Pardon? Mary Wrightly So Politely by Shirin Yim Bridges

MARY WRIGHTLY WAS A GOOD, POLITE LITTLE GIRL WHO SPOKE IN A SOFT VOICE. WHENEVER SHE WANTED SOMETHING, MARY WRIGHTLY SAID "PLEASE," "THANK YOU," EVEN "THANK YOU VERY MUCH."

"MARY, PLEASE SPEAK UP," SAID HER TEACHER.

For the most part, Mary's soft-spoken good manners are appreciated wherever she goes, but there are times when a girl has to try another technique.

And when Mary and her mother go shopping for a first birthday present for her little brother, she discovers that she is constantly pushed aside by more assertive shoppers.

MARY SPOTTED A TEDDY BEAR, JUST THE RIGHT THING FOR HER BABY BROTHER.

But before Mary can lay hands on that  bear, another little girl snatches it off the shelf and makes off with it. Mannerly Mary just looks around for another potential present and spots a stuffed dog on a top shelf. But before she can get her mother to go for it, it's gone to a pushy someone with longer arms.

AND THEN MARY SAW IT.

IT was a blue elephant that was perfect for her little brother, a dead ringer for the blue elephant Mary and her mom had stenciled above her brother's crib. Mary just has to get it for him.

But, alas, a lady picks ;IT up as Mary is about to reach for it. Something must be done!

At last Mary Wrightly screws her courage to the sticking point and speaks up, politely, but loudly.

""Excuse me. EXCUSE ME! THAT'S FOR MY BABY BROTHER!"SAYS MARY.

And politely but loudly work in Shirin Yim Bridges' new Mary Wrightly, So Politely (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013), as the lady graciously hands over the elephant with a appropriate apology.  Mary is that rare child to whom soft-spoken manners come naturally, but Bridges makes her point  that you don't have to be rude to be assertive. Artist Maria Monescillo's soft illustrations suit Mary's manner well, in a book which has earned starred reviews and polite raves, from both the Wall Street Journal  and The New York Times. "... A nearly perfect parable about being true to oneself in a rough-and-tumble world," says Publishers Weekly.