To Root to Toot to Parachute: What Is a Verb

To Root,

to Toot,

o Parachute

t

ack, and Colin–

To Ma ry Kate, Jds three “action” ki —B.P.C. garita To my sister, Mar — J.P.

Verb: A word that shows . ing e b r o n o i t c a

To Root,

to Toot,

o Parachute

t

by Brian P. Cleary

illustrated by Jenya Prosmitsky

t C AROLRHODA B OO KS, I NC . / M INNEAPOLIS

Whether you scale a wall or a fish,

Make a design on a cup or a dish,

Take

out the

garbage,

or

sharpen your knife—

part a

e r a s b r y r d e

a v

e y e

r

u life. o

y f V o

To

root,

to

toot,

to

parachute,

To play the flutophone or flute,

To

dare, defend,

descend, disturb— , n

o



i

t c

a n a s ’ t If i it’ s a

v e rb!

k

i

l e

s s

d r

i n o w g e r a s b c e r ,

n a e d d V an

Pray or practice,

pr each or prance,

e

l

,

b

j u m m u t d p n a s s o T and j am, nd a e n

i h W

whisper

,

sleep

an d sl a m.

so are holler, and hold,

help,

Whack and stack and pack and fold,

Fix and

finish ,



, t f i load and l Hurry, scurry,

shake, and sift.

So take a

present,

send your

thanks,

Pull a tooth, or pull some pranks,

Blow

a bubble,

sew a

sleeve,

f b o r

r

e e a v

c h a o e f s

u t hese. l l ’

u o Y

t n a a k c

e a fo r b

e rm Av of “ be, ”

Like you are tall,

m a f I ree,

r o

That

is fun,

It’s been

great,

We r e you the one w h o was so la

t e?

Punt or pass or shoot or score,

or padd m i le, Sw pitch or pour,

Jog

or

juggle,

or leap, j ig

Verbs can tire

you out a heap.

You can

crawl or fall

or pet

your pooch,

See a b all game, be a mooc

h,

J

a n d slum p

m p u

and play it cool,

Hunt and hike

and b i

ke

to schoo l.

a nd fid k c i p oS dle, strum r t

s o k d e, n a

T ease and

so

b

teet er,

and soak,

ep e Sw

you r sidewalk ,

r b u c , r u o y nt

i a p

e ach action w o n k d An is a verb!

h d n a e

t o

e o

r , e

h

g n o l as be

v a H

Like “I have green eyes, She

has

blue.”

Or “Mindy has a

mini mutt.”

l e

l t

u n

s

a c s b r e v got wha s ’ o h e w s e t h ! T

n i

s ui

cr

V

re bs

s

p i h s f o l tel g,

, g n i dogs z o o e m i snoo z in

g, sl They tell

of spies

spying,

gu ys t ry

ing a n d losing,

Of leaves when they’re falling, and wind when it’s blowing, The rain

when it’s

raining,

the snow when

it’s snowing.

l l

e

u t

s of dog y e h T s

, b a e r r k g a i n t g n i p

a e o

e

r l

s h t

c n

i a r g e r

, a t a h t s r a c f p

e

b e e b e O ping y l e r e m or ,

Of planes that

are flying,

and t rains

c h o o- ch

,

g n i o o oo -ch

Aunt Edna “Oh-Hi-ing,” and Mom “Toodle-ooing”—

i s p opping, t a h t n r o c Of

and singers do o -w

g,

o p p i n

Of folks that are sweeping,

and afterwards,

mopping,

So, whether it’s

dangerous,

dull, or superb,

e , you see c

n

e t

n e s , Each e a v a h t s v u e m r b y l p !

m si VERB POWER VERBS

ARE COOL

so, what is a verb?

Do you know?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR BRIAN P. CLEARY is the author of several other picture books, including A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What Is a Noun? and Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What Is an Adjective? He lives in Cleveland, Ohio. JENYA PROSMITSKY grew up and studied art in Chisinau, Moldova, and lives in Minneapolis. Her two cats, Henry and Freddy, were vital to her illustrations for this book and the other Words Are Categorical books. Copyright © 2001 by Carolrhoda Books, Inc. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Carolrhoda Books, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

This book is available in two editions: Library binding by Carolrhoda Books, Inc., a division of Lerner Publishing Group Soft cover by First Avenue Editions, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group 241 First Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A. Website address: www.lernerbooks.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cleary, Brian P., 1959To root, to toot, to parachute : what is verb? / by Brian P. Cleary ; illustrated by Jenya Prosmitsky. p. cm. – (Words are categorical) Summary: Rhyming text and illustrations of comical cats present numerous examples of verbs, from “toss and tumble,” “jump and jam,” to “whine and whimper,” “sleep and slam.” eISBN 1-57505-548-1 1. English language—Verb—Juvenile literature. [1. English language—Verb.] I. Prosmitsky, Jenya, 1974- ill. II. Title. III. Series: Cleary, Brian P., 1959- Words are categorical. PE1271.C58 1999 98-49569 428.2—dc21 Manufactured in the United States of America 3 4 5 6 7 8 - JR - 06 05 04 03 02 01