A Children's Book about Disobeying

When I was very young, I didn't see why a child needed a parent or guardian to tell him/her what to do. I eventually found out that when you disobey a grown up (i.e., if you're a child), you would need a punishment. In this book, Heidi disobeyed her father by eating candy before dinner. Her father didn't want her to eat candy before dinner because he thought it would steal her appetite. The third to last page said you mustn't lie when you disobey because you would get into even bigger trouble. I think when Heidi disobeyed her father about the candy, she felt it was bad enough that she disobeyed and therefore told the truth. Because Heidi disobeyed about the candy, she didn't get to eat the rest of it. In the very end, both her mother and father felt proud of her for understanding why anybody should listen to others that don't want them to do a bad thing or avoid something helpful.

My 6 year old daughter loves these books and has asked me to reread them all the time! I think kids kinda like to see other kids be bad. We discuss what practical situations count as "disobeying" and if I say, "You're disobeying me because I asked you not to do that" -- disobey is a trigger word and she realizes. Children should be over 5 at least to understand the concepts. Reading these books to a 2 or 3 year old doesn't make sense.

This children's book by Joy Berry is short, to the point and has excellent comic book type illustrations that will catch any toddler's eye. The topic here is whining and why it's a bad thing to do. In this story you and your toddler will read about Annie and her stuffed rabbit, who can think, but not talk. Annie and her Bunny start learning right from the get go that disobeying is not a good thing. For one thing, it'll make Mom (and/or Dad) mad, for another there are very good reasons why your parents tell you not to do things. The want you to grow up learning how to be both fair and careful. Annie learns that her parents are not bossing her around just because they are bigger, but because they have lived longer and are wiser. When they tell her do do something, it's for her own good. There are valuble lessons here for your toddler and as usual, Ms. Berry tells her story in a way that will keep any child interested. Ms. Berry's books are all delightful and it's a puzzle to me why they are so hard to get. One would think that this is the kind of book every toddler should grow up with. I'm glad I have them and my son Devon is too.

As a child I had the complete 1980's collection of Let's Talk About books. Aside from my Dr. Seuss books these were my favorites and I'm sure they helped mold me into the kind, caring, honest, patient, obediant, human I am today. A few years ago my mother held a yard sale and didn't tell me about it ahead of time. I arrived to find a couple buying ALL of my Dr. Seuss books, and many of my Let's Talk About books were already gone. I actually kind of stood off to the side with a look of horror on my face. I had planned on giving the books that had been in storage for years to my daughter.I was SO excited when I found the series on one of her scholastic book order forms from Pre-school. Of course I am now a proud owner of the new collection. Still, I'm sad that I don't have the originals. These books are still great books and my daughter loves them as much as I love them!