Nouns and Verbs Have a Field Day

March 1, 2006
Gr 2-4 -Pulver and Reed introduced grammar in a playful way with "Punctuation Takes a Vacation" (Holiday House, 2003), and their instructional romp continues here with animated words that are brightly colored, boldly labeled, and packed with personality. Hunting for nouns and verbs is a daily routine in Mr. Wright -s classroom. When the students go outside for Field Day, the envious words come to life, determined to have their own good time. Teams are formed; verbs stick with verbs and proper nouns, long nouns, and pronouns pair off, yet these exclusive groups prove ineffective. In order to have fun and to form sentences, they will have to mingle with new partners, an arrangement that proves so successful that the nouns and verbs have their own uproarious Field Day. The students return and discover that the words are in brand-new locations, resulting in mayhem that is reminiscent of that in Bill Martin, Jr. -s "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" (S & S, 1989) and Laurie Keller -s "The Scrambled States of America" (Holt, 1998). Humorous text bubbles enhance the lesson, along with a final page of supplementary exercises, tongue twisters, and a riddle. Just like the energetic verbs that strut across the pages, this book is -where the action is. -" -Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2006
K-Gr. 3. In this companion to " Punctuation Takes a Vacation" (2003), the nouns and verbs decide to have some fun of their own while the kids in Mr. Wright's class are away participating in a field day. The nouns pair up with other nouns and the verbs with other verbs, until they realize they must cooperate to accomplish anything. When the kids return to class at the end of the day, they find that the words in some classroom signs have been rearranged and that the nouns and verbs have left them a Mad Libs-style letter just for fun. Reed's vividly colored cartoons capture the high-energy activity, showing triangular-shaped verbs smiling, hopping, and whining their way through the story, accompanied by a variety of animated classroom objects. Although the emphasis is on silliness, Pulver makes her point about the parts of speech; even the youngest listeners will realize that sentences need both nouns and verbs in order to make sense. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)