Goops and How to Be Them

A series of short, illustrated rhymes depicts a band of rude children called Goops whose petty misbehaviors serve as comic cautions about etiquette. Each pithy poem targets a single fault—table manners, cleanliness, neatness, honesty, patience, courtesy and similar habits—and contrasts the Goops’ antics with the conduct readers are encouraged to adopt. Playful drawings accompany repetitive, humorous lines that blend satire and gentle moral instruction, using negative example to teach simple, age-appropriate rules of polite behavior and cheerfulness in practicing virtue.