Brian P. Cleary

Patterns books are some of my favorite books, especially for younger children Pre-K- 1st and for multilingual learners. A-B-A-B-A- A Book of Pattern play was a fun book Brian Cleary and Brian Gable use to illustrate fun rhymes through animals. This is a great book for early learners as it helps understand the structure of repeating patterns, once the reader catches on, they can predict exactly which colors, shapes, and things thy will see. This is also a great book for ELL’s since they are show more easily decodable using animals and letters patterns, which is what ELL’s should build on. I would certainly recommend this book in your classroom library. show less

The wackiest Hanukkah story I read is Brian P. Cleary's Eight Wild Nights: A Family Hanukkah Tale. The rhymes it is written in, the characters depicted both in words and pictures and the story are all off-beat in a good way. On every page it introduces one or more new family members (in one case 17) as they enter the host family's little world. They are all loud and all sorts of wild, but children appropriate, events are happening. Don't despair though, in the midst of the great cavalcade show more the usual Hanukkah staples are eaten, games are played, ceremonies observed. By the end you are also treated to a genuine miracle that anyone can appreciate.

Without David Udovic's witty illustrations the book would be less than half the fun. They cover the whole pages and the 4-6 lines of text on each page are inserted into the pictures. This and the chaotic nature of the story make the book appealing beyond the 4-8 year olds it is created for show less

A Lime, a Mime, a Pool of Slime: More About Nouns is one in a series of books about parts of speech. The book, while following the typical format of a non-text book about grammar, is as effective as the teacher that uses it. The book is a brightly colored, rhyming romp through nouns. The first page after the title page contains a brief, traditional definition of a noun. From that point on the book is a collection of sentences and illustrations that work together not to tell a story, but to show more highlight that revered staple of speech, the noun.
The book moves from the general to the more specific. In the beginning, nouns are simply listed. The nouns are brightly colored, allowing them to stand out from the rest of the print. Eventually, the book moves into abstract and proper nouns. Explanations and examples of the specific noun types are given.
While the prose is not particullary interesting, there are some features that can be ellaborated upon to make the book more effective. There is some effort to include unique, informal and vivid nouns such as bling (as in ostentageous jewerly), shack, slime, hand-me-downs, and chimp. There are illustrated examples of all the nouns, thus making the book an informal picture dictionary. Finally, there are many geographical references made to such interesting places as Norway, Peru, Boston, Timbuktu, and Paris, France. A discussion could be has as to how elements of these places, proper nouns, are represented in the illustrations. show less

This is a fun story that uses rhyme to teach about weight. Vocabulary relating to weight is used and highlighted in another color. I really liked that it used rhyme so the reader could even memorize some of the rhymes to help them remember different aspects of weight and how they relate. I would definitely use this book as a tool to help students understand the vocabulary of weight.