Thursday, September 7, 2017

Wordplay

Wordplay. Adam Lehrhaupt. 2017. Scholastic. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Meet Verb. Verb does things. She climbs. She slides. She twirls. Everyone watches Verb. "Wow!" says Interjection. "An impressive display," says Adjective. "Very graceful," says Adverb. Verb is happy. Meet Noun. Noun can't DO like Verb. But Noun can BE. He can be a person. Or a place. Or even a thing. Now everyone watches Noun. "Roar!" says Interjection. "Big, scary teeth...tiny little arms," says Adjective. "What will he be next? says Adverb. Verb notices.

Premise/plot: This picture book is set on a playground and stars the parts of speech: Verb, Noun, Adjective, Adverb, Interjection. But are these parts of speech always on the best of terms with each other? Not always apparently! Verb and Noun seem destined to be enemies until something unexpected happens....

My thoughts: I like this one. I do. I'm not sure I love, love, love it. But the illustrations are bright and bold. In addition they are quite silly and expressive. I think I like Verb the best because of her expressions. Noun was hard to relate to--for me--because he kept changing. This grammar-themed picture book is surprisingly action-packed.

Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2017 Becky Laney of Young Readers

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