Additional information
by Marvin Terban (Author), Andreas Wittmann (Illustrator)
A must-have reference book for every classroom, this game-like homophone book takes a visually imaginative look at the many sound-alike words in the English language! The "Master of Children's Wordplay", author Marvin Terban, introduces young readers to the world of homophones in this playful picture book. Partnering with Andreas Wittmann's hilarious illustrations, Terban takes a simple lesson on understanding homophones and turns it into a laugh-out-loud story that even the most hesitant of readers will enjoy. Readers will pore (or is it pour?) over each illustration as they guess the humorous "related" image on the next page. The fun continues at the end of the story with content at the back of the book encouraging readers to extend the learning and fun on their own! It's only a matter of time, then, when the punny dad jokes commence! The English language can certainly be a challenge to understand for young children, and when concepts like synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, and homophones are introduced in the classroom, it can certainly become confusing. A picture book like Swap-a-Word! Fun with Sound-Alike Words can be helpful for the student, as well as the teacher and the parent. In the classroom, this picture book can serve as the introduction to a unit on homophones. More often, educators can have success in introducing a difficult topic in a humorous way to help the student see the fun in learning a particular topic. At home, parents can make a game out of identifying homophones on their own, or even comparing homophones vs. homonyms. Putting a point value or competition behind the actual lesson can help hesitant readers feel more comfortable learning about homophones without the pressure of simply identifying them.
Author Biography
Marvin Terban is a popular, best-selling children's book author and a long-time educator. Called a "master of children's wordplay" by ALA Booklist and "Mr. English for Kids" by the Children's Book-of-the-Month Club, he has written 40 books for young readers, most of them about the English language. He is also Scholastic's "Professor Grammar." Marvin Terban has been teaching English, Latin, and other subjects at Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School in New York for 60 years.
