The Horn Book Guide

LANGUAGE

Truss, Lynne

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really Do Make a Difference!

32 pp. | Putnam | July, 2006 | Trade ISBN 0-399-24491-3 $15.99

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Bonnie Timmons. Truss's adult bestseller is here reduced to the section on comma usage, with entertaining results. Accompanied by cartoons that ably illustrate the niceties of the well- or ill-placed comma, identical strings of words are punctuated differently. The concluding appendix re-presents the paired sentences with dry grammatical explanations replete with terms like "independent clause," but the whole is undeniably funny.

Reviewer: Vicky Smith | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2006