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Reviews
The Dragon Grammar Book: Grammar for Kids, Dragons, and the Whole Kingdom by Diane Mae Robinson
mistressviolet's review
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Cute and quirky. This was a fun refresher course on grammar. I know I'll never be 100%---there are too many rules---but I did learn a few things from this that I hadn't known (or had forgotten about) before!
jbwoods's review
4.0
Great book for kids and adults who need a ‘refresher’ on grammar. I’m ordering a paperback copy for our home reference library!
joshi's review against another edition
5.0
Diane May Robinson's The Dragon Grammar Book is a concise text of English grammar presented using examples relating to imagery typical of children's fantasy literature. It begins with a quick overview of grammar terms before going on to describe rules in more detail. Each chapter introduces a different type of common grammar rule or mistake and provides concrete examples of the various usages. At the end of the book there's a practice section where you can test out your newly learned/refreshed skills.
Despite the whimsical nature of its title, this book is not only for young ladies and knights in training, but can also prove useful for even the most seasoned of wizards. Though it presents everything in a way that's easy to understand, it doesn't skimp on topics that might get overlooked in grade school, such as em- and en-dashes.
That being said, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as a young child's first dip into grammar rules as some of the explanations and terminology are a bit advanced. However, for the young learner who has encountered these concepts in school before, this is a fantastic resource to help them refresh and commit these rules to memory.
While the refreshingly simple explanations are definitely a drawing point, the real star of this book is the consistency of the theme. Robinson uses dragons and princesses not only in her examples, but also in the explanations themselves. Let's be real here, to most people, even those of us who write for a living, reading about grammar is just about as dull of a pursuit as you can get. Reading through this particular grammar book, however, I found myself smiling, compelled to continue simply for the enjoyment of it all.
I was also thrilled to see that Robinson practices what she preaches. Just as she encourages writers to eschew rigid grammar rules for the sake of "grace," she ignores standard fantasy tropes to make her examples more appropriate for modern readers with examples such as, "The princess is to be knighted."
In short, this is exactly the sort of book that I would have loved as a child and exactly the sort of book that I would love to give my future children in hopes that they are one day just as enchanted with the English language as I am.
Despite the whimsical nature of its title, this book is not only for young ladies and knights in training, but can also prove useful for even the most seasoned of wizards. Though it presents everything in a way that's easy to understand, it doesn't skimp on topics that might get overlooked in grade school, such as em- and en-dashes.
That being said, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as a young child's first dip into grammar rules as some of the explanations and terminology are a bit advanced. However, for the young learner who has encountered these concepts in school before, this is a fantastic resource to help them refresh and commit these rules to memory.
While the refreshingly simple explanations are definitely a drawing point, the real star of this book is the consistency of the theme. Robinson uses dragons and princesses not only in her examples, but also in the explanations themselves. Let's be real here, to most people, even those of us who write for a living, reading about grammar is just about as dull of a pursuit as you can get. Reading through this particular grammar book, however, I found myself smiling, compelled to continue simply for the enjoyment of it all.
I was also thrilled to see that Robinson practices what she preaches. Just as she encourages writers to eschew rigid grammar rules for the sake of "grace," she ignores standard fantasy tropes to make her examples more appropriate for modern readers with examples such as, "The princess is to be knighted."
In short, this is exactly the sort of book that I would have loved as a child and exactly the sort of book that I would love to give my future children in hopes that they are one day just as enchanted with the English language as I am.
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