Grammar-Land: Grammar in Fun for the Children of Schoolroom-Shire

This is among my all-time top 10 favorite homeschool materials we've ever bought! What a delightful surprise!My kids do NOT like grammar AT ALL, and my eldest has done well day-to-day but never seemed to carry-over basic grammar principles to his other work or even to the next lesson. He has never had the slightest interest in parts of speech, so even though he has no trouble with worksheets, he sees no need to remember them. No teacher of any sort wants to hear her student after years of training say, "what's a verb?"(Gulp. WHAT? How is that even possible, right???)isEnter Grammarland.I didn't know what to expect from this, but I was looking for something I could read with both my 7th grader and 2nd grader at the same time to make Grammar classes less dry.13 year old boys don't jump up and down yelling, "read me a Grammar story, mommy!" But this narrative personification of the parts of speech is entertaining enough that I can tell he's listening, and what's better, I can see that for the first time ever, he can remember which part of speech is which b/c he can remember the characters in the story.The author really did a brilliant job of describing each character in a way that is significant to his duty as a part of speech. For instance, Mr. Pronoun looks a lot of Mr. Noun but is thinner b/c he does so much of Mr. Noun's work for him, and he doesn't have as many words as Mr. Noun (so he's not a "rich").I use these clues often when they think they've forgotten one, and they always say something like, "oh, yeah, I remember.... Mr. Article was really little..."When I started to read it to them I didn't think it was going to work for both boys, b/c the language is rich and it seemed a little heady for active boys. However, we're well into it now and both boys are hanging on without any problem and carrying over the visual clues it imparts through their own imaginations very well into their textbook work.I do use "voices" for each of the characters and read it in a fairly dramatic way to maintain their interest. The toddlers will sit down or at least slow down and seem to enjoy hearing my vocal patterns, even though I don't think they understand the story, which is based on a courtroom scene where the judge settles disputes among the parts of speech.I can't recommend this enough and will consider it a permanent feature in our English studies.I find it highly entertaining for myself as an adult. If you are not a homeschooler but have a child struggling to learn the parts of speech, if they have good language skills and like to have you read to them, you might enjoy this. It will take some enthusiasm on your part, which you should find easy if you pick up on the humor imbedded in it. I could see us reading this around the fireplace as a family even if we didn't homeschool, but we are kind of old fashioned I guess. Probably not for the ultra-plugged in gamer kid- it isn't going to compete with an iPhone or high-tech computer games, but you can't fault a Grammar book for being a Grammar book now, can you?Oh, and I am sure a classroom teacher could use it in much the same way as we do by using it as an intro to class, provided she does voices! I'm not sure what an ideal age would be, but again, it is working for us for 2nd-7th grade boys. I'd say anywhere in between when parts of speech are introduced or reviewed would be fine.

We love books that put school lessons to stories. This book takes basic Grammer rules and gives them personalities and a story. It's a great addition to our homeschool but would also be a fun re-enforcement for a non homeschooler.

It’s a very good basic review of grammar

Who knew laughter could be involved when learning grammar! I bought this since it was only 99 cents and I was looking for something to teach grammar to my kids.I recommend this for any homeschooler, especially those looking to teach from a "living book". Each chapter has a fun exercise to reinforce what was just learned, building as the book progresses. Different literary elements, and the history of the English language can also be discussed ( learned) while going through the book. I deducted a star because an answer key would be helpful.

I have wondered for many years why it is that it seems to be so difficult to find childrens’ books (either fiction or school books) that are entertaining, interesting, and meaningful. This book is one of the few that I know of which are all of these things. Of course, it was first published in 1878.It is possible that many of today’s young children might find some of the language too quaint, the ‘characters’ too exotic, some of the meaning a little difficult to extract, but I’d be surprised if some of them didn’t enjoy it and learn a lot about the structure of language that none of the modern courses and texts seem to be able to interest them in.In other words, I believe that a ‘modern adaptation’, that was done very well, might be even better for some children, but that this represents the kind of book many children would find compellingly interesting and which would help them appreciate a subject which is most often felt to be dry, dull, and essentially meaningless.I wish there were a great many more childrens’ books of this caliber, regardless of when they were written or what the particular subject they treat might be.

Love this book! My 7 & 9 year old boys look forward to their lessons, sometimes asking for more than one a day! It gives such great, clear definitions of the different parts of speech. Also, since it's told in story form, it's easy to remember. I've struggled with grammar for my whole life, not knowing the difference between and adjective and a verb. I didn't know what pronouns or articles were either. We've only just finished chapter 6, but I've finally learned what adjective, pronouns and articles are. And my boys remember as well, which is the important thing!

Grammar is rarely a favorite subject, but this books manages to make it entertaining and engaging while teaching many aspects of proper grammar. Through telling a story, grammatical principles are introduced and clarified, and exercises are given. Rich Mr. Noun, ragged little Mr. Article, Mr. Adverb, and the rest are being called to testify in the Grammar-land court to resolve disputes. Sergeant Parsing and Dr. Syntax oversee the trial and question the parts of speech. My fourth grader who dreaded grammar now asks to read this.

My children and i love this book it is a great way to teach grammar to homeschool children or just as a refresher for an adult. I was even able to find free worksheets online to go with the book. Honestly it is the funniest way to teach grammar.

What a great story! A clever story utilizing the different words of speech (nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc). We read it as a read aloud with our kids (around age 10). A great addition to our home library.At the end of each chapter there is an "assignment" given to the "jury" (kids) that the kids could do either in homeschool or in a classroom setting. This is a very relaxed way to learn grammar. A good introduction.

La gramatica sale de ser un concepto abstracto y vive en los personajes. Hermoso

Perfect

El libro está muy bien. Es entretenido para los peques a la vez que aprenden. Lo único que sí es más para nativos ingleses, para poder aplicarlo a la enseñanza del inglés para españoles habría que adaptarlo. Igualmente se puede utilizar para la asignatura de lengua castellana traduciendolo al español.

小学校低学年向きに書かれた文法書(1877)の復刻版である。Noun, Pronoun, Adjective にはMr. Noun のようにMr.をつけ、Verb はDr. Verb, ArticleはLittle Articleと呼び, 品詞に親しみを感じるよう工夫されている（ただし、Preposition, Adverb, Conjunctionには敬称も愛称もついていない）。Grammar-Land というのはFairy Land をもじったもので、Fairy LandはFairy Queen が治めるが、Grammar-LandはJudge Grammar(文法判事)が治めるという発想である。内容的には古風な規範主義で新しく文法上の知識として得るものはないが、無味乾燥と敬遠されがちな文法に関心を持つよういろいろ工夫が凝らされていることがわかって、参考になる。学校文法の歴史に関心のある方にお薦めする。