TO ROOT, TO TOOT, TO PARACHUTE

Corny, looping lists of words figure again in Cleary's latest "Words Are Categorical" book. Working in rhyme, Cleary presents a flurry of verbs to readers—often in humorous juxtaposition—and a sprinkling of grammatical rules. "Whether you scale a wall or a fish, / Make a design on a cup or a dish, / Take out the garbage, or sharpen your knife— / Verbs are apart of your everyday life." There are a lot of verbs here, often coming at the reader in relentless waves, which Prosmitsky endeavors to make merry with her cartoon cast of dizzy cats. "Verbs are words like sing and dance, / Pray or practice, preach or prance, / Toss and tumble, jump and jam, / Whine and whisper, sleep and slam." Prosmitsky provides loads of visual clues as to the action that is taking place, and colored type cues readers as to which word is the verb. There is no denying that through all the goofery, a notion of verbs comes through, if from nothing other than inundation. A final page is provided for kids to test their newfound ability to identify the word showing the action or being. (Picture book. 7-9)