Wordplay

May 22, 2017
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. Author’s agent: Alexandra Penfold, Upstart Crow Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Rebecca Sherman, Writers House.

May 15, 2017
The five most common parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and interjection) frolic on the playground for a day of grammar exploration. Red Verb starts things off, climbing, sliding, and twirling. Next, blue Noun appears. Noun becomes a person (King Tut), a place (an amusement park or perhaps just a roller coaster), or thing (a menacing dinosaur), though why Noun keeps transforming is not clear. Interjection, Adjective, and Adverb act as peanut gallery. Verb reacts aggressively to Noun, though why their relationship seems to be fraught is never explained nor understood. Once a bee enters the scene, Verb springs into action, first running and hiding, then helping Noun, who is stuck (why this is so is also never made clear). Soon Noun becomes the best thing a noun can ever be: a friend. Fully saturated digital illustrations brimming with energy and excitement are certain to make young readers smile at the antics of all the characters, even if it is not always exactly clear what they are up to. The characters' T-shirts are labeled with their initials, but even that is a bit fuzzy. The orange child is labeled ADV and the chartreuse one sports an ADJ shirt, but both are actually nouns talking about being adverbs and adjectives. The parts of speech are devilish to explain to young children, and this volume does little to clear up any confusion. (Picture book. 4-9)

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June 1, 2017

Gr 1-4-Lehrhaupt and Chapman have created a story to help young readers understand parts of speech. Readers are introduced to Verb, a vivacious red girl with long pigtails and a big black "V" on her sweater. She DOES things such as climbing and twirling and is full of action. Then readers meet Noun, a blue boy who doesn't DO but can BE; he can be a dinosaur, an Egyptian ruler, or a roller coaster. Verb is jealous of Noun and all his different and amazing iterations, but when a large bee swoops in to harm him, she springs into action for a thrilling rescue. Interjection, Adverb, and Adjective are represented by three differently shaded children who serve as a Greek chorus by standing on the sidelines and making observations in keeping with their names. "Wow!" says Interjection. "Big, scary teeth," observes Adjective. "Brilliantly done," states Adverb. Chapman makes great use of color, relying on deep green for the background and character-specific hues for the parts of speech. This teaching tool for budding grammarians shines best when defining nouns and verbs. The other three parts of speech are more subtle, and their interplay in the book doesn't always work. VERDICT A supplemental purchase where needed.-Amy Nolan, St. Joseph Public Library, MI

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2017
Grades K-2 Meet Verb. Verb is happy. And then there is Noun. Noun can't DO like Verb. But Noun can BE. While Interjection, Adjective, and Adverb watch amazed as Noun shows his ability to become a person, place, or thing, Verb is not impressed. When Noun turns into a unicorn amid the oohs and aahs of his word friends, Verb sulks. Suddenly, Interjection shouts, BEE! and all run and hide from the enormous and vicious-looking bee, except for Noun, who can't DO anything. But Verb, who recognizes her own strengths despite her envy of Noun's abilities, comes to the rescue. In this grammatical contest for power, Lehrhaupt puts personified parts of speech to work in his playful demonstration of word usage. Colored-coded dialogue matches up to each part of speech, expect for Noun, who just is. Chapman's cartoonish artwork features exuberant, brightly colored figures gamboling about a verdant playground, and the endpapers include a more detailed explanation of the parts of speech featured in the book. A playful enhancement to a language arts lesson.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)