QBooks are miniature books of social cues. They typically include six pages of content, along with two cover pages. Each page features an image and a short caption addressing one aspect of social behavior with a very narrow, explicit message. The image is usually a photograph of Max and other people in his life; these images are candid, though sometimes edited digitally. Some pages have a drawing instead of a photograph.

 

Though QBooks are humorous, their primary purpose is to guide behavior, and they have titles that reflect that purpose. In a way, the books act like commands in a programming language. As parents we program our kids to operate in the world, and because Max lacked understanding of unwritten social rules and assumptions, he needed more programming than the average kid. A command in a programming language must be specific, and QBooks should similarly be as explicit as possible. Like a programmer who tests her code after every new command, I wanted a separate QBook for each social rule.