The Dragon Grammar Book: Grammar for Kids, Dragons, and the Whole Kingdom

Canadian author Diane Mae Robinson freely states `My mission in life is to inspire children to believe in the magic within themselves, to become heroes, and to accomplish great things' and to that end she is proceeding with her series of richly detailed imaginative fantasies focusing on a young princess who feels the need to be a knight - thus the perhaps confusing title of Sir Princess Petra. Diane earned her journalism diploma from the Schools of Montreal and an advanced diploma from the Institute of Children's Literature in Connecticut. She also teaches art and writing in addition to her own primary interest of writing her own novels. Though young and new to the field of publishing she has already been awarded honors and medals. Her books to date - SIR PRINCESS PETRA (3 novels in the PEN PIIEYU ADVENTURE Series), THE FOREST PAINTER each belonging to young adult fantasies. Now Diane turns to teaching – and ha selected to teach grammar (that disappearing art so often abused in the media and conversations as well as writing). Or as she states, ‘This book is not meant to be a comprehensive study of grammar but a helpful resource for those who need some of the basics in understanding word usages and proper sentence structures. Not all the grammar terms, their definitions, or usages are dealt with in this book.’ In her well-illustrated book she continues to se her beloved characters form previous successes to aid the reader. The organization and gradual advancement into concepts is well considered: Diane opens with grammar terminology (adjective, adverb, clause/sentence, conjunction, contraction, interjection, modifier, noun, participle, phrase, predicate, preposition. punctuation, subject/object, verb) and then the book blossoms into a teaching situation that is both informative and entertaining. While this book is visually one that young learners will enjoy, adults (and young adults) will find the information more useful that school textbooks. The figures from her previous books keep it light but make no mistake; THIS is a fine grammar lesson! Diane’s thirteen awards earned for her other books will soon be matched by all manner of awards for this very fine teaching tool. Grady Harp, January 18

When I first looked at The Dragon Grammar Book: Grammar for Kids, Dragons, and the Whole Kingdom, I thought, “piece of cake.” My degree is in English. My children are homeschooled. I see, and teach, this stuff all the time. I was very wrong about the book. Diane Mae Robinson has created a wonderful resource with this collection of often confusing rules for the English language. Robinson is also the author of a popular children’s series called The Pen Pieyu Adventures. She incorporates the characters from that series into this book to keep it interesting for kids of all ages. As she points out, even people who teach the subject have to regularly refresh their memory when it comes to certain rules of grammar. While this book is aimed at middle school children, it will become a regular on my bookshelf. I can see myself grabbing it frequently when I need to make sure I am using a word correctly or punctuating appropriately. The lessons in the book are very easy to read and understand. The explanations are written in a way that even the most grammar-challenged person can follow it. And after you read all the rules, there are practice questions in the book to help check your mastery of the rules. My favorite part of the book is when she offers explanations for the most confusing rules. I have learned these rules over and over throughout my life, and still ended up confused a few times. Robinson managed to make even the toughest rules easy to follow and, even a little fun. As much as I love the English language, even I have to admit that this is hard to do. The book begins with definitions for parts of speech. This is an important, and sometimes, overlooked step. Starting with the basics ensures that no one is left behind. Of course, most people know the definition of noun, verb and adjective, but how many people can definitively define squinting modifier or dangling participle off the top of their heads? My guess is not many. She then moves on to confusing words such as any more versus anymore and between versus among. These confusing word pairs are all too often used incorrectly. She covers those and so much more in this thoroughly entertaining manual. The quizzes at the end of each chapter really do help to make sure the reader has absorbed the lesson. It’s a quick, easy way to make sure it’s okay to move on to the next chapter. I really enjoyed this book. That’s not something I expected to say after reading a book about grammar. I am giving it a solid 5. It was well researched and well written. While I am not sure my kids would be as taken with it as I am, I do think it will become their go-to resource when they have a grammar question. I highly recommend this book for those with kids in school and people trying to learn English as a second language.

The Dragon Grammar Book: Grammar for Kids, Dragons, and the Whole Kingdom provides a thorough overview and lesson in English grammar. Author Diane Mae Robinson covers the basics of grammar in a way that is interesting and imaginative. Who would of thought that dragons would have a place in the teaching of grammar? They do, and Robinson uses them to add creative examples and a silly storyline to her book. The organization of the book is definitely its greatest strength. The book starts off with basic grammar terminology, providing in-depth definitions and examples of terms, such as adjective, adverbs, contraction, etc. I particularly liked this method of starting off with the terminology because if the reader is not an English teacher or student studying English, then he or she most likely isn’t familiar with the basic grammar terms. Even if you’ve learned grammar in school, which I’m sure we all have, it’s likely that you have forgotten exactly what each term means and how it helps comprise a sentence. Having this terminology as one of the first things in the novel gives the reader a basic foundation to understand the content of the rest of the chapters, and it also serves as a reference guide for the reader to look back on if needed. Next in the novel are the actual chapters, each one focusing on a component of grammar, and each using the characters from The Pen Pieyu Adventures to provide examples along the way. The use of this very specific theme makes the book a lot more interesting to follow and read. Someone who is interested in learning grammar or has even been forced to learn grammar would most likely reach for this book over the basic grammar textbook. Also, something noteworthy about the chapters in the book are that they include quizzes at the end to help test the reader’s knowledge of the content just covered. There are also two tests and answers to the tests at the very end of the book. The simple set up of the book as well as the quizzes and tests work well to present the information in a simple and informative manner as well as ensure that the reader understands the information and lessons that are being presented. Even though the book’s imaginative theme is what makes it interesting, it can also be seen as a small weakness. The actual content of the book can pretty much be used by anyone that is required to learn the basics of grammar or anyone who is just wanting to brush up on their grammar. However, the dragon theme to the book likely only makes it targetable to a younger audience. To clarify, this book could be useful in an elementary or even middle school classroom, but it would not be taken as seriously within a high school or college classroom. Overall, Diane Mae Robinson does an excellent job of teaching the reader grammar in a way that is simple and imaginative. This book is rated a strong four.

The Dragon Grammar Book: Grammar for Kids, Dragons, and the Whole Kingdom by Diane Mae Robinson is a what it says it is, a textbook for grammar. This book covers all the basics about grammar describing things like Adjective, Adverb, Nouns, Contractions and so on. While discussing the complex English language and how to use it, Diane Robinson tries to bring the explanations down to a level kids can understand. To keep it interesting there is a story line from one chapter to the next involving Sir Princess Petra and the dragon Snarls dealing with magic, farts, and other mischief. Together they help kids, and adults, grasp the often challenging concepts, as well as, being able to laugh while they learn. Coming from a background of having a BA in English, and having homeschooled my children, I could see the value in this book. This is not meant to be read cover to cover like a novel, rather it is a textbook. Having kids in the middle school range I can see this would be a great resource for the fifth to seventh grade level. The explanations are short and concise followed up by humor examples that will appeal to boys and girls in this age range. As a parent and home educator I appreciate the thoroughness of the explanations and how it lays out the chapters in a logical format where they all flow from one concept to the next, keeping not only the story line cohesive, but the lessons build on each other. Additionally, I like the review that is included at the end of each chapter. This allows for the student to test their knowledge and reinforce what they learned. The quizzes are short and effective, allowing the teacher to see that they get the idea but not being so overwhelming with just busy work. There are also two levels of tests at the end of the book that make a good end of year review. Overall this book is a fun way to introduce grammar to kids, there are fun illustrations that go along with the storyline. The chapters are short and provide review material. This is a great resource for families that are home educating, but also for those with children in school. Since the sections are so short it makes for a great review source to supplement their regular school work and to use a reference guide. The humor is right on a child’s level, so they can grasp the concepts without being bord. I would recommend this book to anyone that struggles with grammar, or with helping their kids learn grammar. The only change I would make to this book is to make a supplement, or appendix with the quiz questions separate from the main chapter without the answers readily available to see. It would be nice to have the ability to print or copy each sections quiz and the skills test on their own. Overall a great resource for learners of all ages.

Nice, but not as fun as it looked.

Learning language can be a difficult task for some children and adults, especially learning the system of language as expressed in grammar and mechanics. Not all public education is able to give the focus that some students need to learn to understand these systems, which often leaves many students confused and with a lack of comprehension about the grammar and mechanics of their own language. “The Dragon Grammar Book” is a fantastic tool that breaks down the fundamental basics of English grammar so that students, elementary age and up, can fill in the missing gaps in their education and understanding. It is not meant to be a comprehensive instructional book, rather it’s intended use is more as a study guide and resource material to really break it down and simplify. It has delightful illustrations and useful tables and examples to support the information it is delivering. It doesn’t cover every part of speech, nor all the clauses or parts of a sentence, but what it does focus on are the key problem areas that most people struggle with when it comes to grammar. This includes pronouns, adjectives and adverbs, commas, are and is verb agreements, etc. The Dragon Book of Grammar is an excellent tool for understanding these concepts and it does a great job breaking down the information and making it accessible. It building up your understanding so that you can actually learn and understanding these grammar concepts. While the book is intended for elementary aged students, it is so well done that anyone of any age can benefit from it. If you are an adult and just need a better understanding of the basics, whether English is your first or second language, this book would be a useful tool and guide for you to use.

Oh grammar. Or is it oh, grammar? If you're not sure, then this book will be a helpful teaching aid for you. As I read the pages, I did find myself flashing back to some dreadful high school classes that made me want to pull my hair out. Grammar is an intimidating subject with so many layers that very few people become highly proficient in all areas of it. This book is well written and much more pleasant than those boring old high school lectures. I'll admit that I don't always write with perfect grammar, but it does really bother me when someone makes mistakes on the simple stuff. My biggest pet peeves are to vs. too vs. two and there vs. their vs they're. Social media has really highlighted how many people use these words incorrectly. They're all completely different and when I see one or two mistakes on there, it really starts to bother me because their grammar should be better, don't you think so too? See what I did there? This book is written in a fun way that will really help children and adults get a better understanding of proper grammar. We all make lots of mistakes that we might not even realize we're making. I love all of the illustrations in the book and I found that by bolding certain words, the author helped me put emphasis on where the error is most likely to occur. I also like that there are worksheets in the back of the book so that I can test my knowledge after reading. If you know any high schoolers struggling with their grammar classes, I recommend giving this book to them because it's very clear and informative.

As a preschool teacher, I loved this book so much! It also has helped me to explain grammar to my young nephew. The book is written in a way that children can read it very easily and those who are not as familiar with grammar, can explain it to their young relatives. This is a perfect book for children who have shown a lot of interest in reading and writing. The book includes a lot of talk of dragons. I think this makes it so cute and notable as a book. The stories in the book are great and helpful ways to explain different grammatical terms. This would have come in handy when I was a child! When the book begins, it opens up with some of the basic grammar that we need to know. The definitions are written in a way that is helpful to children and adults. As most children begin to read, grammar does not seem very appealing to them. This book can help with that. The definitions are easy to understand and this book makes it so grammar is more appealing. One of the best sections for me, as an adult, was the part of the book that is all about words that are confusing. I keep this section on my desk! This book is one of a kind and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to teach their children grammar or if you need help yourself. The author does a great job of showing us just how easy teaching and learning grammar can be and at any age.

Nicely written, easy to understand but precise enough to improve one's English

As a junior high and high school teacher, I really appreciated the organized and gradual way the author sets forth the teaching methods in this book. The book starts with grammar terminology so the reader can easily flip back to this section when they need a refresher on the terms. The next section--Confusing Words--is a breath of fresh air to any teacher or writer. Then with each subsequent easy-to-follow chapter, the author builds on the previous chapters to gradually go more into depth on more complicated grammar rules. The book was very easy to understand and follow while covering all the common grammar rules that the average teacher, writer, student would need. The author's humorous writing, through her characters of the dragon, princess, king, etc., makes the book thoroughly enjoyable and nothing like the average torturous grammar book at all. I'd recommend this book for grade 7 through adults.

At first glance you could be forgiven for thinking, 'The Dragon Grammar Book: Grammar for Kids, Dragons, and the Whole Kingdom' is solely aimed at school children, however, the clue, as to the age of the intended audience, is in the second part of the title. The author, Diane Mae Robinson, will delight and entertain children with her tales of princesses, dragons & knights whilst becoming more informed about the nuances of the English language. However, I would also urge teens to take a peek at the in-depth tips, Robinson imparts, as they may be pleasantly surprised to discover, 'The Dragon Grammar Book' is a great revision aid that will help them to prepare for their exams. Adults, in the meantime, may like to use the book as a refresher course to assist them when helping their little one to complete homework; or as a reference book if they are studying English as a second language. If Robinson were to create a volume,-possibly an encyclopaedia-of all the terms and list them in alphabetical order, instead of chapter headings (which would save me oodles of time), she would be my go-to author when writing a story, synopsis, blurb etcetera.

It helped my grandson to do his homework in a fun way.

A good read but I was hoping it to be a bit colourful. I enjoyed reading but my 8 years old was not interested