A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What Is a Noun?

by Brian P. Cleary, Jenya Prosmitsky (Illustrator)

Overview

What is a noun?

It's easier to show than explain—and this book is brimming with examples. Author Brian Cleary and illustrator Jenya Prosmitsky creatively clarify the concept of nouns for young readers. Nouns are printed in color for easy identification, and the playful rhymes and illustrations combine to highlight key words.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575054025
Publisher:	Millbrook Press (Tm)
Publication date:	08/01/1999
Series:	Words Are Categorical Series
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Brian P. Cleary is an American humorist, poet, and author. He is best known for his books written for grade-school children that explore grammar, math and poetry in humorous ways. In his role in the digital division of American Greetings, he's put words in the mouths of Dolly Parton, Christina Aguilera, William Shatner, Meghan Trainor and more. The multi-million selling author has performed poetry workshops in 500 elementary schools across the county. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Jenya Prosmitsky was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and lived most of her childhood and teen years in Kishinev, Moldavia (former U.S.S.R.). She studied fine arts, illustration, and graphic design at Repin College of Arts in Kishinev before coming to the U.S. For over 10 years Jenya has worked as an interactive/graphic designer and children's book illustrator. She is the artistic creator of the Words Are CATegorical series for Lerner Publishing Group of Minneapolis. Jenya resides in Boston with her husband, Olivier, two daughters, Eugénie and Alexandra, and two cats, Ferruccio and Marcello.

Editorial Reviews

While this book may appear to be little more than a list of nouns, the witty zeal it brings to the task of enumeration makes this basic concept seem like plenty. Cleary indulges his fondness for wordplay (evident from such previous titles as Give Me Bach My Schubert) in the humorous, wide-ranging subjects that show up in the text, its cadences reminiscent of jump-rope songs: "If it's a train, or brain, or frown,/ It's elementary--it's a noun"; "London, Levis, Pekinese--/ Proper nouns name all of these." Colored type highlights the nouns within the verse, which winds around the pictures in a bouncy typeface. For her first children's book, Prosmitsky introduces a cast of goofy-looking cartoon cats with round bodies and giant, flaccid noses. The challenge of illustrating such a random list results in gleeful, nearly nonsensical scenes: the two images for the lines "The pope, some soap that's on a rope,/ A downtown mall, a downhill slope" show a small black cat, rigid with fear, getting soaped up beside a portrait of the pope on the shower wall juxtaposed with a snowscape of cats and their bags sliding down a slope after shopping. Certainly one of the least serious grammar lessons imaginable, this book will convince kids that nouns are everywhere. Ages 7-9. (Sept.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 2-4-Using a combination of humorous rhymes and silly illustrations, Cleary attempts to define nouns. He adheres to the traditional definition, stating, "If it's a person,/place, or thing-/Your dad, Detroit,/a diamond ring,/If it's a boat or coat or clown,/It's simple, Simon,/it's a noun!" Nouns are highlighted in color throughout the text, making it easy for readers to identify them. The rhyming sentences are short and breezy, though some sound awkward: "The pope,/some soap/that's on a rope,/A downtown mall,/a downhill slope." While proper nouns are mentioned, possessives, plurals, and compound nouns are not. The bright illustrations appear to be rendered in colored pencils and crayons, providing both detail and humor. A variety of comical-looking cats are depicted on backgrounds splashed with sea blues, lime greens, and lovely lavenders. Libraries looking to build up their 400s section could consider this introductory title, but Ruth Heller's Merry-Go-Round: A Book about Nouns (Grosset & Dunlap, 1990) is a stronger choice.-Lisa Gangemi Krapp, Rockville Centre Public Library, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

A Mink, A Fink, A Skating Rink (32 pp.; Sept. 7; 1-57505-42-7): This book appropriately abounds with persons, animals, places, and things, while rhymes drop broad hints about using nouns: "Nouns can sometimes be quite proper like Brooklyn Bridge or Edward Hopper," but also "A pocket, button, sleeve, or cuff—A noun can simply be your stuff." Cleary leaves explanations of when and why some nouns are capitalized to the textbooks. Prosmitsky's funny illustrations of tubby cats link some disparate nouns and make them memorable, while a picaresque feline scene on a final two-page spread allows readers to pick out nouns on their own. (Picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews