Twenty-Odd Ducks: Why, every punctuation mark counts! - Hardcover

Truss, Lynne

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399250581 ISBN 13: 9780399250583

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2008

Synopsis

Punctuation play at its finest!

Commas and apostrophes aren't the only punctuation marks that can cause big trouble if they're put in the wrong place. Now, Truss and Timmons put hyphens, parentheses, quotation marks, periods, and more in the spotlight, with silly scenes showing how which marks you choose and where you put them can cause hilarious mix-ups.

About this title

About the Author

Lynne Truss is a writer and journalist who started out as a literary editor with a blue pencil and then got sidetracked. The author of three novels and numerous radio comedy dramas, she spent six years as the television critic of The Times of London, followed by four (rather peculiar) years as a sports columnist for the same newspaper. She won Columnist of the Year for her work for Women’s Journal. Lynne Truss also hosted Cutting a Dash, a popular BBC Radio 4 series about punctuation. She now reviews books for the Sunday Times of London and is a familiar voice on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Brighton, England.
BONNIE TIMMONS is best known for inspiring and creating images for the television show Caroline in the City and illustrating numerous national ad campaigns.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3–6—This follow-up to Eats, Shoots and Leaves (about the importance of commas) (2006) and The Girl's Like Spaghetti (about apostrophes) (2007, both Putnam) emphasizes the importance of punctuation in general. Truss again makes the case that careless application can dramatically change one's meaning. To prove her point, she provides contrasting examples of the same sentence, punctuated in different ways. Timmons's charming watercolors make the change in meaning clearer. In one example, a child gazes at a tower of presents obscuring a Christmas tree, and Truss writes, "'Do you know who came last night? Santa Claus,' said my mom." On the facing page, Santa addresses his elves-"'Do you know who came last night?' Santa Claus said. 'My mom.'" (Needless to say, no pile of presents accompanies the arrival of Santa's mom.) In each example, the pertinent punctuation marks are printed in red. An afterword provides additional explanation for each pair of examples. The references to royalty and Christian tradition point to the book's British origin, but Truss's examples should still be clear to North American students. Twenty-Odd Ducks will be most effective through guided reading in small groups, though savvy children may enjoy it as an amusing pleasure read.—Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI
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Edition details

• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0399250581
• ISBN 13: 9780399250583
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Timmons Bonnie