Happy Endings: A Story about Suffixes

Mr. Wright's Class

by Robin Pulver, Robin Pulver

Yikes! Mr. Wright announces that word endings will be tackled after lunch. The suffixes written on Mr. Wright's board are in a tizzy. How can they defend themselves and prove that suffixes are helpful? The creators of Punctuation Takes a Vacation, Nouns and Verbs Have a Field Day, and Silent Letters Loud and Clear, have concocted another memorable language arts picture book.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, School, Education, Language

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Karen Arendt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robin Pulver does a great job of making grammar easy. The students cannot start summer vacation until they learn suffixes, so the teacher tells them that they will 'tackle' endings after lunch. The suffixes think they are going to get hurt, so they go to the gym to toughen up. Then the suffixes leave clues for the students by putting the suffixes before the root word. Once the students figure out the clues they find the suffixes. Happy Endings covers a variety of endings, using a different color text when words have a suffix attached. The clues left in the story could be incorporated in a lesson activity for students after reading the story. There is also a list of rules at the end of the book about adding suffixes.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a clever way to help students learn about suffixes! When the word endings hear Mr. Wright say that the students will tackle them after lunch, they head to the gym for some last minute training. It's up to the students to save their summer vacation by finding them. Language arts has never been so fun as it is in this classroom. The colorful cartoon illustrations bring the suffixes and the students to life, and the useful suffix tips at the end of the book will help students master suffix rules.

[Donalyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The authors of Punctuation Takes a Vacation are back with this clever book about suffixes. In this installment Mr. Wright wants to teach his students about suffixes before the end of the year, but the children aren't cooperating. When the suffixes run away, the class bands together to find them. This book is a good first look at word endings and how we use them.

[Lisa Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another great introductory book for teaching students about suffixes (inflected endings). It tells of a story of students in a classroom while divulging a plethora of words, and highlighting the ones with suffixes. There are many lessons that can be done following the use of this book for a read aloud. The story is entertaining and provides educational value where it can to hold its own in your child's bookshelf at home without having to tie it to a lesson.

[Fahula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Readers enjoy decoding messages with missing or mixed up suffixes in this picture book about the Suffix crew having fled to avoid having the class “tackle” them. The students enjoyed this misunderstanding, as well.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Kathleen]

This story is told from the suffixes’ point of view. The students are ready for summer vacation, but their teacher, Mr.Wright, tells them they must first learn suffixes. When the students hear this news they start misbehaving. Mr. Wright tells his students they will “tackle” word endings after lunch. When the word endings hear this they head to the gym and prepare to defend themselves. Meanwhile, Mr. Wright discovers the lesson has disappeared. He threatens the kids with no summer vacation unless they find the word endings. The students move quickly to find the endings. They even hung up suffix-less wanted posters all over the school. When the suffixes saw the posters, they knew what was really happening. The suffixes help the students save summer vacation. Some of the suffixes used in the story: ing, s, ed, less, y, est, es, ful, er, ly. I would use this story to introduce suffixes and have students use suffixes in their writing. I would have students go over one of their writing pieces and highlight all of the suffixes they used.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that my oldest just finished out the school year with lessons on suffixes, so when I saw this book I thought it would be a great way to reinforce the concepts. It's a good book, but I prefer the books written by Brian P. Cleary. His books are just as educational, but with their rollicking, rhyming narratives, they are also a lot of fun to read aloud. Still, this was an interesting tale and we liked the last two pages that reviewed the rules for suffixes and gave opportunities for practice.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was the last day of school and Mr. Wright’s class could not wait for summer vacation to start! They moaned and groaned when they were told that there was one last lesson to learn. Suffixes! The suffixes were so excited! But would they stick around when they saw how grumpy the kids were?

I would recommend this book to first graders who are just starting to work with suffixes.

Pulver, R., & Reed, L. R. (2011). Happy endings: a story about suffixes. New York: Holiday House.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is entertaining and works well for the topic, and the illustrations are fun to look at.

But I do think it will take a trained educator for children to get the most out of this book, with regard to learning about suffixes. I believe I would lack the knowledge to really utilize this book to its full potential. There are additional 'informative' pages at the back. In a classroom this would be an excellent resource.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a colorful and chart art feel to this book. There is excitement for summer vacation, but the children see that suffixes are needed and make posters to find them. Suffix rules are included at the end of the book. Children see many different suffixes used: ing, s, ed, less, y, est, es, ful, er, ly.

[Kimberly Caldwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Concept book - 2011 This story follows a classroom through learning how to add endings to words. Throughout the book, word endings in words are highlighted. I honestly found this very distracting and the story to not be overly engaging. Perhaps it's telling when you see a book show up over and over at a super low price in Scholastic?

[Read Ribbet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pulver is so clever telling her stories about linguistic features. In this book, she takes on suffixes. Nervous about being tackled by the students after munch, the suffixes decide to toughen up. Eventually the endings help the learners with their writing. A great book for helping with writing mechanics and word work.

[Zara Younus]

Colorful and creative book to teach students about suffixes. The last page of the book includes a list of clues for making suffixes. After reading the book, students will be able to look through books and find as many suffixes as they can. Students can define the meaning of the word through illustrations.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great way to introduce the importance of suffixes to a classroom! I found this book to be extremely useful and would definitely use it as an introduction to a classroom grammar lesson. The book is told through the eyes of the suffix letters. The letters journey into a school classroom, and shows the students just how important they can be. Great book.

[Brianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really think that this is a great story to use in introducing children to suffixes. The suffixes are highlighted throughout the story and pop out from the other text. There are also times where Robin Pulver demonstrated a few words where you drop the letter "e" and replace it with the suffix. I think this book is a cute interactive way to begin teaching children about suffixes.

[Sarah Ashburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!It is a very creative way to teach children about suffixes. The book does a great job of not only showing students what a suffix is but giving them examples of suffixes and how they are used in different words. This also shows students what each suffix means and when to use it. Great book for students learning phonics.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I totally want this book for my highest word work group. I hate the art, although it could go well with a study of Basquiat. There are some great grammar tips at the back that I'd definitely copy and include in my anthology.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a teacher-librarian, I am always looking for great curriculum connections and ways to use pictures to teach all subject areas. This is a fun story that integrates nicely with the language arts curriculum. I will be ordering a copy for our elementary school library soon!

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. This book about suffixes is a little too clever and doesn't really help teach students about word endings. It might be an okay read aloud in the classroom but as a teaching tool, I'd give it a pass. Best suited for students in grades 2 - 4, depending on language and word play ability.

[Taneka · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great choice for school teacher's and homeschooler's to add to their shelves. If I were still teaching ESOL, I would definitely use this as a supplement to the curriculum. Entertaining and educational, it will retain both readers and listeners attention.

[Olivia Kirkham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story that teaches suffixes. I think this would be great to have in an elementary school classroom. It would work perfectly to introduce suffixes in a fun way that the kids would enjoy. Kids would even read it on their own time and enjoy learning about grammar.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great for teaching children suffixes. There are a lot of pictures on each page that contain information for children to look at. It tells a story about Mr. Wright and his class but also give a lot of information about suffixes and endings.

[Somona San · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy Endings: A Story about Suffixes (2011-Informational Text/Picture Book)

The suffixes on the whiteboard have gone missing in this book. A good book to introduce or review suffixes. The suffixes are in different colors and easy for students to spot as they are reading.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're working on suffixes, this works.

[Mary Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but a little overdone.

[Colby Sharp · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I did not love this book. I would rather teach suffixes in a context a little more authentic. I felt his book took things a little too far.

[Yoo Kyung Sung · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could be a great teaching tool

[Shelly Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to teach suffixes. I made a hands on activity for this and the lesson was great.

[Kyle Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect book for teaching suffixes.