[Excerpted from Booklist, June 1 & 15, 2000]

Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What Is an Adjective?

Brian P. Cleary.  Ill. by Jenya Promitsky.

Ages 4 - 8. "Adjectives are words like flashy, /Vibrant, bright, and somewhat trashy." A playful, rhyming text and a colorful cast of wild cartoon cats show what adjectives are and how they work (from "cold, dark mornings" to "hot pink shades"). The sound of the words, the exaggeration, and the nonsense scenarios will appeal to kids, and, with the help of an adult, beginning readers will get the idea that adjectives "modify" nouns and help tell us more about ourselves and what's around us.

--Hazel Rochman

2000.  32p. Lerner, $12.95  ISBN 1-57505-401-9. DDC: 428.2.