"Always Wear Clean Underwear!": And Other Ways Parents Say "I Love You"

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6. Gellman's warm, witty, and instructive primer for children about the whys and wherefores of parenting will help them understand their parents' motivations for discipline. The author describes his own childhood frustration and curiosity with his mother's endless injunctions to eat his vegetables (especially the dreaded green-bean casserole), to share his toys, clean his room, take out the trash, and not to hit his sister. When he became a parent, Gellman came to realize that such commands are part of a greater master catalogue that he calls "The List." In lighthearted but sincere prose, he explains that items found on this record of seemingly endless commandments have little meanings and big meanings. Each of the 30+ short chapters is devoted to one of these parental injunctions children hear while growing up to be good people. The author explains reasons for each rule and brings more than a little wisdom and often gentle humor to the process. His explanations are so lucid and insightful that this wise and refreshing book will be great for shared reading. Tilley's occasional small cartoons add another note of levity.?Jerry D. Flack, University of Colorado, Colorado SpringsCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The New York Times Book Review, J. Patrick Lewis
Behind a mask of frivolity--a ticklish title and Debbie Tilley's whimsical cover art--lurks a stern schoolmarm. Each item on "The List" of 32 annoying parental admonitions stands for a really Big Lesson. (Ages 8 and older)

Book Description
Clean your plate.Stand up straight.Call if you're going to be late. Part of being a kid is having grown-ups make you do things you hate--like eating your vegetables, taking out the garbage, and walking the dog. Then, to make matters worse, they say you can't do things that are no big deal-like talking with your mouth full or wearing dirty underwear. And worst of all? You have to listen to them say it not once, not twice, but a zillion times. When Marc Gellman put together a list of your parents' favorite do's and don'ts, he made a big discovery: Each thing on The List has a hidden meaning that helps you get through life. And love is the reason for everything on The List. So if you already wear clean underwear, here are thirty-one more tips to help you understand some of the crazy ways that parents try to say, "I love you."

Card catalog description
Explains the little and big meanings of things parents tell their children, such as "Eat your vegetables," "Look both ways before you cross the street," and "Don't talk with your mouth full."

About the Author
Rabbi Gellman holds an earned doctorate in philosophy from Northwestern University. Rabbi Gellman is married to Betty Schulson and has two children, Mara and Max. He is the senior rabbi of Temple Beth Torah in Melville, New York. He will be the next president of the New York Board of Rabbis.


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When Marc Gellman put together a list of your parents' favorite do's and don'ts, he made a big discovery: Each thing on The List has a hidden meaning that helps you get through life. And love is the reason for everything on The List. So if you already wear clean underwear, here are thirty-one more tips to help you understand some of the crazy ways that parents try to say, "I love you."


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