Wordplay

by Adam Lehrhaupt, Jared Chapman (Illustrator)

Overview

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. But when a new threat menaces the playground, Noun can't move! There's only one part of speech who can DO something about it ... and that might allow Noun and Verb to BE something together: friends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545934282
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	07/25/2017
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	420L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jared Chapman has written and illustrated four picture books — Vegetables in Underwear; Fruits in Suits, Pirate, Viking & Scientist; and Steve, Raised by Wolves. He lives in the piney woods of Northeast Texas with his wife and four kids. You can find him online at jaredchapman.com, and on Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram as @jaredchapman.
Adam Lehrhaupt is the author of many wildly creative picture books, including Warning! Do Not Open This Book, which won an E. B. White Read-Aloud Honor Award; Please, Open This Book!; I Will Not Eat You; and Chicken in Space. He lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia with his wife, two sons, and two bizarre dogs. You can find him online at www.adamlehrhaupt.com and at @lehrhaupt.

Editorial Reviews

05/22/2017
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. (July)

Publishers Weekly

06/01/2017
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

School Library Journal

2017-04-26
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)

Kirkus Reviews