How to Be a Person: 65 Hugely Useful, Super-Important Skills to Learn Before You're Grown Up

(Paperback)

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This humorous and entirely practical how-to book for kids aged 10 and up passes along essential life skills with an irreverent voice and graphic novelstyle illustrations. From how to write a thank-you note to how to make a simple meal, this valuable advice, written with wit and wisdom, will help every kid taking the first steps into adulthood. For the kid who leaves a wet towel wadded up on the floor or forgets to put a new roll on the toilet-paper thingy, humorous writer and etiquette columnist Catherine Newman has written the ultimate guidebook to becoming a person whom everyone will like being around more. Jam-packed with tips, tricks, and skills - all illustrated in an irresistible graphic novelstyle - this book shows kids just how easy it is to free themselves from parental nagging and become a more dependable person - and they'll like themselves better, too! They'll learn how to deal with dirty rooms, care for pets and cactuses, stick up for somebody, and fold a T-shirt. They'll even get a crash course on using the kitchen and a boot camp for lending a hand outside the house (mowing, shoveling, and fixing something loose has never been easier). This handbook to becoming beyond helpful promises that every kid can be a valued and valuable member of the grown-up world. AGES: 10 to 14 AUTHOR: Catherine Newman is the author of Waiting for Birdy, Catastrophic Happiness, and One Mixed-Up Night, and the coauthor of Stitch Camp. She is the etiquette columnist for Real Simple magazine and the editor of the James Beard Award-winning kids' cooking magazine ChopChop. Newman has contributed to publications including the New York Times, O the Oprah Magazine, and Parents. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her family. SELLING POINTS: . Teens are heading off to college knowing trigonometry and ancient history, but those skills aren't enough. Many don't know how to do laundry, budget money, or other important life skills. This book teaches self-sufficiency to tweens so they can take care of themselves in the world by the time they leave the nest. Best-selling parenting books like Jessica Potts Lahey's The Gift of Failure and Julie Lythcott-Haims's How to Raise an Adult are advocating for fostering independence and warning against helicopter parenting. The time has come for kids to learn how to be more independent. . Graphic-style illustrations complement Newman's engaging, non-judgmental voice. . Loaded with illustrations, how-to tips, and humour throughout, this book is gifty, practical, and fun to read.

Reviews

"Catherine Newman has created a starting place for loving, productive conversations about independence, competence, and kindness."-- Jessica Lahey, best-selling author of The Gift of Failure

"Kids will delight in this witty, clear, and fun-to-read handbook. And parents will rejoice in having Catherine Newman as a wise and warm partner in teaching our children nearly everything they should know -- but don't want to hear about from us!" -- Dr. Lisa Damour, best-selling author of Untangled and Under Pressure

"An illustrated guide that teaches tweens (who aren't eager to learn anything from you) life skills such as managing money, doing the dishes, and addressing an envelope."-- Parents

"Geared toward kids -- but honestly, everyone in the house should brush up on these cleaning and life skills." -- Real Simple

"Emphasizes why these skills are so important for kids to master and how good they'll feel once they do. The illustrations reflect diversity and avoid gender stereotypes. Entertaining way to teach valuable skills that every kid (and adult) needs to know." -- Booklist

"This succinct and entertaining guidebook describes life skills with step-by-step instructions... No matter who is reading and enjoying the book, the skills are fleshed out with easy-to-understand steps and engaging illustrations." -- School Library Journal

Author Bio

Catherine Newman is the author of What Can I Say and the award-winning bestseller How to Be a Person, as well as two parenting memoirs: Waiting for Birdy and Catastrophic Happiness, and a middle-grade novel, One Mixed-Up Night. She's also the co-author of Stitch Camp. Newman is the etiquette columnist for Real Simple magazine and the editor of the James Beard Award-winning kids' cooking magazine ChopChop. A regular contributor to publications including the New York Times, Romper, Cup of Jo, and Grown & Flown, Newman lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, with her family. Visit her at catherinenewmanwriter.com.