Conjunction Junction, What's Your Function?

But and For, Yet and Nor: What Is a Conjunction? by Brian P. Cleary; illustrated by Brian Gable

When I think conjunctions, I think School House Rock—to me, they are synonymous. It’s what I grew up with, and I still have the song Conjunction Junction on my iPod.

Written in rhyme with wacky, colorful characters, Cleary’s concept is almost as catching and fun as that classic hit. The descriptions are clear and introduced in a fairly straightforward manner, and they are described by their different uses (time, compare/contrast, etc.). Conjunctions used as examples are printed in color to distinguish them, though the author offers a challenge at the beginning of the book: find all the conjunctions not highlighted too! The rhymes used are comical, often achieving extra meaning when paired with the illustrations.

Silly illustrations will have younger kids laughing, while the information will be useful and informative to older grades as well.

And really, with lines like “Both and and can work that way as in this next example: both my parrot and my friend would sure like one free sample” (p.20-21), how can you not crack a smile?

Additional books in the series cover nouns and adverbs, to name a few.

-Jenny

Age 7-11
Copyright March 2010
ISBN: 9780822591535
Image from www.librarybooks.com