Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What Is an Adjective? »

Brian P. Cleary is the creator of the best-selling Words Are CATegorical™ series, now a 13-volume set with more than 2 million copies in print. He is also the author of the Math Is CATegorical™ series and the single titles Rainbow Soup: Adventures in Poetry, Rhyme and PUNishment: Adventures in Wordplay, Eight Wild Nights: A Family Hanukkah Tale, Peanut Butter and Jellyfishes: A Very Silly Alphabet Book and The Laugh Stand: Adventures in Humor. Mr. Cleary lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

JJenya Prosmitsky was born in Leningrad and grew up in Kishinev in the former U.S.S.R. She studied at Schusev Children's Art School and later at Repin College of Arts. After coming to the U.S., she graduated with a B.S. in Graphic Design from the University of Minnesota. She is the illustrator of A Mink, A Fink, A Skating Rink: What is a Noun?, Hairy, Scary, Ordinary, and To Root, To Toot, To Parachute (Lerner) and The Wedding That Saved a Town. She lives in Boston.

Adjectives are easier to show than explain! Simple, rhyming text and colorful cartoon cats help children expand their vocabularies and gain appreciation for the rhythm of language, particularly when read aloud.

Children's Literature

It's nice to see basic grammar so cleverly introduced in this second title in the "Words are Categorical" series. Colored pencil drawings on brightly colored pages complement lively verse explaining the job of adjectives. Children will easily discover adjectives in contrasting colors. Cute critters (modeled after Henry and Freddy, Ms Prosmitsky's cats), aptly demonstrate such concepts as flashy, loose and strong. The last double spread presents a question to the reader--"So what is an adjective, do you know?" Scattered through a double page cityscape are situations and characters waiting to be described with adjectives. Words such as greedy, hungry, mysterious, friendly, private, and loving came to mind immediately. Young readers will be amused to come up with their own responses to this satisfying and very helpful book. It is part of the "Words are Categorical" series.