Where Are the Words?

by Jodi McKay, Denise Holmes (Illustrations)

The punctuation marks are trying to write a story, but they need each other's help to finish it. Period wants to write a story but can't find the words, so his friends offer their help. Question Mark asks around and Exclamation Point finds some enthusiastic words from some unexpected place. Now all Period needs is an idea, but from whom?

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Writing

32 pages, Hardcover

Published December 20, 2016

About the author

Jodi McKay lives in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI with her husband, son, and a Goldendoodle named Ralph. She's a picture book writer, an everything reader, and a car singer. Jodi is a proud member of SCBWI and 12x12. She is represented by Linda Epstein at Emerald City Literary Agency.

Reviews

[Jennifer]

I was able to read an advance copy of Jodi's debut picture book. It is so simple, yet so full of fun and learning for kids about the different types of punctuation. The illustrations are cute and memorable. Definitely recommend!

[Gary Anderson]

A little period feels like writing a story but doesn’t have words. With the help of its friends—other punctuation marks and some (low-tech) writing supplies--words galore come along. Although a little muddled in the middle, Where Are the Words? features many good ideas about writing, including how punctuation can help shape ideas, how creativity can be sparked just by putting things side by side, and how supportive friends can sometimes provide inspiration when writers are stuck.

For those who use picture books in middle and secondary grades, Where Are the Words? has humor, sophisticated ideas, and clever illustrations and graphics that make it a worthwhile addition to upper-level classroom collections in addition to its obvious appeal for elementary classrooms and libraries.

[Joanne Roberts]

Trendy anthropomorphic characters, in this case, punctuation marks in a silly story about writing a story. Each characters' dialogue mimics the actual function of the punctuation mark. For example, the ? only asks questions. The " only quote other people. The ! is always excited. Rather educational with thin layer of story. No doubt it will be popular with educators. I can see a use for this in the classroom, but not so much for entertainment. The ending is mostly resolved and hints at a sequel.

[Erin]

Super cute story about punctuation marks who want to write a story. Each puncuation mark's speech bubble has them in it--Period ends his sentences with a period, Question Mark ends his sentences with a question marks, etc. The book ends with each one taking turns to add a sentence at a time to the story. That could be a great activity to do with kids after the story is read--especially with older kids.

Good for preschool or older kid storytimes.

[Kristin]

This is a great book for teachers of English. I read this to my 4th grade students who are heavy into the writing process and writing styles during this time of year. We are also studying interrogative, declarative, imperative, and exclamatory sentences so this was a great anticipatory set to use. I strongly suggest this story for teachers of English or multi-subject teachers that incorporate writer's workshop into their curriculum.

[Elaine]

Period wants to write a story but can't find the words, so his friends offer their help- so begins this wonderful story by author Jodi McKay. This is a fun book that kids will love! The illustrations are absolutely adorable. Highly recommend this book!

[Kyla Belvedere]

Disclosure: I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway. AND I LOVED IT!

Very cute pictures and story. My 6 year old is just learning about punctuation and what each one does, so it was pretty perfect. Plus, I am a super-nerd who loves punctuation.

[Juliana Lee]

Funny story about a period who wants to write a story but is at a loss for words. His friends, question mark, exclamation mark, and others help him find the words and together they write a story. This is a unique way to show kids how punctuation marks work to make meaning of the story.

[Ann]

Really neat 'breaking the fourth wall' type of meta-book where the characters are all punctuation marks and they are on a quest for words to create a story out of. Good read-a-like for the "The Day The Crayons Quit" series.

[Amanda Harrison]

A bit predictable, but still fun read about a period, an exclamation point, and a question mark who are trying to write (but can't find the words). Would be an excellent addition to teaching about writing with an easy jump off activity at the end.

[cat]

I absolutely LOVED this picture book!! Such a simple story and yet so incredibly clever and witty!

[Anne]

Adorable!

[Elizabeth Coates]

I can definitely see this book used in a classroom; although I don't think writer's block is usually a problem with little kids... Not one of my favourites.

[Ashley Adkins]

Very cute book and concept. I read this with my boys last night and they thought it was very clever. We even loved the idea that there could be a next book...may "Where are the pictures?"!

[Tracy Smith]

"A wizard had two problems: his magic words had vanished and he was out of peanuts." Made me chuckle and put a smile on my face!

[Micah Hendriksen]

Great book to introduce punctuation!

[Joy Lane]

AR 1.7 and 0.5 pts.
Cute way to show how to write a story...

[Susan]

A play on words while searching for all the right ones! Sweet and clever fun. Period. :)

[Ashlyn Kelly]

I love this book as it describes the parts of writing and what goes into creating a story. The period, exclamation point, question mark, colon, and quotation marks are the main characters. In the text, the characters play their role as they are in writing on a mission to 'find words to write a story,' but what they don't realize is the words are right there, they are the end of a sentence or thought put on paper. I would read this book in an early childhood classroom when students are learning about writing to lighten up the mood and motivate them to believe they are writers. It would help students understand different punctuation marks in a light hearted way.

[Enrique]

Really good book that can help with any grade from 1st grade and up now that many grades will give short writing tasks to students and this book ca help them in that! It talks about wanting and searching for that idea to write about and then how to write about through a variety of ways with many grammatical signs being the lead talker throughout the story. Illustrations are plain and simple but with a funny cartoon feeling which makes for a great read for the classroom.

[Aralynn Johnson]

This book is about a period who cannot find words to make a story. This is a fun and interesting way to talk about punctuation and sentence structure. I think this is a good read-aloud story to read before writing time!

[Kristin Fletcher-spear]

I wasn't a fan. just didn't work for me. The younger kid readers or listeners won't catch on the punctuation jokes unless the reader stops the story and explains it. older kids just won't care.

[Emily Nielson]

I loved this because the punctuation marks use their own marks throughout most of the book so you can teach the students about punctuation.

[Kathleen Vincenz]

I can see this being read out-loud or made into a play in school. The period being direct and declarative and the explanation point being overjoyed and expressive. Great educational and fun book.

[Kris Dersch]

Meh. A good concept not super well realized. I could see this working well in a classroom setting but as a read aloud ultimately unsatisfying.

[Freddie D]

Punctuation with personality - what a fun concept!

[Randy]

A simple introduction to some of the basic pieces of punctuation in English.

[Alissa]

This is a fun book to read. Although it has no words, it talks about how punctuation can shape a sentence. This book could be good when learning sentence structure.

[Emma Wilson]

This is a fun book that can help students learn about punctuation. In the classroom, this can help students see how different punctuation affects speech. This book provides a great opportunity for someone reading aloud to change their speech to match each character.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian]

Clever story that focuses on punctuation. Another great punctuation book is Exclamation Mark
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.

Reviewed from a library copy.