Books with Adjectives
These are some of our favorite books with adjectives. Some of them are teaching books that explain adjectives and how you use them and others are books that have a good number of adjectives in them. My kids enjoy listening to me read them aloud. Afterwards, we sometimes do “adjective hunts”, looking for places where the author has used a good deal of adjectives.
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Books that TEACH about Adjectives
Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What is an Adjective? and by Quirky, Jerky, Extra Perky: More About Adjectives Brian P. Cleary – If you like Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein, you’ll like the playful way that Cleary teaches kids about adjectives in these two books. Not only that, he has an entire series for parts of speech.
Many Luscious Lollipops by Ruth Heller- This is another series of books that focuses on the different parts of speech. I love how Heller uses pictures to help kids understand the concept of adjectives.
If You Were an Adjective by Michael Dahl- This cute book shows kids what kinds of adjectives go with specific nouns. I love the images and how some of the words even LOOK like the adjectives. And, once again, Michael Dahl has an entire series dedicated to the parts of speech, like the two other authors I’ve mentioned in this list.
Books that MODEL Adjectives
A is for Angry by Sandra Boynton- My tots and preschoolers love Sandra Boynton books, but this one is also great for older kids because of all the rich vocabulary and adjectives!
The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig by Eugene Trivizas- Nothing’s too touch for this big, bad pig, even a house of concrete. What a fun take on the classic tale! Can the big, bad pig’s heart ever become tender? Read to find out.
Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes- My kids have enjoyed ANY Kevin Henkes book I’ve ever read to them, but this one is probably my favorite…well, maybe it’s tied with Chrysanthemum.
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig- Steig just has such a way with words. His stories are chalk full of “Tier 2” words, the kinds of vocabulary words we want to be teaching our kids. The adjectives he uses throughout don’t disappoint either.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst- While this book does not have a ton of adjectives in it, the title does. And the title sentence is sprinkled throughout the book in such a cute way. And this is SUCH a classic book that my kids love for me to read.
The Napping House by Audrey Wood- This book is great for so many reasons and is a favorite at our house. I love how many ways Wood is able to say the word, napping, which also makes this book a great one when teaching about synonyms.
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle- Not only the the ladybug described as grouchy, but each animal the grouchy ladybug meets along his journey is described with adjectives as well. PLUS, this is a great book for teaching time, too.
Poetry is also a GREAT place to find descriptive language. One of our favorite read aloud poetry books for doing this is The 20th Century Children’s Poetry Treasury selected by Jack Prelutsky.
Activities that Teach Adjectives
- Jazzy Words – using your five senses to describe nouns
- Descriptive Writing Graphic Organizer
- Roll & Write Adjectives– a SILLY way to practice using adjectives