Horn Book Review
(Preschool) ""If you ever really want something, / really, really want something, / don't just grab it!"" The cheerleading gang of mice from Time to Pee! (rev. 1/04) here offer tips and encouragement on manners. As in Willems's previous pep rally of a book, words in the simple text appear on such items as banners, balloons, parachutes, blimps, helicopters, and signs (to name a few), all wielded/held aloft/driven by the enthusiastic mice. Despite the amount of frenetic activity on each page, the cartoon art isn't chaotic and offers lots of details for viewers to pore over. The breezy etiquette lesson briefly touches on when to say ""please"" (""when you want a turn"") as well as on three other phrases that ""can come in handy"" (""excuse me,"" ""sorry,"" and ""thank you""). Although Willems mentions that ""you may not get what you want,"" he doesn't reinforce that important point in the example given (a little girl who gets a cookie after asking politely). Still, this is a lighthearted accompaniment to other preschool books on manners -- such as Margery Cuyler's Please Say Please! (Scholastic) -- and an easily digested good-behavior refresher. A simple board game is printed inside the jacket, and a spinner for same is glued to the back endpaper. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
After it's Time to Pee (2003), apparently it's time to learn manners. The swarms of placard-bearing mice who cheered children through the agonies of toilet training return, this time to instruct them in the basics of etiquette: "If you every really want something, / . . . PLEASE say 'PLEASE'!" Floating on balloons, skydiving in, screeching through in ambulances, the helpful mice demonstrate the many situations where "please" might be appropriate, as well as the utility of "excuse me," "sorry" ("But you have to mean it!"), and "thank you." As in his previous offering, Willems delivers an entirely kid-centered lesson, with the occasional gentle dose of reality: "You may not get what you want." After asserting that, "you can never say please too often," a little girl who has just successfully gotten a cookie holds up a placard of her own as the mice entreat her to share with some 30 plus iterations of the magic word: "Then again, maybe you CAN." The zany antics of the mice compel close--and repeated--readings, and the inevitable question: Please, sir, may we have some more? (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
