Books for Kids

An irregularly updated review of current and classic children's literature.

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

My Teacher Likes to Say

Author: Denise Brennan-Nelson
Illustrator: Jane Monroe Donovan

Ages: 7 and up

My Teacher Liks to Say is a good introduction to the strange way adults sometimes use language. It tries to explain various expressions we often use without thinking, such as "I'm as hungry as a bear". It explains the expressions in two main ways, a silly illustration of the phrase and a more in depth explanation of the origins of a particular phrase or saying. Donovan's illustrations are fantastic and really make kids form an image of these various expressions.

The book is written in verse making it silly in a corny sort of way, I would still think about using this book as a read-aloud with writing and reading classes to expose them to various ways of using language. I would think this book would be especially helpful for using with English as a 2nd Language students (at all age levels).

I give My Teacher Likes to Say a guarded thumbs up, but only if you are looking for a book to introduce idioms to your class.

If you are interested there is a similar book by Brennan-Nelson and Donovan called My Momma Likes to Say.

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