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Wordplay
In the funny, smart mold of The Day the Crayons Quit , this sneaky lesson about the parts of speech is also a delightful story about playground competition and new friends. When the parts of speech gather on the playground, Verb is always the star. She can climb! She can frolic! She can DO anything! Her friends Adjective, Adverb, and Interjection all watch admiringly. ("WOW!" says Interjection.)Then Noun comes along -- and Noun can BE anything. A person! A place! Even a thing! ("PRETTY!" says Interjection.) The other parts of speech are fascinated by this new kid, and Verb doesn't like it one bit. But when a new threat menaces the playground, Noun can't move! There's only one part of speech who can DO something about it ... and that might allow Noun and Verb to BE something friends.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published July 25, 2017
About the author
Adam Lehrhaupt
21 books93 followersAdam Lehrhaupt is the award-winning author of Warning: Do Not Open This Book!, Please: Open This Book!, Chicken in Space (A six book series: Book 2 Chicken in School lands June 20, 2017), I Will Not Eat You and the upcoming I Don't Draw, I Color (March 21, 2016), Wordplay (July 2017), Idea Jar (Fall 2017), and This is a Good Story (Spring, 2018). He has traveled to six continents, performed on Broadway, and lived on a communal farm. He firmly believes that opening a book is a good thing, even if there are monkeys in it. Adam currently lives in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PA, with his wife, two sons, and two bizarre dogs. Follow Adam on twitter and Instagram @lehrhaupt for the occasional brilliant thought or picture, and at adamlehrhaupt.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
October 5, 2018
Love the concept, but not so much the illustrations. It explains the 'roles' of parts of speech - noun, verb, adverb etc. in a fun and memorable way. A short picture book to tune kids in to grammar.
November 30, 2019
Verb is happy being the active center of attention, until Noun comes along and steals the show with the many people, places and things he can be. She tries to steal the show back, reacting to each of Noun's new manifestations, until a threatening bee approaches, and she realizes that without her intervention, Noun is helpless...
Author Adam Lehrhaupt takes the parts of speech - Noun, Verb, Interjection, Adjective, and Adverb - and crafts a tale of initial jealousy and then budding friendship in Wordplay. I liked the premise here, and think the story could work as an introduction to the functions of the different parts of speech - there is a brief afterword spelling things out explicitly - provided there is some adult guidance available to help younger children with the concepts. The artwork by Jared Chapman is colorful and bright, although not really to my taste. Recommended to those looking for a more creative, story-based introduction to the parts of speech for very young children.
Author Adam Lehrhaupt takes the parts of speech - Noun, Verb, Interjection, Adjective, and Adverb - and crafts a tale of initial jealousy and then budding friendship in Wordplay. I liked the premise here, and think the story could work as an introduction to the functions of the different parts of speech - there is a brief afterword spelling things out explicitly - provided there is some adult guidance available to help younger children with the concepts. The artwork by Jared Chapman is colorful and bright, although not really to my taste. Recommended to those looking for a more creative, story-based introduction to the parts of speech for very young children.
September 2, 2017
An actually fun book about the parts of speech. Verb loves being able to do things but becomes jealous when Noun steals attention by being able to be a person, place, or thing. Interjection, Adverb, and Adjective serve as a chorus of amusing and appropriately named back up characters. When an angry and determined bee goes after Noun, Verb comes to the rescue. The two team up and prove that simple sentences have more fun together.
A great choice for reinforcing parts of speech and grammar lessons in grades 1 - 3. It's not an instructional book by any means but kids who are sorting through the parts of speech will certainly build connections with this amusing text.
A great choice for reinforcing parts of speech and grammar lessons in grades 1 - 3. It's not an instructional book by any means but kids who are sorting through the parts of speech will certainly build connections with this amusing text.
February 1, 2019
I LOVE this. Awesome for teaching parts of speech. Cute ending!
January 9, 2019
Probably a bit older than my 2.5yr old really understood but quite solid concept
April 18, 2018
Reviewed for School Library Journal in June 2017 issue.
Gr 1—4—Lehrhaupt and Chapman have created a story to help young readers understand parts of speech. Readers are introduced to Verb, a vivacious red girl with long pigtails and a big black "V" on her sweater. She DOES things such as climbing and twirling and is full of action. Then readers meet Noun, a blue boy who doesn't DO but can BE; he can be a dinosaur, an Egyptian ruler, or a roller coaster. Verb is jealous of Noun and all his different and amazing iterations, but when a large bee swoops in to harm him, she springs into action for a thrilling rescue. Interjection, Adverb, and Adjective are represented by three differently shaded children who serve as a Greek chorus by standing on the sidelines and making observations in keeping with their names. "Wow!" says Interjection. "Big, scary teeth," observes Adjective. "Brilliantly done," states Adverb. Chapman makes great use of color, relying on deep green for the background and character-specific hues for the parts of speech. This teaching tool for budding grammarians shines best when defining nouns and verbs. The other three parts of speech are more subtle, and their interplay in the book doesn't always work. VERDICT: A supplemental purchase where needed.—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph Public Library, MI
Gr 1—4—Lehrhaupt and Chapman have created a story to help young readers understand parts of speech. Readers are introduced to Verb, a vivacious red girl with long pigtails and a big black "V" on her sweater. She DOES things such as climbing and twirling and is full of action. Then readers meet Noun, a blue boy who doesn't DO but can BE; he can be a dinosaur, an Egyptian ruler, or a roller coaster. Verb is jealous of Noun and all his different and amazing iterations, but when a large bee swoops in to harm him, she springs into action for a thrilling rescue. Interjection, Adverb, and Adjective are represented by three differently shaded children who serve as a Greek chorus by standing on the sidelines and making observations in keeping with their names. "Wow!" says Interjection. "Big, scary teeth," observes Adjective. "Brilliantly done," states Adverb. Chapman makes great use of color, relying on deep green for the background and character-specific hues for the parts of speech. This teaching tool for budding grammarians shines best when defining nouns and verbs. The other three parts of speech are more subtle, and their interplay in the book doesn't always work. VERDICT: A supplemental purchase where needed.—Amy Nolan, St. Joseph Public Library, MI
June 24, 2017
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
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
May 9, 2017
Lehrhaupt, Adam Word Play, illustrated by Jared Chapman. PICTURE BOOK. Arthur A. Levine, 2017. $18
Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and interjection are all together to play. Verb is ready for action and she gets a little jealous when noun takes the stage. When trouble comes along, verb has to decide whether to help or whether to leave noun in a lurch.
The picture book starts with a short, clear explanation of each word of speech. The interplay between the words is amusing and with some careful guidance can be a good way to introduce and reinforce early grammar concepts. I love this back to basics look at Language Arts. While this is not a perfect book, it is engaging.
EL (K-3), EL – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...
Noun, verb, adjective, adverb, and interjection are all together to play. Verb is ready for action and she gets a little jealous when noun takes the stage. When trouble comes along, verb has to decide whether to help or whether to leave noun in a lurch.
The picture book starts with a short, clear explanation of each word of speech. The interplay between the words is amusing and with some careful guidance can be a good way to introduce and reinforce early grammar concepts. I love this back to basics look at Language Arts. While this is not a perfect book, it is engaging.
EL (K-3), EL – ADVISABLE. Cindy, Library Teacher
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017/...
November 5, 2018
Introduces Noun, Verb, Interjection, Adjective, and Adverb as characters in the story. Verb does things. Noun just is. But Verb gets jealous of Noun, until she realizes they are better working together. Interjection, Adjective, and Adverb provide commentary throughout the adventure.
This is a fun and memorable way to introduce the parts of speech to kids. Each of the parts of speech not only are a different character, they are a distinct color and their words are also that color. Highly recommended for lower grade language arts classes and kids struggling with parts of speech. (There's also a good lesson on how everyone has a different role to play and we're better working together than jealous of each other.)
This is a fun and memorable way to introduce the parts of speech to kids. Each of the parts of speech not only are a different character, they are a distinct color and their words are also that color. Highly recommended for lower grade language arts classes and kids struggling with parts of speech. (There's also a good lesson on how everyone has a different role to play and we're better working together than jealous of each other.)
August 8, 2017
This is a very clever picture book that will be so much fun to share with young readers. Using humorous narrative text and playful illustrations, this book introduces kids to the parts of speech. Verb does things and loves to be the center of attention. But noun can be all sorts of awesome people, places, and things. The rivalry is interrupted by some interjection trouble and readers will have a great time finding out all the parts of speech work things out. This would be great to have in elementary classroom libraries!
September 13, 2017
Wonderful! Creative! Amazing!
Loved this book! The book shows many friends: Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, and Interjection. It describes, age-appropriately, what the function is for each of these friends. There is an actual story that makes these different parts of speech make sense.
Bright, colorful, simple illustrations.
Loved this book! The book shows many friends: Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb, and Interjection. It describes, age-appropriately, what the function is for each of these friends. There is an actual story that makes these different parts of speech make sense.
Bright, colorful, simple illustrations.
February 1, 2018
Word Play, by Adam Lehrhaupt, is about the parts of speech (verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and interjections). This colorful children's book, uses pictures of "Verb" and "Noun" to help explain the parts they play in speech and also to teach the importance of friendship. This book is a fun way to learn!
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August 11, 2017I like Adam as a person, but I often don't think his books are very good. They're very hit or miss for me. I thought this was a weird, if not unique, way to go about teaching standing up for someone else.
October 9, 2017
My Boys & Girls Club kids enjoyed this book. It's a great picture that talks about the parts of speech.
(It's a grammar book that doesn't put you to sleep!) Fun and lively illustrations. Great for older preschoolers-young elementary school students.
(It's a grammar book that doesn't put you to sleep!) Fun and lively illustrations. Great for older preschoolers-young elementary school students.
January 1, 2018
This is a really well thought-out book about the parts of speech, especially nouns and verbs. After I read it to my kid, he explained the roles of each part featured. The illustrations and story are engaging and the "moral" as it were is executed well.
November 6, 2018
Use this to teach how nouns and verbs need each other to make sentences. Grammar never had so much fun.
I love the peanut gallery of interjection, adjective and adverb- a nice touch that really made the story.
I love the peanut gallery of interjection, adjective and adverb- a nice touch that really made the story.
July 3, 2017
This would be a good choice for reading aloud as it certainly makes the parts of speech a lot more memorable!
July 25, 2017
An introduction or in my case a review of the different parts of language.
August 5, 2017
Clever idea for teaching the parts of speech. However, I think teachers are the target audience, not kids.
From advanced reader copy.
From advanced reader copy.
August 22, 2017
For fans of the Movie "Inside Out" or Schoolhouse Rock (blast from the past). This is a really awesome book for teaching parts of speech!
August 28, 2017
A fun (adjective) way (noun) to entertainingly (adverb) introduce (verb) parts of speech!
September 2, 2017
I was probably more amused than I should have been by the fact that it had a bee to introduce helping verbs.
September 6, 2017
A great way to teach kids about grammar. Cute imagery with lots of colours, I'll definitely be reading this to my son when he's a bit older.
September 20, 2017
The end papers are wonderful!
October 2, 2017
This books starts off great explaining the parts of speech but only successfully explain noun and verb. The other characters didn't make sense nor where they properly introduced.
October 2, 2017
This book is really clever and would be a nice introduction or review of parts of speech.
November 2, 2017
a wonderful little book that will help kids learn about parts of speech!
November 11, 2017
Cute and clever introduction to parts of speech. A friendship story.
December 9, 2017
7-year-old daughter: 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴
5-year-old daughter: 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴
5-year-old daughter: 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews