Just Me and 6,000 Rats: A Tale of Conjunctions

Rick Walton Illustrated by Mike Gordon and Carl Gordon

When a little boy goes to the big city for the first time, he wants to do everything he can. He goes to a play, a museum, a professional baseball game, and even joins a parade. He just happens to be accompanied by a very large and unusual group of friends-RATS!

Conjunctions are used to link words, phrases, and clauses, and we use them every day. Author Rick Walton knows, and he's delivered another delightful children's book in his language arts series to teach budding new readers all about them!

Rick Walton is the author of more than 70 books for kids. He lives with his wife and five children in a home on a hillside, where raccoons climb up his trees and deer graze under his bushes. Rick likes to travel around the country talking to kids. You can find out more about Rick at www.rickwalton.com.

Mike Gordon, born in Manchester, England, became a professional freelance artist in 1983. Mike has now completed over 600 picture books.

Carl Gordon and his father have been a team since 1999. Mike creates the line illustrations, and the color is applied by Carl using a graphics tablet and computer. He has a degree in graphic art and currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa with his wife and kids.

Conjunction-junction, what's your function? Author Rick Walton knows, and he's delivered another delightful children's book in the language arts series to teach budding new readers all about them. Conjunctions are used to link words, phrases, and clauses, but who knew that they could be so clever!

"After the game we decided to see a play. The city is famous for its plays. We entered the theater. We had trouble finding just the right seats, AS . . . all the seats were already filled, SO . . . we sat on people's laps. We don't know why everyone decided to leave early, THOUGH. . . it might have been that the show was about cats. Who wants to see a show about cats? We left the theater.

And then the rats saw the sign, "Museum of Fine Arts". Rats don't read well. They insisted we go in BECAUSE . . .
. . . they thought it said, "Museum of Fine Rats."

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2 This zany story introduces a conjunction at every page turn. A boy describes a day in the city, accompanied by an entourage of rodents. The people seem amazingly polite, clearing the elevator for them, providing helpful vantage points for viewing the city vista, and leaving their food behind when they flee a chic French restaurant. Children will laugh at the accompanying watercolors that show startled citizens scattering in all directions-some appearing simply as a vanishing leg at the edge of the page. The conjunctions (highlighted in large colored font) provide the drama as listeners wait to see what new havoc this troupe will visit upon the town. For example, when the rats decide to see a play, the narrator states, "We had trouble finding just the right seats, AS.../...all the seats were filled, SO.../...we sat on people's laps." The Gordons deliver the perfect cartoon imagery of wide-mouthed, perspiring play-goers exiting the theater. Those seeking definitions and direction for the use of conjunctions must look elsewhere, but this account of inadvertent rodent mayhem will be a winning addition to language-arts units and picture-book collections.-Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI

Rick Walton is the author of dozens of books for kids, including his popular books introducing language arts concepts: Once There Was a Bullfrog, Why the Banana Split, and Herd of Cows Flock of Sheep. He often plays his guitar happily. Rick and his family live in Provo, Utah. For more info visit rickwalton.com