The Circus of Words: Acrobatic Anagrams, Parading Palindromes, Wonderful Words on a Wire, and More Lively Letter Play

by Richard Lederer, Dave Morice (Illustrator)

Overview

Language skills will fly through the air with the greatest of ease as kids join in The Circus of Words. Children of all ages are delighted by anagrams, palindromes, acrostics, alliteration, riddles, and puns, yet few books on wordplay are addressed to middle-schoolers. This creative and challenging activity book shows kids how to juggle letters to become ringmasters of wordplay. “The Shrinking Spotlight” shows how larger words become smaller words when certain letters are removed. “Clown Cars” introduces the idea of words hiding within words, and “The Acro Bat” and “Silver Spoonerisms” show off letter clusters that change from one word to another. The whole bandwagon is here, enabling kids, who are natural language enthusiasts, to cavort through that endless entertainment, the English language.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781556523809
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/01/2001
Edition description:	1 ED
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.46(d)
Age Range:	9 - 18 Years

About the Author

Richard Lederer is one of the most distinguished letterers in the country. The author of many books on wordplay, including Anguished English, Get Thee to a Punnery, and Pun and Games. Dave Morice is a writer and illustrator whose books include Poetry Comics and Alphabet Avenue. He is a longtime columnist for Word Ways magazine.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8-This complex book will work best for those who have already had some experience with anagrams, palindromes, and other such word forms. The exercises are challenging, with lots of examples that sometimes lack clarity. The use of the circus motif to link all these activities together seems forced at times, but the chapter "The Palindromedary" works well with the exercises tied to circus animals and actions. The simple, black-and-white drawings and old-fashioned circus pictorials are static and lend little life to the text. This is a book that, in spite of itself, offers a lot of fun and challenges.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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