Pitch and Throw, Grasp and Know: What Is a Synonym?

Words Are CATegorical ®

by Brian P. Cleary, Brian Gable (Illustrator)

Have fun learning language! “Word-Nerd” Brian P. Cleary and highly-acclaimed illustrator Brian Gable collaborate to clarify the concept of synonyms for young readers with playful, lively, and whimsical rhymes and humorous, comical, and amusing illustrations. For easy identification, synonyms are printed in color, and key words are illustrated on each page. This funny, best-selling series shows, not tells, each part of speech.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Juvenile, Language, Humor, Writing

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2004

Reviews

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Text: 4 stars
Illustrations: 4 stars

Part of the Words Are CATegorical series. Excellent children's nonfiction picture book about synonyms. Defines the synonym and explains its functions. Provides a lot of examples in pairs and triplets.

The rhyming text makes learning fun and is surprisingly clear. The cartoon-like art style also adds to the kid appeal of the book and helps to make grammar education more interesting for children. The illustrations provide strong visual support for the concepts presented in the book.

[Mari Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an awesome book explaining what synonyms are. This books gives lots of examples and is a fun way to teach. I love that the book highlights the synonyms in the same color to show kids which words mean the same thing. The illustrations in the book are fun and silly.

[Baylee Washburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This clever, rhyming story would be a great supplement to a language lesson about synonyms. The typeface, location of text, detailed illustrations, and variety of colors used may make this book feel slightly chaotic to some readers, but these elements may give other readers a feeling of excitement as they experience this book. Because excitement is not commonly associated with learning about synonyms, this could provide a positive learning experience for some student readers. The rhythm and rhyme used in this book also made it a fast-paced, quick read. If used to follow a lesson about synonyms, students could spend more time discussing the words used on each page and create a list of synonyms on their own. This book could be a valuable tool in the classroom in order to add a little fun and excitement to a grammar lesson.

[D'Juana Manuel-Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a new favorite of my daughter's!! We keep taking it out of the library to read.

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part of an excellent series on English grammar for kids - I'm going to be doing lessons on synonyms in both First Language Lessons and in All About Reading, so this seemed an ideal introduction to the concept of synonyms (I had introduced the concept earlier, but we did not spend much time on it, unfortunately) . . .

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Synonym..."The're words that are practically, nearly the same, like, gentle, subdued, or incredibly tame... They give us more options and make things precise, like, nippy or freezing or chilly as ice."

[Madison Impton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book defines synonyms and provides tons of examples for young children to help them learn. With its fun rhyme scheme this book is easy to read and rather entertaining. If you are looking for a book to accompany a lesson on synonyms, this can be used to provide children with tons of great examples.

[Gail Sacharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books in this language/grammar series are fun reminders of all you learned in school English/literacy classes. It's good to have reminders of what words are called (nouns, verbs, etc) & their functions. This is about synonyms & there are several rhyming examples.

[Whole And · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synonyms! Wonderful illustrations, varied vocabulary with great rhythm and rhyme.
We read this along with "Stop and Go, Yes and No: What is an Antonym?"

[Ice 9 · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://letterstocassiandotherfolks.bl...

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series!

[Shelby Rollenhagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with all the others in this series, I got these to share with my children as a fun and cute way to discuss language and have not been disappointed. They are cute and engaging for kids.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

We really enjoy Brian P. Cleary's books. He makes learning fun, and this is a silly and humorous rhyming book about synonyms. His books really entertain children while teaching them basic concepts; our girls really like them. The illustrations by Brian Gable are cartoony and cute, too - we love the cats.

We've read several of the books in the Words are CATegorical series and we've really enjoyed them. We will certainly look for more books by this author/illustrator team at our local library.

[Luann · Rating 4 out of 5]

From simple synonyms like tired, beat, and exhausted to slightly more complex words like grateful, thankful, and beholden, Brian P. Cleary's rhyming text shares some fun synonyms. I pair this with Stop And Go, Yes And No: What Is an Antonym? for a library lesson that is always a hit with students. My favorite line says: "Synonyms help us to be more exact, as in, our fridge was raided or stormed or attacked."

[Andrew Schoenfelder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Synonyms could never be better described through a text than this book did. It would be very valuable to have children read after introducing to them what synonyms are. On every page, words which are synonyms of each other are highlighted in the same font color. This was a clever way the author used the font size and color for an educational purpose. Also, the illustrations in this book help describe the text hand in hand. However, some of the animals were confusing on what they were actually supposed to be.

[Carissa Worm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great when it came to teaching Synonyms to my class! It used a ton of creative words and showed the children how colorful writing can be! I would definitely add this to my library as a teacher! It all gave a very good definition of what a synonym is in a very child friendly way.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun picture book demonstrating and talking about synonyms! Great for teaching kids about this element of language with fun, colorful illustrations. "Don't you agree that's it's pretty appealing, we have all these choices to say we're feeling?"

[Jazmyne Henry]

This book is a great way to begin a synonym lesson in fun an creative way. This book not only teaches synonym but it also contains a lot of rhyme. It's quirky illustrations make it an even more enjoyable book.

[Debrarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in this clever rhyming grammar and math basics series.

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

In rhyming text, early grade level

[Relyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

You already know I love these books. Nothing more to say really.

Except that the illustrations are very kid friendly, which draws them in.

[Melissa Nastja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explains synonyms and where you can find them! This is a great book that you could read to second graders about using "juicy words" in their writing.

[Annette Steele · Rating 3 out of 5]

See my comments on Hairy, Scary, Ordinary... DITTO

Now that I will be teaching 3rd grade one of the State Standards is Synonyms. So this will come in handy.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, a good book to have on the shelf to talk about grammar topics with the children!

[Katelyn Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

* Good synonym book
* Engaging for children
* Funny text holds the childrens' attention

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like these Brian Cleary books. His website is pretty cool too!

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son totally got synonyms. Throughout the week he would holler, "Those are synonyms!"

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

reliable synonym fun - I like how the book uses some abstract pairs of words, like grasp and know for understanding, good for vocabulary development.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at a what a synonym is, and how it's used to make the English language more colorful and descriptive and appealing in its daily use.