The honest to goodness truth is a popular saying that dates back a few decades. Sometimes telling the upfront truth can hurt people's feelings. This book teaches children the difference from being mean and telling the truth. Sometimes people including children must tell white lies instead of the truth to protect the ones they love and care about. Libby goes through various situations (hole in sock, tattle telling, the messy garden) before she realizes what she has done wrong.
McKissack was able to place the setting a few decades ago in the South by the sewing actions of the mother, living on a farm, and the spelling of the word Miz. ( )

The pragmatic rules about telling the truth vs. being tactful vs. 'white lies' and keeping your mouth shut are not often a theme in children's books.  This may not be the best book ever on the subject, but it's the best I've seen.  However, I despise the style of the illustrations.  So, while I do recommend the book highly to children, parents, and libraries, I cannot bring myself to rate it any higher than 3.5 stars. ( )

Libbey is confused when she follows the advice of her mother in always telling the truth. Her friends become mad at her for telling things like how they have a hole in their sock or someone didn't do their homework and it leaves Libby confused and struggling to figure out how to tell the truth the right way.
I would use this book in the classroom to teach social manners, one of those added lessons we give in the classroom. It is a great lesson on how to say, what to say and when to say it. It also shows the importance of owning up to your words and doing the right thing. ( )

A little who told lies and eventually realized it was wrong and started telling the truth all the time. The girl learned the right and wrong way of how to tell the truth.

Ages: 4-6
Source: pierce college library ( )

a story about a little girl that started off not telling the truth, she felt bad and turned around and starts to tell the truth about everything. She soon finds out that telling a lie is bad and there is a right way and a wrong way to tell the truth. ( )