Product Description

An ice-skating snake and a dragon eating pepperoni pizza are just two of the amazing "mosts" to ponder in this book that will stretch the imagination and send readers young and old into fits of laughter. Full color.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #124005 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 32 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780689844492
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
"Nickle brushes on five-alarm acrylics to set the stage for Barrett's energetically loony look at superlatives," wrote PW. "The resulting delicious absurdities should inspire both giggles and creativity in readers." Ages 3-7.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 1-4AIn this book of superlatives, imagination reigns. What is the jumpiest thing in the world? "Two thousand two hundred twenty-two toads on a trampoline." Each double-page spread features an adjective (e.g., hottest, smelliest, stickiest) highlighted in a bright color along with a creative idea of what the adjective could be describing. Readers are introduced to a wiggly snake on a skate, a windsurfing ant, and other equally bizarre creations. Amusing acrylic illustrations aptly blend realism with fantasy. There is a pleasing continuity of text to pictures as the color of the highlighted word is repeated in the matching illustration. Use this book as a jumping off point to set students' imaginations free or choose it for perhaps the liveliest lesson in comparative adjectives.AAnne Knickerbocker, formerly at Cedar Brook Elementary School, Houston, TX
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ages 3^-6. Barrett, author of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (1982) and Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing (1989), here plays around with superlatives. Each double-page spread contains a statement such as "The wiggliest thing in the world is a snake ice-skating." It faces a full-page acrylic painting of a snake with muffler and earmuffs trying to keep its balance as it glides across a frozen lake, teetering on one skate. To really enjoy the humor, children should be old enough to find silly things funny and young enough not to be too critical--or maybe just be the sort of kid who enjoys debating whether a newborn flea is the teeniest-weeniest thing in the world. Most of the illustrations are literal; however, Nickle adds his own imaginative bits to the mix. Some of the ideas, such as "the highest thing in the world is the very top of the sky," are difficult to illustrate effectively and seem flattened rather than expanded by the attempt. The last page carries the most creative potential by inviting kids to come up with their own "est" thing in the world. The book itself isn't entirely successful, but teachers will use it to inspire children to dream up and illustrate their own superlatives. Carolyn Phelan

Customer Reviews

A Must Read For Elementary Ed. Teachers!
Just today I used this book to teach a decoding lesson to my first graders. They were captivated by the lively illustrations and quite entertained by the clever humor. This book lends itself well to a quick, low maintenance, yet creative activity. We began to make our own book in a similar fashion. Students completed the sentence, "The _____est thing in the world is ______." They came up with some very creative responses and then illustrated them. We are looking forward to putting our book together right away and sharing it! This book could be used at different levels up through 3rd grade to target a variety of skills.

HEY... the CRAZIEST thing is...
My daughter, who is about to turn 3, decided this would be a great book to take home from the public library. And the ONLY reason she wanted to take it home was because of the slice of pizza on the front cover. It easily became a quick favorite that she wanted me to read to her quite often. She affectionately refers to this as simply, "Pizza book!" So, Pizza book it is!

But thankfully the pizza wasn't the only thing that caught her attention. Because this is to help kids develope their own examples of ______est words, it has lots of great illustrations. So, there's a dragon eating a slice of pizza on the front cover, right? Get to that in a book and it turns out that "The HOTTEST thing in the world is a fire-breathing dragon eating a pepperoni pizza." Or, (one more example simply because I won't tell the whole book) is a little boy who fell asleep while doing his homework. There is an earthworm (or a bookworm) who has just taken a big bite out of his sandwich. And so the example in that one is, "The QUIETEST thing in the world is a worm chewing peanut butter." Lots and lots of crazy, but hilarious pictures. Is it meant to be a little silly? Yep. But can it be used to teach kids a thing or two when it comes to helping their vocabulary? You bet!

So, with my daughter's great urgency, I would definitely recommend "Pizza book" or as it is really called, "Things That Are Most In The World." It is a nice break in the day, and you and your kiddo will laugh and point at some of the CRAZIEST things you've ever seen. You'll have a lot of fun!

Great for primary kids
Great books to help teach primary kids the concept of adjectives (describing words, word choice). The pictures and the silly "riddles" are wonderful. For example: The quietest thing in the world is a worm in eating peanut butter. Students will love to make up their own "Most Thing".