CM Magazine: Ms. Sneed's Guide to Hygiene .

________________ CM . . . . Volume V Number 7 . . . . November 27, 1998

Ms. Sneed's Guide to Hygiene.

Dale Gottlieb.
San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books (Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books), 1997.
14 pp., cloth, $15.95.
ISBN: 0-8118-1718-0.

Subject Headings:
Hygiene-Juvenile humour.
Toy and movable books-Specimens.

Kindergarten - grade 4 / Ages 5 - 9.
Review by Irene Gordon.

* /4

The blurb on the back cover of this book says:

Through insightful tips, hilarious pop-ups, wacky rhymes and bright, playful illustrations, Ms. Sneed makes hygiene fun! This unforgettable pop-up format will teach kids important lessons, while the queen of hygiene keeps them laughing all the way to the bathtub.

While this book may be of some value for children who need to learn the basic rules of hygiene at school, there must be some better material on the topic. I disagree with virtually everything that the blurb says. The following is an example of the so-called humour and insightful tips:

Hygiene is, and I quote: "Conditions and practices that contribute to health." In other words, if you're brushin' your choppers and blowin' your beak, swabbing your spuds and scrubbin' your skin, suddsin' your mane and clippin' your claws, well then toots, you're doing it!

While the garish colours and cartoon-like artwork may appeal to children, the very simple pop-ups will almost certainly disappoint them. Why bother to include pop-ups unless they provide a surprise or intricate details that could not be so effectively shown any other way?

Not recommended.

Irene Gordon of Headingley, Manitoba, is a free-lance writer and former teacher-librarian who spent 14 years working in a junior high school library.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - NOVEMBER 27, 1998.