Skin Like Milk, Hair of Silk: What Are Similes and Metaphors? (Words Are CATegorical)
Grade 3–5—Cleary provides brief definitions of similes and metaphors, offers roughly 15 examples of each one, and explains how they are used. Large pen-and-ink illustrations feature cartoon cats rendered in bold, vibrant colors. The style is fun and inviting. The text, which appears in an oversize, whimsical font, is spare, ranging from 9 to 15 words per page. Large pictures and uneven placement of the text keeps the tone playful. Students will enjoy the unstructured, fluid layout, which reads more like a picture book than a language primer. Norton Juster'sAs: A Surfeit of Similes(HarperCollins, 1989) is more comprehensive; it includes nearly 200 examples. Marvin Terban'sIt Figures!: Fun Figures of Speech(Clarion, 1993) covers similes and metaphors as well as four other figures of speech. Overall, Cleary's book is a pleasing introduction for young writers.—June Shimonishi, Torrance Public Library, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to theLibrary Bindingedition.