The Mixed-Up Chameleon (1975) surprised me mid-story--the cover art doesn’t foreshadow the ending. And, Eric Carle has found a novel twist on a familiar theme. In the first few pages, we meet a chameleon and learn that its color changes. Then, when it sees a zoo, we see Carle’s fantastic animals. The physical structure of each page changes as the chameleon imagines life as a different creature! This innovative idea was worth owning the book. Furthermore, the chameleon's hilarious transformation is ingenious. As expected, in the end, the chameleon returns to itself.
Notice the hyphen in the title! "When a phrasal verb is made into a noun, it is hyphenated. Phrasal verbs themselves are never hyphenated." * And "When two or more words are used together to modify another word, a hyphen is often needed to show that these modifying words are acting as a single unit. . . almost always hyphenated when they precede the noun . . ." * So, is mixed-up a phrasal verb acting as a modifier in this title?
Stephanie D'Anna Tennisluvr4lyf in First Grade has The Mixed-Up Chameleon Writing Activity. Justine Greenlee has The Mixed Up Chameleon Comprehension Questions. Miss Fitz's ESL Store has Mixed Up Chameleon Tracing and Colors Exercise.
* Help Your Kids with Language Arts. New York: DK Publishing, 2013. 106.
* Ibid. 107.
