Wordplay
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In the funny, smart mold of The Day the Crayons Quit, this sneaky lesson about the parts of speech is also a delightful story about playground competition and new friends.When the parts of speech gather on the playground, Verb is always the star. She can climb! She can frolic! She can DO anything! Her friends Adjective, Adverb, and Interjection all watch admiringly. ("WOW!" says Interjection.)Then Noun comes along -- and Noun can BE anything. A person! A place! Even a thing! ("PRETTY!" says Interjection.) The other parts of speech are fascinated by this new kid, and Verb doesn't like it one bit.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lehrhaupt (I Will Not Eat You) and Chapman (Fruits in Suits) personify parts of speech, turning them into playground pals. Noun is a boy with shape-shifting capabilities, as befits words that can be persons, places, or things. Verb is a pigtailed girl with endless energy ("She climbs. She slides. She twirls"). And Interjection, Adjective, and Adverb serve as a grammatical Greek chorus: " Wow!' says Interjection. An impressive display,' says Adjective. Very graceful,' says Adverb"). The story is slight, but sufficient: Verb becomes envious of the attention being showered on Noun, but when Noun is threatened by an angry bee, the two realize they need each other after all, without Verb, Noun literally can't move. Chapman keeps the look simple: the background is an uncluttered, grassy green, and each character is rendered as a single-color line drawing (with corresponding color-coded dialogue) to help readers keep track of who's who. The sunny mood readily conveys the idea that grammar is easy-peasy, which is just what some readers need to hear. Ages 4 8.
