It may seem implausible that a children's book about manners and etiquette, written more than 100 years ago, could snare the attention of young ones ready to cross the threshold of the 21st century.
But reworking such a book has been a project for Battle Ground children's author Barbara Ross.
"Goops: And How To Be Them," is the title of the manual on manners by Ross.
Ross will share the re-release of the book with children during storytime at 11 a.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, 7700 N. E. Fourth Plain Blvd.
In addition to reading excerpts from the book, Ross will talk about family stories passed down from generation to generation. Following storytime there will be a discussion of manners and etiquette.
If Ross' presentation is anything like the rhyming verse, children will love this book and hopefully strive to avoid being a Goop (someone with bad manners) in the future.
The original version of Goops was written by Gelett Burgess in the mid-1800s, and a copy of the book had been read to generations of Ross' family. Her father remembered his mother reading from the book, Ross listened to the story as a child and she continued the tradition by reading to her grandchild.
When she learned the copyright for "Goops" had expired, she decided to publish a new version of the tale of good manners.
She kept the original verse, some of which is dated but still fun to read, and has included fanciful black and white drawings.
Here's some advice from the book for little boys:
"When you are playing with the girls,
You must not pull their pretty curls,
If you are gentle when you play,
You will be glad of it some day."
And here's how the book tackles table manners:
"The Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops they lick their knives,
They spill their broth on the tablecloth--
Oh, They lead disgusting lives!
The Goops they talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew,
And that is why I'm glad that I
Am not a Goop--Are you?"
A display of photos from the Montana homestead of her father, where Ross was read to as a child, also will be displayed during storytime Saturday.
Mike Bailey
A & E and more
