By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: December 31, 2011
What does it means to be a gentleman? Author Antonee Boykin kicks off her new picture book series with a lesson on manners.
Reading level: Ages 8 and under
Paperback: 32 pages
Book overview: Alex and Tony are observant seven year old fraternal twin brothers who admire their parents and are constantly learning from each of them. One morning during breakfast when Tony finally decides to ask dad why he always pulls out a chair from under the table for mom to sit down, Alex and Tony both learn a valuable lesson about what it means to be a gentleman. It isn’t until later that day at school that the boys are able to actually put that lesson to use and experience what it feels like to be gentlemen.
In the first of an upcoming series of children’s character building books from author, Antonee Boykin, Alex and Tony Learn to be Gentlemen is perfect lesson teaching literature that will undoubtedly spark dialogue in families and schools about the importance of courteous behavior. It’s an ideal book for children of both sexes in that it not only focuses on how little boys should conduct themselves as gentlemen but also how little girls should expect to be treated as well. Alex and Tony’s father serve as an excellent example for his young sons in the way that he acts towards their mother. He also further displays exemplary role model characteristics in the way that he takes time to carefully explain to his children why he treats their mother the way that he does and why it is equally as important for them to behave as gentlemen towards the girls and women that they encounter.
About the author: Antonee Boykin is a picture book author from Mobile, AL. Alex and Tony Learn to be Gentlemen, is the first of what she plans to make a series of children’s books that teach valuable life lessons geared towards elementary school age children. She hopes that Alex and Tony will entertain as well as open dialogue in schools and families about issues such as the importance of being polite.
Antonee is a graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, AL. She holds a BA in Mass Communications, and has long considered herself a writer before being published. The mother of twin boys, whom she describes as the inspirations for Alex and Tony, she and her family reside in Birmingham, AL.
Visit her at http://www.alexandtonybooks.com/.