Grammar resources

I've been remiss in not posting about the latest Growing with Grammar program by my friend Tamela Davis, for Grade 5. More good stuff for home educating families looking for more choice. And more Growing with Grammar posts and reviews (for Grades 1&2, 3, and 4) here, here, and here.

I'm a big fan of Patricia T. O'Conner's Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English, which I consider an essential reference, but wasn't much impressed by the recent Woe Is I Jr.: The Younger Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English, which I found tried too hard to appeal to kids, overly laden with references to popular children's culture, from Shrek to Lemony Snicket and, of course, Harry Potter, with Garfield the Cat thrown in for good measure, as if to recognize that yes, grammar is indeed a vile thing (though not vile in a good sense like noxiously flavored jelly beans) and like broccoli must be dressed up with Cheez Whiz. My Spidey sense/hip-trendy-ironic parent alert started quivering as soon as I read Garrison Keillor's "This is, like, cool" on the cover. Oh dear. Borrow it from the library, but to buy for your son's or daughter's desk I'd definitely consider handing anyone age 12 and up a copy of O'Conner's original Woe Is I. While you're at it, add a copy of her Words Fail Me: What Everyone Who Writes Should Know about Writing, too. Both breezy and informal and not at all overwhelming, And not twee, either.

And much as I enjoyed Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, the illustrated children's versions so far -- last year's Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference! and this year's The Girl's Like Spaghetti: Why, You Can't Manage without Apostrophes! -- have left the kids and me a bit cold. Though I have no doubt that Penguin/Putnam is enjoying parceling out the ideas from the original in 32-page picture books; I believe the hyphen is up next. Stay tuned. As an aside, Laura (age 10) has found the Eats, Shoots & Leaves 2008 Day to Day Calendar, meant for adults I think, more intriguing and appealing than the picture books.

The grammar reference book that seems to get the most use around here by the kids is The Usborne Guide to Better English by Robyn Gee and Carolyn Watson; it's what Usborne calls a "bind-up" of its three books on grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and like some of the publisher's books it's also "Internet-linked". It doesn't seem to be in print in the U.S. anymore, though it is in Canada; perhaps check with your friendly Usborne rep. A book this good and helpful should certainly be more widely available. It is, indeed, included on the Plain English Campaign suggested reading list.

Americans will find in the Usborne Guide some noticeable differences -- in some of the spelling and terminology (what we call a period the British call a "full stop", which does make good sense, especially when you're teaching youngsters to read) -- but nothing insurmountable. Lighthearted without being silly or goofy, and illustrated with small cartoons and comic strips, the book is full of easy explanations and handy dandy tricks; Davy particularly appreciates the following in the section on nouns: "Nouns can usually have the, or a, or an in front of them. Try putting the in front of the words on the right to find out which of them are nouns." (saucepan, finger, happy, rocket, sometime, heat, daffodil, never, sky, have)