From School Library Journal
Grade 2-5–Cleary's mission is to make the serious side of language-arts classes more fun, and, to a large degree, he succeeds. Using a fast-moving, quick-witted rhyming text, he covers the different types of pronouns, giving examples of each. Whenever he is referring to a specific type of pronoun, it appears in the accompanying example in colored type to make it stand out. Comically crazy cats are drawn in a childlike style, adding to the book's giddy factor and making the subject matter appealing to students. Ruth Heller covered pronouns in
Mine, All Mine: A Book of Pronouns (Puffin, 1999), but Cleary's style is definitely more active: "So like a pinch hitter/or a good baby-sitter,/the pronoun will say,/ 'You can go noun!/I've got your job covered!'" A strong purchase for school or public libraries needing to update their 400s sections.
–Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gr. 2-4, younger for reading aloud. From the Words Are Categorical series, which began with Cleary's
A Mink, a Fink, and Skating Rink: What Is a Noun? (1999), this slim volume offers a child-friendly introduction to pronouns. The rhythmic, rhyming text gives simple explanations and examples of types of pronouns and their uses. Grammar mavens may take exception--or find exceptions--to the comment that "who" is "a pronoun that's constantly doing," but on the whole the text presents the major uses of pronouns with precision, brevity, and wit. The cartoon-style ink drawings brim with irrepressible humor, while the bold use of color in the artwork adds to the high-spirited look of the pages. Colored letters make the pronouns easy to identify in text that dance across the pages. An energetic, cheerful addition to grammar lessons.
Carolyn PhelanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
