This book won a Children's Choice Award for books published this year. Along with Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl, Brian Cleary was honored as more than 10,000 school-aged children cast their votes for their 99 favorite books of the year. Children's Choices are overseen by a joint committee of the International Reading Association and the Children's Book Council. The year of publication was 1996.

"Give me Bach my Schubert" is a humorous, pun-filled story of a boy's attempt to run from his piano lesson. The adventure starts at Madame Phalanges' (note pun) Piano Studio, where the narrator's friend Bert absconds with his shoe: "My buddy Bert likes HAYDN things -- he's sometimes hard to HANDEL. I said, 'Give me BACH my SCHUBERT,' 'cause I knew he took my sandal." While Cleary's text chronicles the narrator's subsequent attempt to flag down his antagonist-friend, Rick Dupre's illustrations tell a separate "story-within-a-story" -- i.e., Madame Phalanges' attempt to return the boy to his music lesson. Cleary highlights each of his musical puns in the story with color and contrasting typefaces -- lest any children get the idea that "violence" is actually the same as "violins," for example. This clever technique also has the dual effect of making the book more user-friendly to parents, many of whom might not be too astute with musical lingo. This book is as educational as it is unique and entertaining, and -- at $18.95 -- is well worth its asking price

"Give me Bach my Schubert" is a humorous, pun-filled story of a boy's attempt to run from his piano lesson. The adventure starts at Madame Phalanges' (note pun) Piano Studio, where the narrator's friend Bert absconds with his shoe: "My buddy Bert likes Haydn things -- he's sometimes hard to Handel. I said, 'Give me Bach my Schubert,' 'cause I knew he took my sandal." While Cleary's text chronicles the narrator's subsequent attempt to flag down his antagonist-friend, Rick Dupre's illustrations tell a separate "story-within-a-story" -- i.e., Madame Phalanges' attempt to return the boy to his music lesson. Cleary highlights each of his musical puns in the story with color and contrasting typefaces -- lest any children get the idea that "violence" is actually the same as "violins," for example. This clever technique also has the dual effect of making the book more user-friendly to parents, many of whom might not be too astute with musical lingo. This book is as educational as it is unique and entertaining, and -- at $18.95 -- is well worth its asking price

As a teacher of third graders, I've used this book and "A MINK, A FINK, A SKATING RINK: WHAT IS A NOUN?" to teach and delight my students, and to take some of the tedium out of parts of speech. Within a day or so of introducing these books, all 27 of my group knew the difference between the major parts of speech. We found out that Mr. Cleary has a website, and I printed out some word-building worksheets off it for free, and a took away a couple of suggestions on how integrate teaching nouns with a fun art project, called the noun quilt, in which each letter of the alphabet has a noun, as in B, BOOT, C, CAT and the students draw the item and eventually it becomes this big old paper quilt full of nouns. His publisher assures me that TO ROOT, TO TOOT, TO PARACHUTE: WHAT IS A VERB? will be in soon, and it's a no-brainer that I'll get that as well.

This is a great book. It's a neat tool to teach with, and also an interesting trip through the world of adjectives. I think Brian P. Cleary may well be on his way to that rarefied place in children's literature occupied by those manic, witty rhymers Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein. I like how the adjectives are colored to stand out more, and how the book uses language and words that stretch the young reader and never talks down to them. I originally got hooked on the pun series he did with Rick Dupre (illustrator) a few years back, which includes "It Looks a Lot Like Reindeer," and was delighted to see that he's not neglecting the first, second and third graders! Educational, but really hip and a lot of fun, I just loved it and can't wait to buy A Mink, a Fink, A Skating Rink: What is a Noun?

Young readers four through six will enjoy Brian Clary's whimsical book, cleverly illustrated by Jenya Prosmitsky, as Hairy, Scary, Ordinary shows what an adjective is. The adjectives are printed in color for easy identification while the playful rhymes and illustrations combine to highlight key words. Hairy, Scary, Ordinary is a delight to read aloud and perfect for homeschooling as well as classroom reading program activity supplementation.

As a teacher of third graders, I've used this book and "Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What is an Adjective" to teach and delight my students, and to take some of the tedium out of parts of speech. Within a day or so of introducing these books, all 27 of my group knew the difference between the major parts of speech. We found out that Mr. Cleary has a website, and I printed out some word-building worksheets off it for free, and a took away a couple of suggestions on how integrate teaching nouns with a fun art project, called the noun quilt, in which each letter of the alphabet has a noun, as in B, BOOT, C, CAT and the students draw the item and eventually it becomes this big old paper quilt full of nouns. His publisher assures me that TO ROOT, TO TOOT, TO PARACHUTE: WHAT IS A VERB? will be in soon, and it's a no-brainer that I'll get that as well.

Funny, silly, but slyly (if that's a word) educational, A Mink A Fink A Skating Rink: What is a Noun? will do for grammar what "Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue in Fourteen-hundred ninety-two" did for social studies. Kids can't help but remember which part of speech a word is because of the clever rhymes. My second graders find the illustrations wonderful as well. Cleary's first series includes great teaching tools like "Jamaica Sandwich?", which is really a 4th-5th grade combination Geography/English lesson.

This is an exciting, well illustrated, fun book to read! This book is one of the favorite picks in my third grade classroom. The students enjoy reading the story over and over again. Thumbs up for the fabulous idea of teaching language through exciting stories!

Kudos to Brian P. Cleary and Brian Gable for their terrific book about Prepositions! My nine year-old learned all about the function of this difficult part of speech in the few minutes it took for us to sail through the funny, rhyming text. The illustrated cat-like characters are bright and colorful, and the prepositions themselves are highlighted to make thme easier to identify. Reminds me a little of the schoolhouse rock show from my childhood!

I teach 4th grade in a suburban school system where the kids are pretty bright, but prepositions have always been a little sticky for this age group. Brian P. Cleary's new book, UNDER, OVER BY THE CLOVER: What is a Preposition, is a class favorite, and also a favorite of mine because it takes on a kind of tricky part of speech and leaves my kids smiling. I liked his other books about nouns and verbs and adjectives also! This clarifies the preposition's role in our language, and is funny and catchy to boot!

Can the topic of adverbs be colorful, interesting....dare I say it? Fun? Apparently Brian P. Cleary and his innovative cat-loving illustrator Brian Gable think so! Not only does Cleary explain this difficult part of speech to grade schoolers with a rhyming, lively verse, my college sophomore is not above consulting this WORDS ARE CATEGORICAL series for the lessons within. You've done it again, Brian and Brian!

Also recommended: A Mink, a fink, a skating rink: What is a Noun? Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What is an Adjective To Root, to Toot, to Parachute: What is a Verb? Under, Over, By the Clover: What is a Preposition?

As someone who started reading Dr. Seuss at age three (or so my mom claims), I am usually reluctant to compare anyone's writings to the esteemed Good Doctor. Something about Brian Cleary's "It Looks a Lot Like Reindeer," however, makes me recall some of my favorite Seuss classics, like "Fox in Sox" and "Green Eggs and Ham." Granted, Cleary's rhythmic verse shows the influence of Dr. Theodor Geisel's writings, but the witty punning adds a level of difficulty to the children's lit genre that Seuss never attempted. Though I will stop well short of saying that Cleary is Dr. Seuss reincarnated, I can say without reservation that "It Looks a Lot Like Reindeer" is definitely worth a look

"Jamaica Sandwich?," written by Brian Cleary and illustrated by Rick Dupre, is a humorous rhyming tale, filled with puns based on locations all over the globe. As one of four books that comprise Lerner's "It Could Be Verse" series, "Jamaica Sandwich?" centers around a geographic theme, while the others focus on subjects such as animals ("It looks a lot like Reindeer"), music ("Give me Bach my Schubert"), and food ("You Never Sausage Love"). The narrative of "Jamaica Sandwich?" traces a boy's thoughts as his daydream carries him to faraway lands. From Algeria to Wales, Cleary's verse and Dupre's illustrations wander aimlessly with the narrator through various locales. At each stop along the tour, Dupre subtly and cleverly weaves appropriate excerpts of maps into his illustrations so children can have a visual, geographic referent to accompany the witty, lyrical text. To reinforce the educational properties of "Jamaica Sandwich?," Cleary includes a mini-test at the end, complete with the opportunity for kids to write their own geography puns. So even if children flunk the test, they will at least come away with an appreciation of the challenges inherent in writing such a creative and funny book

I have always thought that the best children's books really appeal to adults as much as -- if not more than -- kids. Such is the case with "You Never Sausage (read: "saw such") Love" by Brian P. Cleary. This is not to say that kids will not enjoy them; the rhyming verse and eye-catching illustrations are more than enough to hold their attention. Some of the puns, however, might prove to be a bit esoteric for the average child. Why do I say this? Although I somewhat hesitate to say so, it's because I had to think long and hard before I understood some of them myself. Granted, I am far from a rocket scientist, but I would like to think that I have an IQ a bit higher than the average fourth grader. Does this mean the book is too difficult for kids? Quite the contrary -- the author himself has said that some of his best early learning experiences came from reading things that his parents had to explain to him. So go ahead and buy it for the kids. Just be prepared to do a lot of explaining

I just got this book and had ordered it for a learning disabled 11 year-old as a Homeschool resource. Its a picture-book, and I had thought it was a "workbook" somehow.. still its helpful! Its OK for understanding this part of Grammer and creative to introduce children to Verbs.