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber).
If you’d like ideas for calendar-based themes throughout October and November, see my October Themed Activities for Kids. and my November Themed Activities for Kids.
Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!
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