How to apologize by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

This silly book approaches a more serious subject with a light touch. As readers can see from the cover, it's all about what to do when you make a mistake, like gnawing down the tree that happens to be someone's home...

The book explains simply that everyone makes mistakes, and when we do, no matter who we are, we should apologize. A simple, sincere apology, with no excuses. Try to fix the mistake, but if you can't make sure you don't make that mistake again. Apologizing will make you - and the other person - feel better.

The real attraction of the story is the humorous depiction of the mistakes, starting on the cover and including little vignettes throughout the book, like a sad squirrel on the jacket flap whose balloon has been popped by a porcupine. There's a parachuting penguin who crashes through an alligator's attic and into their bathroom, a nervous cat wearing glasses who sends their kite flying into the grilling stake of a grouchy and tattooed bulldog, and a bee and fly competing for class president, complete with pun-filled campaign posters. A sloth smiles happily when they get an apology note from snail, for going "too fast" and stepping on their toes, a bear cub apologizes to their parent for cutting a flag from their shorts, and the story ends with a mouse carrying a dripping popsicle past a sign reminding readers to keep the book clean.

This is is cute and funny but, to be honest, it's not the type of book I'd pick to teach children about apologies. It will be hard for most kids to equate the scenarios with their own peccadilloes, especially since they are more funny than realistic. There is a lot of focus on the act of apologizing, and how it makes both parties feel better, which is... not true, in my opinion! There's only one brief mention of the importance of fixing the mistake you made, or making restitution, although the section on not making excuses and just apologizing is good.

Verdict: If you want a funny story with a moral, this is fine. If you're actually looking for something to teach kids about apologizing, I would go with Trudy Ludwig's Sorry! and Just Kidding! which emphasize that you can't do unkind things, or even make mistakes, and then fix them just by saying sorry.

ISBN: 9781536209440; Published May 2021 by Candlewick; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library