Saturday 6 November 2010

Punctuation by Basher and Mary Budzik


July 2010, Kingfisher
64 pages, Paperback
Review copy

Non-fiction, 

Facts about punctuation, humour 

Summary from Pan MacMillan 
With its lively, creative approach, this is a unique and highly memorable one-stop guide to using punctuation marks correctly. Each mark is represented by its own character – from unassuming Semicolon to loud-mouthed Exclamation Mark – who explain in their own words what makes them tick and how they are used. "Do"s and "Don't"s provide practical advice to help every child unravel the rules and regulations of the English language.

Nayuleska's Thoughts
Punctuation. It is something every single one of us use in life. It is also quite tricky to understand, especially if you forget what you learned at school (or weren't taught as thoroughly as you could have been). Please don't analyse my use of punctuation in my posts! I use these !!!!!'s too much :) And I don't mind either. I never knew there were at least 8 types of uses for the comma. And I'm still a bit hazy on when to use a colon and a semi-colon. The beauty of having the punctuation presented in sections rather than in a text only book is that it is easier to dip in and out, seeking out the rule that you need. The fun element comes in the illustration, and the manner that the facts are presented. Each of the concepts has it's own personality, which makes it more entertaining to remember (I keep thinking of the mouse and the elephant on the see-saw, which do feature in the poster at the back). This series just keeps on getting better.

Final conclusion 
A great tool for children and writers, it explains the evil semi-colon!! (and exclamation marks...which I just possibly overuse (but don't really care! At least not in my blogging)). 

Be sure to check out other books in the series: Chemistry, Rocks and Minerals, and Maths. 

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