BrainJuice: English, Fresh Squeezed! [Hardcover]

Carol Diggory Shields (Author), Tony Ross (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: BrainJuice

Only Carol Diggory Shields could reduce a whole body of knowledge to forty incisive, hilarious, and all-encompassing poems!
In this newest addition to the BrainJuice series, Carol Diggory Shields undertakes to impart all the really important facets of the English language -- and impart she does! Do you want the last word on punctuation? Spelling? Diagramming a sentence? Drafting a letter, keeping a journal, writing poetry? No aspect of English is left unexamined, and both students and teachers will not only find BrainJuice: English extremely cool, but they will be forever grateful to the author for supplying them with "36 Ways to Say Cool" (see sample below*).
Supporting the author's heroic efforts to make English funny, comprehensible and comprehensive, as well as irresistible, Tony Ross offers art that is funny, comprehensible, comprehensive, and extremely irresistible!
*A small sampling from "36 Way to Say Cool": Groovy, great, the cat's meow, awesome, chill, phat, wow, marvy, dandy, swell, divine, nifty, peachy-keen, fine!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–Following her American History, Fresh Squeezed! (2002) and Science, Fresh Squeezed! (2003, both Handprint), Shields presents humorous poems both celebrating and bemoaning parts of speech, grammatical rules, and other annoyances of English class. Her rhyming verse is generally snappy and pointed, as in "Verbless" ("So if conjugation should give you a pain,/You'll notice you even need verbs to complain") or "Sentence Romance" ("They added a conjunction, and when the time was ripe,/They had a little clause, of the independent type"). The clever wordplay extends to more complex jokes, as in "How Many Homonyms?" ("When he ate eight pairs of pears,/My dear deer grew quite sickly,/But the doc by the dock, his herd had heard,/Could cure him pretty quickly") or "Punctuation Promenade" ("Apostrophe kept contracting,/ 'Let's run, let's jump, let's hop.'/At the end of every sentence,/Period, of course, had to stop"). Ross's spot illustrations in black and white with a blue tone add visual amusement without overwhelming. Designed to look like a small grammar guide, this volume won't help anyone who minds "learning the facts" as Shields suggests, but it's plenty of fun for the smart aleck who appreciates a dig at English class.–Nina Lindsay, Oakland Public Library, CA
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About the Author

Carol Diggory Shields is a poet, a humorist, and a librarian -- the perfect qualifications for reducing immense bodies of knowledge into a very few lines of extremely funny verse. Grateful teachers and students can direct fan letters to her in Salinas, Cal

Tony Ross is the internationally renowned artist and author of more than 100 books, including I Want My Potty , Meanwhile Back at the Ranch , and The Knight Who Was Afraid of the Dark . He lives in Cheshire, England with his wife Zoe and daughter, Kate.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (December 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593540531
• ISBN-13: 978-1593540531
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Love It!!!!!, June 11, 2011

By 

April L. Hazelwood (Kansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: BrainJuice: English, Fresh Squeezed! (Hardcover)

I was introduced to this book while at a "Language" training and fell in love with it. It is several poems written about parts of speech. I am going to use it in my classes I teach so that my students can start thinking about the parts of speech. A great ice-breaker.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Poery Book, December 28, 2009

By 

Kimberley (Dayton, OH) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: BrainJuice: English, Fresh Squeezed! (Hardcover)

Carol Diggory Shields has DONE IT AGAIN! The newest BrainJuice book on English is fantastic. When my students forget how to use an adjective or even forget what one is, I read from this book. It and the other books about American History and Science serve as an excellent connection to topics that have been previously studied and yet to be studied. GOOD ONE, CAROL!