Whose Shoes Would You Choose?: A Long Vowel Sounds Book with Consonant Digraphs »

Brian P. Cleary is the author of the Math Is CATegorical ® series, the Adventures in Memory™ series, the Sounds Like Reading™ series, and the best-selling Words Are CATegorical ® series, including Stop and Go, Yes and No: What Is an Antonym?, How Much Can a Bare Bear Bear?: What Are Homonyms and Homophones?, and To Root, to Toot, to Parachute: What Is a Verb? He is also the author of Rainbow Soup: Adventures in Poetry, Rhyme and PUNishment: Adventures in Wordplay, Peanut Butter and Jellyfishes: A Very Silly Alphabet Book, and The Laugh Stand: Adventures in Humor. In addition to his work as a children's author, Mr. Cleary has served as a tutor in an adult literacy program.

Jason Miskimins grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio, and graduated from The Columbus College of Art & Design in 2003. He currently lives in North Olmsted, Ohio, and has worked as an illustrator for American Greetings since 2005.

Come along with me and learn all about reading! Brian P. Cleary's wacky sentences and Jason Miskimins's colorful art will make phonics fun! Find activities, games, and more at www.brianpcleary.com.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2

Cleary does a masterful job of explaining such potentially dry topics as "long vowel sounds with consonant digraphs" and "inflectional endings" by using comic, incongruous situations to get his point across. The silliness of "Racks of slacks are by the yaks with the snacks" will appeal to children, and the accompanying cartoons' clean lines will be equally inviting. On each spread, the featured words are illustrated in a clean white space in a separate box on the left, and the rest of the page uses those words in a sentence accompanied by a cartoon that amplifies the humor of the situation. The vocabulary gradually becomes more challenging. In his introduction, Cleary states that: "The bridge to literacy is one of the most important we will ever cross. It is my hope that the 'Sounds Like Reading' series will help young readers to hop, gallop, and skip from one side to the other!" Mission accomplished.