Pre- and Re-, Mis- and Dis-

October 15, 2013
Grades 2-4 Expanding on a topic introduced in Straight and Curvy, Meek and Nervy (2009), Cleary's latest entry in the Words are CATegorical series pairs a rhymed introduction to common prefixes and how they change the meanings of words, with freewheeling cartoon illustrations of clothed cats in diverse, loud, unnatural colors modeling or acting out those changes. Though he avoids bringing up messy complications like contronyms (inflammable, oversight) and prefixes that look the same but have different meanings (pronoun, progress), he does tuck sufficient qualifiers into the discourse ( Trans-' will sometimes mean across.' / It often hints at movement ), and in the helpful review chart at the end, he provides both additional examples for 22 prefixes and a note on when il- is used rather than im- (it has to do with the root word's first letter). Budding wordsmiths in particular will benefit from this lively look at one of language's most versatile transformative tools.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)