Punctuation Takes a Vacation

Robin Pulver attempts to address punctuation in a “fun” picture book for kids, but it all comes across as a bit gimmicky to me and is far less humorous and instructive than Lynn Truss’s delightful trilogy ( Eats, Shoots & Leaves; The Girl’s Like Spaghetti; Twenty-Odd Ducks). In Pulver’s book, Mr. Wright, an elementary school teacher, decides on a hot, sticky day to give punctuation—which he’s apparently been arduously teaching—a “vacation” . . . literally. Upon hearing this announcement, the kids cheer and rush out for recess while the baffled personified punctuation marks make statements entirely in keeping with their use. For example the question mark asks: “Is this the thanks we get?” while the exclamation show more point enthuses: “Great!” It is the period that suggests a vacation. If the marks leave, he points out, the kids will soon realize how needed punctuation is . . . as, of course they do. This is where the narrative gets lame. Mr. Wright can’t perform the afternoon read-aloud. Nothing makes sense.

When the class receives a bundle of postcards from their punctuation pals, the students have to borrow unruly, uncooperative punctuation from another class—Mr. Rongo’s—in order to write a response begging the originals to return from their vacation on the lake.

I know some teachers have been delighted by this book. I’m not one of them. There is enough humour in incorrect use of punctuation without a silly story to be required. Furthermore, because the (drawings of the) postcards from the vacationing punctuation people are quite small (and hard for a larger group of listeners to see), the book doesn’t make for an easy, intimate read-aloud. A document projector would need to be used for a class of kids to see the punctuation being used, and, in my opinion, that kind of wrecks things.

This isn’t a dreadful book, but it’s not a great one either. I’d stick with Truss. show less

I think this is a good book for punctuation. The author managed to make it educational but also a fun/cute story along with it. This is about a teacher who sends "punctuation on vacation" and the students have to learn to do without punctuation. They start to realize the importance of all of the exclamation points, periods, commas, and things we use during writing, and how much we need them. This can definitely be used for younger grades when introducing writing their own stories as a mini lesson on why punctuation is important.

What would we do without punctuation? Mr. Wright’s class finds out when their underappreciated punctuation marks leave the classroom for a vacation and the students’ writing no longer makes sense. The punctuation marks, each depicted with little talking faces, always speak in sentences that make their use obvious. Children unfamiliar with grammar rules may miss the grammar lessons, as the rules for each punctuation mark are not explicitly stated until the last page where the functions of each are detailed. The images were made using acrylic paint on canvas. The text alternates between white and black depending on the color of the background image. The deep and rich colors span the color spectrum. Some images have royal blue show more backgrounds while others are a bright, sunny yellow. The two-dimensional images show unrealistic, almost abstract representations of the characters both human and punctuation mark. This book presents a unique take on teaching grammar. This book is recommended for elementary school and home libraries, as it will help children master grammar conventions. show less

Summary: Punctuation Takes a Vacation is a book about punctuation in the classroom. In this book the punctuation is actually alive and can talk and move. They get upset because the students and teacher want to take a break from punctuation for a little while. They decide to leave and take a vacation. They do leave and they write letters to the studens from wherever they are. The students cannot write back because they dont have their punctuation. They finally borrow some from the class next door and write them a letter and tell them to come back. They do and everything is back to normal.
Personal Reaction: I really liked this book. I think it is a fun way to learn punctuation. It would make learning punctuation not so boring.
Classroom show more Extension: Could be used when teaching children their punctuation. show less

In this story an elementary school teacher decides to give punctuation a vacation. When the punctuation doesn't come back the students begin to understand the importance of all the dots and point we use. I enjoyed the book because it was highly educational about punctation while still being a great story for children. I would use this in a 1st through 4th grade classroom.

Punctuation Takes a Vacation brings to light the important role that punctuation plays in the way we interact with our world. In this book, the punctuation is given a vacation from being in the classroom. This leads to all sorts of misunderstandings and confusion. Kids can learn the meaning of the different forms of punctuation by getting to know them as characters. Each form of punctuation speaks accordingly- for example, the question mark always asks questions. This is a fun book with a cute story line, but it also can be a huge help for kids learning forms of punctuation.

In this book the author uses anthropomorphism to discuss the importance of punctuation. The punctuation are actually like little people who live in his classroom and they begin to feel as if they are being taken for granted. When the children take a break from using them they decide to run away and take a vacation. When the students return they realize how important they are and try to borrow some unruley ones from the classroom next door. The finally write a letter to the vacationing punctuation and they return to the classroom.

I loved this book. I will be adding it to my personal collection soon. I like how it shows students in a humurous way how important punctuation is to everyday writting.

In my classroom, I would read this book show more aloud as a way to introduce the students to punctuation. After reading it we would discuss and write on the board the different punctuation marks discussed in this book. After we have discussed them, we would create a word wall with a picture and the word of each punctuation mark. The students will write sentences and/or short stories daily using each mark from the word wall. show less