A silly story about word endings, or suffixes, and a restless, ready-for-summer-vacation class of kids. Back matter includes "helpful rules about adding suffixes to words" and explains how to look at a word's ending to break it down into a manageable length. Throughout the book, suffixes (-ing, -ed, -s, -est, -ly, and more) are in red, with the regular text in black. ( )

I really liked this book because it highlighted the suffix in every word that had one. Because of this I think that this would be a great book to read to students when they are learning about suffixes because they can see how often they are used and how they are used in a story. The characters are also relatable with the students not wanting to learn them and acting up towards the end of school. It makes it a fun book as well because the author made the word endings their own characters. For example, “the suffixes were doing push- ups and pull-ups. They were running and jumping, bouncing and balancing.” They also left the students clues as to where they were hiding when the students realized they disappeared. The main message of the book is to help students learn about word endings (suffixes) and how they are used. ( )

Grades 1-3

Robin Pulver and Lynn Rowe Reed team up again for the newest addition to the Language Arts Library, this time with a humorous look at suffixes. It's the last day of school and the kids are griping about Mr. Wright's announcement that they will be studying word endings. When the suffixes overhear that the students will be "tackling" the subject after lunch, they are worried that they need to get into shape for such a physical confrontation, and head for the gym. Mr. Wright and the students don't know where the suffixes have disappeared to, and start putting up posters to find them. Realizing that the students don't want to physically harm them after all and that they ARE appreciated, the suffixes leave clues around so that the students can find them again. Playful use of text makes suffixes throughout the story easy to identify, and Reed's illustrations give -ing, -less, -ful, and the various other word endings plenty of personality. The last two pages include helpful rules and clues about adding suffixes to words. A winner!
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very teachy ( )

I would find this book too difficult to use as a read aloud. There is too much happening on the page for student's to see from a distance. The last two pages were the most helpful. ( )