Pros: Educational, lots of fun, makes car trips easier
Cons: The pages eventually get filled up and it's time for a new one
The Bottom Line: I'd highly recommend them as a way for kids to pass time this summer. They're educational and keep them from television. For using the imagination, they can't be beat.
tiasmom's Full Review: Roger Price and Leonard Stern - Mad Libs
I was thrilled to see they still make these things! I loved Mad Libs when I was a kid. My sister, friends and I, and occasionally my mother, would spend hours filling up the books. I think many kids these days could use a big push in the creativity department. My daughter becomes engrossed in cartoons even when I ask her to stop watching television. She then asks to play the same video game for the 100th time that week. As a child, I used to spend a lot of time with creative play. My friends and I would do things like invent perfume using household fragrances, put on skits to try to make each other laugh or make tape recordings of silly made up commercials and songs. I also spent a lot of time reading and writing everything from pen-pal letters to fictional stories. I can tell the difference in my daughter’s grammar, spelling and vocabulary, not to mention her ability to entertain herself and use her imagination. I know I need to motivate her to improve in these areas that I excelled in at her age.
How Mad Libs Can Help
First of all—what are they? This is a book of stories with missing words you fill in. It’s a fun and creative word game and is especially wonderful on long car trips. They even make my husband laugh and he’s often stressed while driving long distances. He proves you’re never too old to improve your grammar skills because when we get him to play along, he sometimes forgets things like the difference between an adverb and an adjective.
Recently, we were in Barnes and Noble Book Store and I came across a selection of Mad Libs in the children’s section. Since then, I’ve looked around in other book aisles in department stores and have not been able to find more. I have a feeling your best bet for locating them will be in a large book store or children’s educational store. The one I selected was a Shrek version since we have seen the movie and liked it. They have them in different themes and all are written by Roger Price and Leonard Stern. They are basically small paperback tablets.
How To Play
We’ve been doing it a little differently than the instructions note. Each page has a short portion of the story on it. In this case, it’s the Shrek story from the movie. On the opposite page, is a set of grammar parts with a blank beside them. For instance, it will say:
Place____
Adjective______
Adverb_____
Plural Noun_____
Part of the Body____
Type of Liquid_____
Noun____
Exclamation___
Animal____
Verb___
Place____
This covers just about all of them. The person doing the reading calls out each of them and the other player(s) respond. One or more players then call out their choice of a word to fill in the blank and the reader writes it on the line. When they are finished filling them all in, the reader tells the completed story. Of course it turns out to be hilarious in most cases because the person making the choice has no idea how the word fits into the story. The only thing we do differently is that we fill in the word directly on the blank line in the story instead of on the blank on the opposite page. I think it’s much easier to read this way and see no reason why they even had to include the page with the same choices. It seems repetitive.
Examples
Here are just two examples of Mad Libs we have completed: An asterisk is before the word we have filled in.
A Cookie’s Confession
“He he heh heh heh ha..” Lord Farquaad laughed *quickly (adverb) as he entered the *silly (adjective) dungeon. His prisoner, the Gingerbread Man, had just been dunked into a glass of *lemonade (type of liquid). Farquaad picked up the Gingerbread Man’s broken-off arms (part of the body-plural) and began to taunt his prisoner. “Look look look (verb) (same verb) (same verb), as fast as you can. You can’t *love (verb) me, I’m the Gingerbread Man,” Lord Farquaad said *grossly (adverb). “You’re a *Pizza Hut (noun)”, the Gingerbread Man said, horrified. “I’m not a *Pizza Hut (same noun). You and the rest of that fairy tale trash are ruining my *blue (adjective) world. Now tell me where they’re *running (verb ending in “ing”)!” *”Look (verb) me!” The Gingerbread Man responded, and he spit *lemonade (same liquid) into Farquaad’s face.
Waiting For Prince Charming
“On the day when Prince *Silly (adjective) comes to rescue me, I will be waiting in the closed, preferably in the *fat (adjective) room of the *squeaky (adjective) tower. I will be sure to wear my most elegant *garter (article of clothing) and have beautiful *diapers (plural noun) in my hair. I think it is important to wait for my prince while *skating (verb ending in “ing”) on the bed with my eyes closed and a bouquet of *Japan (noun) clasped in my *ankles (part of the body plural). The prince should be prepared to *fly (verb) into the room and sweep me off my feet, out the window and down the rope onto his valiant *wildebeast (animal). If there is time, he should recite an epic poem or sing a *spooky (adjective) song to me as he *scoots (verb plural) me from my *pillow (noun).
Some of them turned out to be just hilarious. Most were filled in while I played with Tia, but a few answers were from my husband and Tia and her friend did a few as well. It’s not hard to get addicted to playing because it’s so much fun. Some people, even adults, seem to forget their parts of speech and ask, “What’s a verb again?” But the answers to those questions are right in the front of the book where each is defined. They sure help to pass the time on car trips but are fun to play anywhere.
What Are They Teaching You Anyway?
Mad Libs will teach a kid (or adult) lots of things. For example, they will learn to use their imagination. They will stretch their vocabulary as they come up with different words each time and learn new ones from other players. They will eventually (hopefully) remember the difference between a verb, adverb, and adjective. They may also improve their reading skills and handwriting. It helps to write neatly or it may be hard to figure out what is written on the line! My 3 year old has a favorite line to use when he “plays” along with us. Each and every time I ask for an adjective, he calls out, “Gross!” He’s not very creative, but he’s having fun anyway. It sure beats having them stare at cartoons all summer long.
Final Details
These tablets run about $3.99. At least that’s what we paid. The pages aren’t numbered, but I estimate that there are around 50 stories in the book. If playing alone, be sure not to look at the story as you fill in the blanks. You could also use the page that contains only the questions and blanks and not the story itself, so I guess that feature does prove itself useful after all.
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the world's most popular word game with this deluxe, double-the-fun edition featuring 40 of the most hilarious and r...More at HotBookSale
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the world s most popular word game with this deluxe, double-the-fun edition featuring 40 of the most hilarious and r...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of the world's most popular word game with this deluxe, double-the-fun edition featuring 40 of the most hilarious and r...More at HotBookSale
Sports & Recreation - General Juvenile / Children's Fiction - Forty years young and still a bestselling series (over 100 million sold), Mad Libs has d...More at Barnes and Noble
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