But and For, Yet and Nor: What is a Conjunction?

By: Brian P. Cleary
Illustrated by: Brian Gable
Publisher: Millbrook Press
Publication Date: March 2010
ISBN: 978-0822591535 
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: February 2010 

The teacher, a cool orange cat in a dashing polka dot dress leads the class as they each carry their signs in a conjunction train. Most of the little kittens are paying attention and they have all learned that conjunctions are connecting words. Conjunctions are joiners and oftentimes bridge “one phrase to another.” They can be linkers too and “help to link a pair of verbs.” They also can join sentences together into one. In this book you’ll learn all about conjunctions in an easy way AND learning about conjunctions can be painless by following these crazy cats as they teach you all about them.

There are some rules that people think are absolute, such as never using a conjunction to start a sentence, “But I say that’s absurd,” spouts out the professor at a grammar convention. He’s got that big red book of Grammar Myths to prove his point. And everyone in the audience seemed to understand and carried him on their shoulders as they cheered. In this book you will learn all about conjunctions, the rules and the myths and how to use them.

This is a marvelous and fun way to supplement and enhance the traditional grammar lesson and make it FUN! Brian Cleary’s ingenious rhyming schemes in his CATegorical books make learning grammar much easier, especially for the reluctant student who ‘just doesn’t get it.’ Each conjunction is highlighted in color, which makes them easy to spot throughout the book. The cats, needless to say, are always a bit zany and some of the sentences in this book will make everyone chuckle.

Quill says: This series of books will make a perfect addition to any homeschool or classroom shelf!