Punctuation Takes a Vacation

Mr. Wright's Class

by Robin Pulver, Lynn Rowe Reed (Illustrator)

Mr. Wright's class can't believe it. What will it be like without question marks, apostrophes, periods, and commas? Punctuation has never been as entertaining as it is in this wacky picture book.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Writing, School, Fiction, Language, Teaching

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Moonkiszt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Featured in a grandma reads session.

Me and my group - we are word lovers, writing lovers. . .a spellbinding sentence gets you far in our family. . .or at least a very genuine "awwwwwwww." To take our best tools, personify them and give them a book where they get to go on vacay? Of course. We are in!!!!

And. . .you know what happened. The consequences are inevitable. Punctuations mark (is that a thing?) can never really go away, not unless you want a big pile of pages a la don marquis or ee cummings (favorites of mine), or other punctuation breakers like James Joyce, Cormac McCarthy, Tom Robbins, José Saramago, Marcel Proust, William Faulkner, Samuel Beckett, Junot Díaz, Gertrude Stein, Timothy Dexter, just to drop a few names. . .

A member of our group is currently focusing on this topic at school, being carefully taught (or maybe just tested) about grammar and punctuation, and there was a lot of eye-rolling in his report. So when this popped up in the library, it was clear to me, a received message from the Library Gods: starting simple is a very good way to begin. And personifying is the best way to turn a tool into a friend. I loved it that we started with a classroom and a teacher, who already had a working relationship with the Punctuations Mark!

(NOTE: Just found out there is an actual series, Meet the Puncs: A Remarkable Punctuation Family. . .we'll be looking that up next!)

[Jim Erekson · Rating 2 out of 5]

an outbreak in the traits of writing epidemic i would have liked it more if the author had done far more to play with absent punctuation but the narration kept its punctuation and it never really seemed to disappear there was only one passage with punctuation gone and then one passage the kids wrote where it was all wrong how did they do it wrong if it was missing anyway oh yeah they stole some from the teacher next door so i think the author really missed a good chance for a fun book with a lot of double entendres louis sachar or norton juster could have pulled it off

the illustrations were whimsical and matched the joke of the book

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Punctuation Takes a Vacation By: Robin Pulver ISBN: 0823418200, 2004.
Day after day, the punctuation marks showed up in Mr. Wright’s classroom. They did their jobs but the children did not respect or treat them right. They erased them, replaced them, corrected them and ignored them. Then one day Mr. Wright said, “Let’s give the punctuation’s a vacation”. The children didn’t even care, so the angry punctuation marks left. But when the children came back to class there was a problem it was hard to read or write without punctuation marks. All of their sentences ran together and didn’t make sense; they are happy when punctuation returns. Activity: Have the students make postcards to send to the punctuation of their choice. Explain why you miss them. Make sure you use that particular punctuation when writing. Be creative!


** This book can help reinforce grammar lessons.

[Forever Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cute book that provides examples and non-examples of basic punctuation marks (period, exclamation point, question mark, comma, apostrophe & colon).

Goes with some writing lessons at www.writingfix.com, specifically at http://writingfix.com/PDFs/6_Traits/C... and at http://writingfix.com/Picture_Book_Pr... (though this one has only 2nd grade models and might be too young for middle school)

The book is definitely geared toward elementary, but could possibly be used at the beginning of the year as an introduction to conventions and review/diagnostic.

[Zak goodman]

This book was a great book. It teaches you that Punctuation Vacations are not a good thing. If punctuation had summer vacation I would not be able to post cool Instagram photos with grammatically correct captions. This book means a lot to me because one time I had a similar situation when punctuation took a vacation from my 8th-grade language arts class. This book is an overall 8.67 out of 10 on the zak scale of literature.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended in Veritas Press catalog. We really enjoyed this fun book. I wouldn't buy it but I would check it out again from the library.

[Stephanie Calhoun · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book to teach the importance of punctuation and what happens when it is left out. I think that this book would be excellent for a writer's workshop.

[Nancy Kotkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Text: 2 stars
Illustrations: 2 stars

Confusing picture book about punctuation. Not a big fan of the child-like illustrations either.

[Gabe]

This is a great book because it teaches you how if you did not have puncuation it would be hard to read and understand.

[Ashley Huffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Would be fantastic for upper elementary learning about grammar!!

[CanadianReader · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 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.

[Lilith Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

For this book, I have to say, I liked it more than the kids. However, sometimes from the educational perspective, it is well worth it. See the pros and cons and let me know if this is a book your kids will enjoy.

Pros:
- This book goes through a lot of different punctuations.
- It contains letters that show how the punctuation is used.
- Can lead to a lot of great conversations about punctuation.

Cons:
- There is no real flow to the story.
- The kids did not go for the illustrations.
- More for a 1-1 lesson than a group lesson.

Overall: This book is great if you are using it as part of a lesson with one child. I would say as a parent, reading specialist, or even speech therapist, this book can make a boring lesson more interesting. As a classroom teacher, not so much. You need to supplement a lot to bring out great conversations.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine and were in no way influenced by outside source. I am a professional blogger at Little Lady Plays

[Valerie Perry · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this story, the punctuation decides to go on a vacation and leave the school. The class decides that the teacher was correct; nothing made sense without the punctuation. The children receive postcards from the punctuation marks. They wanted to write back, but they discovered they can’t without punctuation. The class composes a letter begging the punctuation to come back. Their letter is full of errors!

This book would be good to use for any type of writing piece. The example of the letter with so many errors would help the class to see the importance of editing their pieces so they will be easier to read.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this book to provide a quick overview of elementary learning about punctuation. My 6th graders had fun guessing which punctuation mark wrote each letter. (I was reading the book aloud, so they did not have a detailed view of the letters.)

This book also provided me with an opportunity to speak to my students about the need for diversity in books. There are two human adult characters in this picture book--Mr. Wright and Mr. Rongo. Guess which character is portrayed as black.

[Steve Holden · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's grammar read aloud week in my room as I review the key concepts we've worked on all year. This is another Robin Pulver grammar book I keep and use yearly. I previously read aloud the book on nouns and verbs, and this one fits the same mold. It's not a favorite read aloud, but students seem to enjoy it and it creates a discussion and situation where we review key teaching concepts in a different way.

[Natalie Jarman · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this colorfully illustrated, paperback fiction book, children and students can take their places, as they jet off to learn about commas, periods, exclamation points, questions marks, colons, and even apostrophe's. In this informational early concept book, Children all around the world can learn how these punctuation marks can work together, take a vacation, and make reading and writing flow effortlessly.

[Kristin Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: "Punctuation Takes a Vacation" is a book that teaches its readers about the importance of punctuation in a sentence and what would happen if there were no punctuations.

Evaluation: I rated this book as a 4. I like how this book makes learning about punctuation engaging and fun. This book is also full of fun colors and images.

Teaching Idea: This book could be used to introduce or review the different types of punctuations needed to write sentences.

[Brigitte Brulz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to add some fun as you teach kids the punctuation rules. I like how the punctuation speaks. For example, the question mark keeps asking questions and the exclamation points speak in exclamations throughout the entire book. Question marks, periods, commas, colons, and exclamation points all make an appearance. Children can have fun guessing who wrote each postcard back to the class based on how they were written. Fun, yet educational book.

[Andrea Kneeland · Rating 2 out of 5]

The concept of this book is excellent - there is an unfortunate illustration spread across two pages with one white teacher named Mr. Wright and an African American teacher named Mr. Rongo (one of whom is in control of the class/punctuation, and one of whom is not) that would give me pause to read in front of a class. This unfortunate choice of illustration mars what would be an otherwise excellent book.

[Henry Claxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a perfect story for students learning about punctuation! The silly story explains what punctuation marks do, how they're used, and why they're used all in a fun manner! The artwork is creative, and I could imagine students learning about exclamation points, question marks, periods, commas, etc., all through this book. At the end of the book there is more formal description of each punctuation mark. This book would lead to great class discussion about punctuation.

[Amanda Batarseh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good because it shows how important punctuation is and how beneficial it is in our everyday lives. the kids in the book dont appreciate when the teacher uses punctuation so the teachers takes it away. at first they are happy but then they start to not be able to understand what's going on. I really enjoyed this book. the images are also very unique in how they are drawn and the colors are calm but also colorful.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Children's Literature, fiction
Grades: 2-6
I rated this for grades 2 to 6, because some punctuation used in the story I feel may be a bit advanced for Kindergarten and first graders. IT is a fun little story that helps kids understand exactly how punctuation is used and should be used, as well as what happens if they don't use it. This is something that many adults still struggle with, because they did not grasp it or did not see a value in it when it was taught in school.

[Lauren Heiderman]

Punctuation Takes a Vacation is a fun picture book to help teach children early concepts, such as punctuation. Readers will learn about the functions of different punctuation marks, including commas, periods, exclamation marks, question marks, apostrophes and more. The illustrations allow readers to follow along to the plot of the story.

[Rachel Magee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This imaginative story brings punctuation marks to life as they head on vacation. While they are gone, the children in Mr. Wright's class struggle to read and writing, making them realize just how important punctuation marks are. This would be a lovely book to review grammar rules with students as they see how essential they are for reading and writing.

[Darren Walland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really funny book, where punctuation decide they deserve a vacation. The book explains simply the types of punctuation, resulting in children being able to understand what a comma, apostrophe and explanation marks are for instance. Postcards are sent by punctuation and teachers can explore them with children to work out the punctuation which sent the postcard.

[Noor Mahmood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book to read to children while they are learning about punctuation. This book highlights the importance of punctuation and how we cannot write without it because it won't make any sense. When the punctuation took a vacation in the book the students were excited but then when they got back to class they then realized how much it was needed and the importance.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What happens when a classroom doesn't appreciate punctuation enough? Well, they take a vacation and the students discover how confusing things turn out to be without punctuation around. A fun book about the importance of punctuation with a page at the end of some simple punctuation rules. Good for lower elementary.

[Adeline Arpin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book teaches students the importance of the different types of punctuation and what will happen if your punctuation takes a vacation. Without punctuation, writing, and reading make no sense, and the readers of this book will learn this when they read this book.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting concept, but the execution fell completely flat. There was no buildup on the story problem with the lack of punctuation causing any real chaos. the extra star is for the illustrations, which are colorful and fun.

[Kinley Tincher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story would be great for a language arts class! The story follows Mr. Wright's class and how they send the punctuation on a vacation. The class suddenly realizes the importance of punctuation and send them letters asking them to come back.