Eight Ate: A Feast of Homonym Riddles

It's a funny book, that does cheer people up if they're sad. I learned about homonyms

My 5th graders beg for me to let them guess the homophone riddles! I read them outloud and let them turn in their guesses - winners get a (sugar-free!) piece of candy. It's a great way to fill extra minutes!

I use this with fourth graders. I put a riddle on the board everyday. They love it! If I forget, they remind me. This is a great way to increase vocabulary.

"Eight Ate" by Marvin Terban. Illustrated by Giulio Maestro. Sub-titled, "A Feast of Homonym Riddles". Clarion Books, 1982.

This book plays on the wealth of homonyms (words which sound alike but mean different things) in the English language. First, a question, (i.e. a riddle) is asked, and then the answer, dependent upon a homonym, is given. For example, on the back cover, the riddle is: "What do you call a smelly chicken?"
Answer, playing on the homonyms: "A foul fowl!"

The entire book is filled with this type of word play: the riddle, with the answer in homonyms nicely illustrated by Giulio Maestro. All of the clever use of words makes for funny reading aloud. The illustrations keep the attention of the children who are too young read, even though they may not fully understand the joke embedded in the homonyms. This book is a worthwhile addition to the library of the young reader.

Eight Ate, created by Marvin Terban, was created as a teaching game, in one of his English classes. This book is useful for learning the difference between words that sound the same, but are spelled differently. The jokes and riddles are described by pictures to give clues to the answers. This book is a great way for kids to understand the different meanings behind words that sound the same. As someone who confuses they're and there, I found this book fun and helpful, and I'm in college! This would also help teachers in the Language Arts field. By creating fun use for words, Terban brings forth knowledge needed to understand the English Language.