The punctuation marks you use can completely change the meaning of what you write. Twenty-odd Ducks is actually a punctuation book. I picked it up on accident thinking it was a math book from looking at the title. I'm glad that I picked it up by mistake because it is a really good book. It shows the importance of punctuation and how if punctuation is not properly placed it can make the sentence mean something totally different. The illustration is funny because it shows the different meanings. I think this book would be a great book to use in an English Language Arts class to introduce a punctuation lesson. ( )

I'm not quite sure how to categorize this book. It's an interesting twist on a concept book, but made for older (middle and high school) child audiences. It's certainly an informational picture book, but it doesn't really tell a story--unless you count the story of miscommunication.

Twenty-Odd Ducks, like its companion Eats, Shoots And Leaves, makes use of the fold to illustrate how minor adjustments to punctuation can completely change the meaning of the sentence. For example, "The test is today?" vs. "The test is today!" The book covers everything from quotation marks to exclamation points to commas to hyphens. I'm dubious about the author's use of parentheses, but the book itself tells us nothing of which writing style the Lynne Truss adheres to. However, overall, this is a fun and useful book. It emphasizes the importance of grammar and challenges readers to think about syntax. Even my 12th grade students were intrigued by the book and could out concepts that were relevant to their writing, like misplaced modifiers and nonrestrictive clauses.

The real hero of this book, I think, is Bonnie Timmons. I have long been a fan of her book "Hold Your Horses," and her illustrations here do not disappointed. Her colorful and interesting illustrations help the reader understand the implications of each different sentence. For example, the difference between an "extra large pizza" and "extra-large pizza" might be lost on readers who are not grammarians...until they see a picture with one GIANT pizza juxtaposed with a picture of multiple large pizzas.

If all else fails and one still cannot understand the meaning of the sentence, the author has provided a brief explanation of each page in the back of the text. ( )

Oh, how I love Lynne Truss. A companion book to the children's version of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. I think my favorite is this one:

"Do you know who came last night? Santa Claus," said my mom.

"Do you know who came last night?" Santa Claus said. "My mom." ( )

Just hilarious and a great way to illustrate to children why punctuation matters in writing and the importance of using it correctly. ( )

This is a very simple book with the exact same sentence on adjacent pages, with corresponding pictures. However, there is different punctuation in each iteration of the sentence, changing it's meaning. Many times it is silly, funny, or just plain clever, seemingly to connect with the children for whom the book is written. My favorite example of Truss switching the punctuation was:

"The king walked and talked. Half an hour after, his head was cut off."

and

"The king walked and talked half an hour after his head was cut off."

The illustrations were also quite comical. Specifically for the latter sentence.

While this would generally be used in elementary classes, I would think, it could be used in a high school class, though maybe more indirectly. During something like a grammar warm-up, one of these sentences could be placed on the board and students could try to find ways to utilize punctuation to create multiple meanings. Heck, it could even be a quick 10 minute lesson on the importance of punctuation to students who may be behind. ( )