Blurp’s Book of Manners
by Cindy Derby; illus. by the author
Primary    Roaring Brook    48 pp.
12/22    9781250810359    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781250907301    $10.99

Etiquette expert Elizabeth Picklepop IV’s mettle is tested when her Introduction to Manners lesson goes from bad to worse to very undignified. An accidental splatter of blue paint morphs into a well-meaning but impulsive creature with Technicolor digestive issues. Ms. Picklepop tries valiantly to ignore Blurp’s disruptions, managing to keep calm and carry on even after Blurp guzzles first red then yellow paint and the ensuing projectile blurps cast a colorful spray all over our bespectacled hostess and her ornately decorated manor house. Derby’s (Two Many Birds, rev. 1/21) vibrant illustrations were made with images from “1950s home décor magazines, using digital tools, and splattering ink and watercolor from across a room.” Every page is a feast of visual humor, whether the quirkily illustrated characters are part of crisp photo-collaged scenes or coated in Blurp’s paint splatter. Ms. Picklepop finally loses her composure after a particularly humiliating faux pas (imagine a paint-filled whoopie cushion that sticks to one’s derriere) and then attempts to salvage the situation with a lesson on being considerate…but it’s not very considerate to yell at someone, is it? An apology and formal introductions (including Ms. Picklepop’s tension-diffusing malapropism) set things back on track. This crowd-pleaser is sure to be enthusiastically if not politely received.

From the March/April 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.