If author Elizabeth Mulderig has learned anything signing hundreds of books for children over the years, it is that there are some very rude children out there.

She’s watched as children scream at their parents, stick their gum on furniture, and ruin unsold books, all without being reprimanded.

“So many of the parents won’t address the behaviour,” she said. “So I thought, ‘I’m going to address this behaviour’. If your children aren’t polite, people won’t like them.”

The result was her latest book, Bermuda’s Bum Bum Bananas: Oh! Do Mind your Manners! It is on sale now in all the major book stores.

The illustrations for Bermuda’s Bum Bum Bananas are actually based on a book she wrote 12 years ago. In that case the main character was a lizard.

“My editors said it was too long and made no sense,” said Ms Mulderig. “So I put the illustrations away and brought them out 18 months ago. We rewrote the story and changed the main character to a cat called Bum Bum Bananas.”

The storyline is that Bum Bum Bananas is a very rude cat who pulls the tail of Do-Boy, a dog.

The two set out on a journey around Bermuda to “find” Bum Bum Bananas’ manners. Eventually, they figure out that manners are inside of you, not on the outside.

“When I sign books I find that a lot of children really do need to be taught manners, as do their parents sometimes.

“I wanted a fun way to teach a child that having good manners, and treating people politely, is a really good idea. When you’re nice to other people, they are often nice to you.”

She dedicated the book to her niece, Charlotte Watlington, who died recently.

“She loved cats and was very involved with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA),” said Ms Mulderig. “She was magical around animals. I loved that about her.”

Ms Mulderig has tried to make this book more interactive than her previous ones. There is a fun chorus for the child to repeat, and there are questions pertaining to the illustrations.

“At the back of the book she has put how to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in five different languages, including ‘Bermudian’.

As with her other books about Tiny the Tree Frog, and Do-Boy, Bum Bum Bananas is full of colourful, fun illustrations.

“I had so much fun putting details in these illustrations,” she said. “That’s pretty much why I held on to them all these years.”

Bum Bum Bananas is on sale now in local bookstores.