Webster's Manners by Hannah Whaley

Rating: WORTHY!

I've had a lot of fun with the Webster series of young children's books which started out by teaching web etiquette and safety, and have now migrated in this volume to things electronic. In a series of rhymes, Webster gets to learn what to do with anything noisy that flashes or beeps.

Illustrated with amusing pictures of the Webster spider family (which curiously has canines and only two eyes while retaining eight limbs!) and told in neat little rhymes, this story will hopefully educate your kids as to when electronics need to be subsonic. There's a lot to learn though, so you may have to read this to your child many times before they (hopefully!) absorb it all. You could turn this into a memory contest. I recommend this one.

Webster's Friend by Hannah Whaley

Rating: WORTHY!

I've had some success with the Hannah Whaley Webster books. They're simple, fun, and educational, and instructive, particularly this one which, in a sweet and non-threatening way discusses online misrepresentation. Webster, being a spider, likes to hang out on the world-wide web.... You know I cannot hear that phrase now without hearing it in the voice of Peter Cullen as he sounds when portraying Optimus Prime.

Webster loves to dress up, of course, so when he goes online he thinks it's the same kind of thing, and disguised by his computer, 'wearing' it like a costume, he can be whatever he wants. This gets him into trouble, and one exaggeration leads to another, as he puffs himself up to his new online friend, until his friend decides he wants to meet him! Fortunately, it all turns out fine in the end - and in a surprising way. I liked this, I appreciated how a potentially difficult topic was represented in a very cool way, and a valuable lesson was learned.

Webster's Bedtime by Hannah Whaley

Rating: WORTHY!

This short young children's book was a great idea in my opinion. It teaches children that staying up late playing with electronic devices isn't a good idea - because the devices need to get their rest too! Told in rhyme, it's a nice way to work it!

Webster is a spiderling who has a veritable plethora of electronics, from phone to games to pad. When his mom tells him it's bedtime, he resorts to that age-old children's ruse - the negotiation. I won't make a sound he claims. Any parent knows how well that works. Even if it were true, it still didn't address the issue, which wasn't the noise, but the lateness of the hour.

Webster has a harder time trying to rationalize his behavior when his toys start complaining that they're tired too, but he does give it the old college try. Or in his case, as a youngster in several quick images, maybe it's the collage try? He offers to read to the electronics, sing them a song, tuck them in, but the smart phone, as you would expect, objects. Sharp arachnid that he is, Webster quickly realizes that the only way to deal with this is to turn them off so they can recharge, just as sleep will recharge him.

Illustrated amusingly by the author, this colorful book represents a practical and fresh approach to addressing modern parental concerns. If you can teach children that electronics are their friend, and just like their friends, have to sleep regularly, then it's likely to be a lot easier prying Gameboys and controllers and pads out of kids hands and luring the kid into a good night's sleep, too. I liked this book and recommend it.

Webster's Email by Hannah Whaley

This is a thoroughly delightful piece of silliness which has a serious message underneath - and aren't they the best kind? The author's illustrations show Webster, the spider whose adventures and mishaps (evidently!) are dutifully detailed for us. This one, curiously enough for a spider, takes place on the world wide web!

Webster has a kid sister who's bizarre expressions is captured by Webster with a camera, and it's just too good to be kept to himself, so he emails his father and includes the pic. From that point on, it gets out of hand. None of this is Webster's fault (he only shared it with family, after all), but he feels bad about it as the image starts circulating all over the place.

And isn't it the easiest thing in the world to do that these days? When you had to take your film to the store and get it printed up, and then had to take the negative back to get copies made if you wanted them, no one ever thought of sending out a letter to a score of people enclosing a picture! Now it's the norm. So educational and a worthy read.