by Brian P. Cleary ; illustrated by Martin Goneau ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2013
Whether it’s for vocabulary building or helping students understand how to take apart a word to discover its meaning, Cleary...
A bright, busy and colorful addition to the Words Are CATegorical series, this time about prefixes.
From the definition of prefixes on the dedication page to the helpful chart on the final page, teachers will find many reasons to turn to this reliable series to supplement their grammar lessons. Fully saturated colors accompany the rhyming text, introducing common prefixes like re- and un-. Goofy characters like wildly colored animals and extraterrestrials move the light verse along, extending the text and helping readers understand more challenging concepts. Using kid-pleasing words like underclothes and bicycle adds to the interest and fun. The final page, a chart with prefixes, meanings and examples, is a particularly helpful addition, allowing students both to study the concept and to add examples of their own. At times, design choices detract from the content. The prefixes are in slightly different colors from the root words, on top of colored pages, which sometimes makes them difficult to discern.
Whether it’s for vocabulary building or helping students understand how to take apart a word to discover its meaning, Cleary and Goneau have the right touch. (Informational picture book. 7-11)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7613-9031-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
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by Louis Sachar ; illustrated by Tim Heitz ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2020
Ordinary kids in an extraordinary setting: still a recipe for bright achievements and belly laughs.
Rejoice! 25 years later, Wayside School is still in session, and the children in Mrs. Jewls’ 30th-floor classroom haven’t changed a bit.
The surreal yet oddly educational nature of their misadventures hasn’t either. There are out-and-out rib ticklers, such as a spelling lesson featuring made-up words and a determined class effort to collect 1 million nail clippings. Additionally, mean queen Kathy steps through a mirror that turns her weirdly nice and she discovers that she likes it, a four-way friendship survives a dumpster dive after lost homework, and Mrs. Jewls makes sure that a long-threatened “Ultimate Test” allows every student to show off a special talent. Episodic though the 30 new chapters are, there are continuing elements that bind them—even to previous outings, such as the note to an elusive teacher Calvin has been carrying since Sideways Stories From Wayside School (1978) and finally delivers. Add to that plenty of deadpan dialogue (“Arithmetic makes my brain numb,” complains Dameon. “That’s why they’re called ‘numb-ers,’ ” explains D.J.) and a wild storm from the titular cloud that shuffles the school’s contents “like a deck of cards,” and Sachar once again dishes up a confection as scrambled and delicious as lunch lady Miss Mush’s improvised “Rainbow Stew.” Diversity is primarily conveyed in the illustrations.
Ordinary kids in an extraordinary setting: still a recipe for bright achievements and belly laughs. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-296538-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
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by Mac Barnett ; Jory John ; illustrated by Kevin Cornell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 13, 2015
Fluffy, fast, fun reading for fans of Clueless McGee and the Wimpy Kid.
Miles used to live near the sea. Miles had friends. Miles was his school's greatest prankster...how will he survive a move to Yawnee Valley?
Yawnee Valley is famous for one thing: cows. All new students at Yawnee Valley Science and Letters Academy receive a booklet of 1,346 interesting cow facts from fussbudget fifth-generation principal Barry Barkin. On the first day of school, when Principal Barkin's car is found mysteriously parked on the school's steps, Barkin suspects Miles and assigns Niles Sparks to be Miles' buddy. Miles can't think of anything more awful than spending every moment of every day with smiling, officious, king-of-the-obvious Niles. On top of that, Barkin's son, Josh, has decided Miles is a good bullying target. To make life interesting, Miles plans a perfect prank in his pranking notebook, but it’s foiled. That's followed by an invitation to join forces in pranking from an unexpected source...no way! Let the prank war commence! Barnett and John launch their cow-resplendent illustrated series with the humorous origin story of the pranking duo who lend the series its name. Characters may be stock; however, the pranks are anything but, and it's peppered with cow facts. Cornell’s goofy cartoon illustrations (especially the blasé cows) add giggles aplenty.
Fluffy, fast, fun reading for fans of Clueless McGee and the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4197-1491-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
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