NOSES ARE NOT FOR PICKING

The latest addition to the Best Behaviors series encourages little ones to “Pick a tissue, not your nose.”

The opening spreads inform readers that noses are for breathing and sniffing but not for picking. The rhyming text, with a couple of clever lines, describes using a tissue, throwing the tissue away and washing hands to “Tell those germs good-bye.” Heinlen’s art, which is a step above other titles of this instructive, didactic ilk, uses a diverse cast of cartoon kids and grown-ups to model appropriate behaviors, rendering them with a bold black line and warm colors. The last two pages offer extensive tips for parents and caregivers on ways to gently discourage nose-picking through modeling, respect, redirection and persistence.

A positive approach to a difficult subject.