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Words Are CATegorical ®
A Mink, A Fink, A Skating Rink
Summary: Rhyming text and illustrations of comical cats present numerous examples of nouns, from "gown" and "crown" to "boat," "coat," and "clown."
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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295 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
April 23, 2012
We really enjoy the books by Brian P. Cleary. He makes learning fun, and this is a silly and humorous rhyming book about nouns. His books really entertain children while teaching them basic concepts; our girls really like them. The illustrations are cartoony and cute, too - we love the cats.
We've read several of the books in the Words are CATegorical series and we've really enjoyed them. We will certainly look for more books by this author at our local library.
We've read several of the books in the Words are CATegorical series and we've really enjoyed them. We will certainly look for more books by this author at our local library.
September 30, 2011
Brian Cleary is a genius at writing these funny, well-illustrated rhymes about the parts of speech. I believe he has a new series about nutrition as well. My boys love, love, love these silly but educational books.
October 10, 2008
Cleary, Brian P. A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What is a Noun?. Carolrhoda Books, Inc., unnumbered pages. Picture book, concept book.
Description: Children are introduced to nouns through a rhyming list of examples. The actual definition is never given, but the reader is asked to infer the definition.
A Mink... teaches kids about nouns by incorporating them in wild, Dr. Seuss-like rhymes. The bright colored-pencil illustrations provide all sorts of outrageous scenes for nouns to be drawn from. As for the text, the words are large enough for beginning readers to follow along easily. Each noun appears in color, helping readers distinguish the noun from the rest of the text.
Children are never explicitly given a definition of a noun in this book, but by the end, most readers will understand what they are and how they are used in sentences. In fact, the book ends with questions: "So what is a noun? Do you know?" Using these last questions as a discussion point, librarians, teachers and parents can gauge their readers' grasp of the noun concept.
Professional reviews:
Krapp, Lisa Gangemi (1999). Library Journal.
The reviewer takes issue with one line of awkward syntax in this book. While I agree that the line is a little clunky, I think it is the only instance of such a mistake. The reviewer also notes that the book fails to cover possessive and plural nouns. I disagree and think that more involved topics, such as these, are outside the scope of this book.
Kirkus Review.
The Kirkus review liked Cleary's demonstrative method of teaching and stated that he dropped many, subtle hints about noun rules, such as what makes a noun proper. I agree that lengthy explanations are not needed here.
Description: Children are introduced to nouns through a rhyming list of examples. The actual definition is never given, but the reader is asked to infer the definition.
A Mink... teaches kids about nouns by incorporating them in wild, Dr. Seuss-like rhymes. The bright colored-pencil illustrations provide all sorts of outrageous scenes for nouns to be drawn from. As for the text, the words are large enough for beginning readers to follow along easily. Each noun appears in color, helping readers distinguish the noun from the rest of the text.
Children are never explicitly given a definition of a noun in this book, but by the end, most readers will understand what they are and how they are used in sentences. In fact, the book ends with questions: "So what is a noun? Do you know?" Using these last questions as a discussion point, librarians, teachers and parents can gauge their readers' grasp of the noun concept.
Professional reviews:
Krapp, Lisa Gangemi (1999). Library Journal.
The reviewer takes issue with one line of awkward syntax in this book. While I agree that the line is a little clunky, I think it is the only instance of such a mistake. The reviewer also notes that the book fails to cover possessive and plural nouns. I disagree and think that more involved topics, such as these, are outside the scope of this book.
Kirkus Review.
The Kirkus review liked Cleary's demonstrative method of teaching and stated that he dropped many, subtle hints about noun rules, such as what makes a noun proper. I agree that lengthy explanations are not needed here.
March 30, 2013
Entertaining "parts of speech" lesson! My niece liked this quite a bit, which is great, because I think it's targeted at kids in middle elementary school grades. She got it. I liked it too. While I know what a noun is, and what a verb is, I don't know what all of the other parts of speech are, and I'm pretty sure that if I would have had a book like this as a child, I'd know those things! This was entertaining for its text and its illustrations, and teachers and parents could really take this book to soaring heights.
I don't think my five year old nephew quite grasps what a noun is, but now he's been exposed to it. We can keep working on it until he does understand. Mostly, he was just shocked to learn that his dad is a noun. "WHAT," he exclaimed. "DADDY IS A *NOUN*?!?!" You'd have thought I told him that his father is secretly a Martian. Which... We'll just let that one go.
I don't think my five year old nephew quite grasps what a noun is, but now he's been exposed to it. We can keep working on it until he does understand. Mostly, he was just shocked to learn that his dad is a noun. "WHAT," he exclaimed. "DADDY IS A *NOUN*?!?!" You'd have thought I told him that his father is secretly a Martian. Which... We'll just let that one go.
February 20, 2010
This book talks about nouns (and I had to define both mink and fink for the kids). Just as fun as the verb book. I love that the nouns are a different color and the pictures are lots of fun.
Same 2-page spread at the end for kids to find their own nouns.
I highly recommend this series. I think it's great for kids of all ages. My 3-yr-old understood a lot of it and so did my 6 and 9-yr-olds.
Same 2-page spread at the end for kids to find their own nouns.
I highly recommend this series. I think it's great for kids of all ages. My 3-yr-old understood a lot of it and so did my 6 and 9-yr-olds.
December 16, 2009
The book by Brian Cleary offers the readers an understand of what a noun is. This simple yet educational text is wonderful. The bold and bright illustrations will catch the readers eye.
Grades K-2
Spelling ~ Vocab test on nouns.
L.A. ~ Write about their favorite nouns .... person/place/thing
Grades K-2
Spelling ~ Vocab test on nouns.
L.A. ~ Write about their favorite nouns .... person/place/thing
March 30, 2011
This is a part of a great series of rhyming books!!! Loved this book about nouns. It makes for a good read for students who are grasping the different parts of grammar. The pictures are colorful and intricately drawn. This book could serve as a good lead in to a writing lesson using nouns. Really enjoyed the series!
November 16, 2008
Reading Level: primary
This is a great introduction for teaching students nouns. It gives several examples of what a noun is, including commona and proper nouns. The illustrations are funny and will capture a young reader's attention.
This is a great introduction for teaching students nouns. It gives several examples of what a noun is, including commona and proper nouns. The illustrations are funny and will capture a young reader's attention.
April 18, 2011
Excellent book to use when teaching about nouns.
Funny and silly scenarios that will have students LOL.
Great illustrations & lots of rhyming words.
Teaches students how to identify nouns (proper & common nouns)
Good for teaching poetry.
Uses a lot of word-family words too.
Funny and silly scenarios that will have students LOL.
Great illustrations & lots of rhyming words.
Teaches students how to identify nouns (proper & common nouns)
Good for teaching poetry.
Uses a lot of word-family words too.
January 30, 2010
This is part of a series on the parts of speech. Lots of cute illustrations are in this book along with some interesting nouns. Kids will find this more interesting than a lecture on what nouns are.
April 17, 2011
A great book with many nouns. The text lists all types of nouns from person/place/thing, to proper nouns. A nice rhyming text to make the book fun and flow.
October 1, 2011
I think this was a good book. It was funny and silly. I learned about nouns. It taught me how to rhyme.
April 23, 2012
This book is great to use when teaching lesson on nouns. The books does a well job illustrating the different places, names and people to show that they are all nouns! Graces 1-3.
May 5, 2012
Picked this up at a thrift store. It's a delightful rhyming read. Now my 4 week old knows her nouns!!!
December 14, 2017
A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What is a Noun? by Brian P. Clearly is a great book when teaching nouns! This is one book out of a series; a title of another book in that series is, A Lime, a Mime, a Pool of Slime by Brian P. Clearly. The illustrations are very engaging and busy, there is typically a lot on each page, your eyes don’t know where to look first! When I first looked at the illustrations, I thought about how it initiates your imagination, because it almost seems like there are endless possibilities. While I do like the book, there is no basic plot. I do not like this because, I feel that all books should have a basic plot, and if needed, counteracting subplots. However, this lacks even a basic plot, therefore, I feel that it jumps around. While all pages maintain a rhyming scheme, which is also beneficial when teaching, it goes from one thing to another. I do like how the book ends on a question, “So, what is a noun? Do you know?” I like this ending because, when teaching a lesson to students or even reading it for fun, it prompts one’s brain to think about nouns and what they are, and if the reader understood the book. I would recommend this book when teaching about nouns because, it hits on what a noun represents. In determining what grade level to read/teach this book for, I would recommend using 1st-4th grade. The vocabulary for the most part is simple, and they’ll be able to understand without any real, interruptions. If there is a word or two which students struggle with understand, just turn to the pictures as a reference!
March 18, 2024
This book is all about teaching kids what nouns are. There is no story line as this book is solely for educational purposes. I really liked this book. I would not read this to a kid before bed time nor do I think a kid would want to have this read to them often. However, in a setting such as preschool, kindergarten, or just learning time at home, this book would be a great go to. This teaches kids what a noun is and what a noun can look like. This can open great windows for kids to start pointing out things around them they think are nouns. The reason I wanted to read this book was because it is educational. Although I would rather read a book about anything fun, I think it is good to get some books that can also teach kids things they will be more familiar with when they start school. Again this would be a great book to add to your library to help educate your children. I think that kids would not want to read this book often or before bed, but if you make this reading experience fun for them, I truly think they will love and enjoy this book.
February 4, 2018
I love a good book. I especially love one that teaches the kids a lesson. I received this book to help the kids have fun with Nouns. One of the kids are starting to learn about nouns and I thought this would be a fun book. While it is a fun book, I did have some troubles.
This book was a more of a book of words. Page after page, the kids read about nouns. While it was fun for them to read single words with adorable illustrations, the actual lessons were not so clear. Not all of the kids realized the words were things like nouns. I think this book would have been better if the word noun appeared more often through the book with a small description. I did appear once when talking about proper nouns, but it was so subtle and mixed in with all of the other information, I think the main idea got lost.
From my perspective as a teacher, this book is a fun read only when the kids know all about nouns and how they are used. This is not the type of book to get when introducing the topic.
This book was a more of a book of words. Page after page, the kids read about nouns. While it was fun for them to read single words with adorable illustrations, the actual lessons were not so clear. Not all of the kids realized the words were things like nouns. I think this book would have been better if the word noun appeared more often through the book with a small description. I did appear once when talking about proper nouns, but it was so subtle and mixed in with all of the other information, I think the main idea got lost.
From my perspective as a teacher, this book is a fun read only when the kids know all about nouns and how they are used. This is not the type of book to get when introducing the topic.
December 20, 2017
I don’t know why I always assume I won’t enjoy books in a series like this one. It is a fun read and my five year old has come back to it again and again. During free time. When he could have been playing with toys or just generally running wild 😂. I credit the illustrator a great deal. I also credit the author with being conscious of the inclusion of humor. Easy to recommend this selection.
April 17, 2022
Just like the other books in this series the explanation of a noun is well put and easy to understand. This is a great book for a classroom read aloud when you are first explaining nouns to students. The text has the nouns in a different color from the rest so the readers know what the noun is and how it is used. I enjoyed this book very much and would 100% recommend this book!
March 27, 2018
This wasn't the favorite of the books I read to Alena this week, but it sure is one of the better ones. I really like the rhymes, the illustrations, and the way this book explains nouns. Fun! And I would read more by this author and illustrator.
May 9, 2020
AR level: 3.3
Lexile: 600L
This book is fun to read, especially out loud, while also helping the reader to learn about what nouns are and the different types of nouns that exist.
Traits: Word choice
Lexile: 600L
This book is fun to read, especially out loud, while also helping the reader to learn about what nouns are and the different types of nouns that exist.
Traits: Word choice
February 2, 2023
Part of an excellent series on English grammar - my kids (8 & 10 years old at this time) were already familiar with the definition of a noun, but this was a good review and gives useful and humorous examples . . .
October 24, 2023
A fun way to learn what a noun is. Explained in rhyme this educational journey of the part of speech that is used everyday is some form or fashion will keep the reader focused and entertained while learning.
December 22, 2017
It's interesting to read aloud.
January 15, 2018
A wonderful introduction to Nouns in Brian Clearly style: all fun, all rhyme, all the time.
Thoroughly enjoyed, makes grammar fun.
Thoroughly enjoyed, makes grammar fun.
April 26, 2018
This book is teaches nouns but with a fun approach and through a way that is engaging for the students.
Lexile Measures- NP
Guided Reading- O
Six Traits plus One- Presentation and Word Choice
Lexile Measures- NP
Guided Reading- O
Six Traits plus One- Presentation and Word Choice
August 8, 2019
Rhyming text and illustrations of comical cats present numerous examples of nouns, from gown and crown to boat, coat and clown,
Cute ... I like this series.
Cute ... I like this series.
August 29, 2019
A fun way to reinforce nouns.
April 7, 2020
I love this book because of it's rhyming and wording. It's entertaining and engaging.
Lexile: 625L
Guided Reading: O
Trait: Word Choice
Lexile: 625L
Guided Reading: O
Trait: Word Choice
Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews