The Dragon Grammar Book

The Dragon Grammar Book - Grammar for Kids, Dragons, and the Whole Kingdom

 Author: Diane Mae Robinson

Illustrations By Samantha Kickingbird

With A Bonus Section: Illustrations by the Author

Publisher: Diane Mae Robinson Ink

Releasing In Nov. 2017

Middle Grade Through Adult




Finally! An easy-to-understand grammar book with fun grammar lessons. The Dragon Grammar Book is the ideal grammar book for kids, dragons, and adults alike. From multi-award winning children’s fantasy author, Diane Mae Robinson, The Dragon Grammar Book introduces middle grades through adults to the basic rules of the English language with easy grammar lessons. Featuring the zany fantasy characters in the author’s The Pen Pieyu Adventures series, The Dragon Grammar Book is sure to be enjoyed by the whole kingdom.

When Sir Princess Petra clobbers Snarls with a book, she uses the only book that can help her fire-breathing dragon-steed: The Dragon Grammar Book. This amazing book uses kid-friendly sentences, humorous illustrations, and easy-to understand examples. The Dragon Grammar Book is a fun tool that will help your middle-grade dragons better understand the basic rules of writing—and reading. 

            —Sue Morris, Kid Lit Reviews

In her latest offering, Diane M. Robinson takes on a challenge greater than any of the obstacles which Sir Princess Petra has yet faced: how to make the arcane rules of English grammar interesting and accessible to a wider audience. While many kids and adults would rather face a fully-grown ogre than the laws of punctuation, The Dragon Grammar Book provides a clear and comprehensive look at our language for princesses and dragons alike. With clear examples and fun activities, this book is a must-have for readers and aspiring writers.

            —Peter Takach, High School English Teacher and Grammarian

The Dragon Grammar Book takes some of the basic rules of writing and makes them more approachable with a dash of creative fun courtesy of The Pen Pieyu all-stars. So whether you’re a sword wielding princess, an onion loving dragon, or an everyday Jane/Joe, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of the English language and be ready to tackle sentence structure and word usage with the best of them. 

           —Gina Reba, Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Unbeatable winning combination . . . Sir Princess Petra faces her fears of the menacing fire-breathing dragon and conquers the pitfalls of grammar! Clever, painless, and fun way to learn, implement and test yourself in the English language. 

           —Barbara Ann Mojica, Author of the Little Miss HISTORY children’s nonfiction book series, http://LittleMissHISTORY.com

 

Illustration by Diane Mae Robinson

Do you want to be part of the review team for The Dragon Grammar Book? Just leave me a comment below.

Diane Mae Robinson is the international multi-award-winning author of the children fantasy/adventure series, The Pen Pieyu Adventures.  The author is also an artist, art teacher, editor of children books, and a writing instructor.  Diane lives in central Alberta, Canada.

To read more about the author's dragon books for children, visit: https://www.dragonsbook.com
and while you're there, subscribe to the author's newsletter about new contests and giveaways, and download the free Sir Princess Petra Coloring Book

Semiconscious Semicolons

The simplest way to explain the semicolon: a comma is sleepy, a period is asleep, and a semicolon is semiconscious.

 The main function of the semicolon is to mark a break that is stronger than a comma but not as final as a period. It is used between two main clauses that are closely related. 

        - The path to the castle is paved with stone; trees line and shade the travelers.

        - The chef searched for the pots and pans; the dragon helped to save time.

  

It can also be used where the conjunction is left out and instead of having two sentences.

     - The dragon summoned the royal councilman for an answer; he had no answer. 

     - The king had paid a heavy price for the potion; he was very pleased.

It is preferable to use a semicolon before introductory words such as however, therefore, this is, for example, namely, or for instance when they introduce a complete sentence. A comma usually follows the introductory word.

     - The dragon liked to prepare his specialty dishes; namely, onion-a-la-tart, onions-ta-da, and onion stuffed squid.

The semicolon is used to separate items of a series when one or more of the items contains a comma.

     - The dinner party included the puny army, from the Land of Messogie; Bograt, the bog witch; and Duce Crablips, from the faraway Kingdom of Crablips.

Use the semicolon between two sentences that are joined by a coordinating conjunction when one or more commas appear in the first part of the sentence.

     - The dragon promised to mop the floor, clean the dishes, and throw out the onion peels; and a promise is a promise.

Seimicolons are follow by lower case letters, unless the letter is the first letter of a proper noun. 

      - Several castles were in a state of disrepair; Longstride Castle being one of them.

Modern usage recommends no space before a semicolon, and one space after it.

For a more in depth look at semicolons:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semicolon

Visit my author's website: http://www.dragonsbook.com
and learn more about my fantasy kids books.

copyright, Diane Mae Robinson, 2013

Which Vs. That.

     That sentence, which has 'that' in it, is confusing me. So should we use that or which in a sentence?  

Illustration by Samantha Kickingbird

In British English, sometimes both are correct. 

Correct:   The dragon held out the paw which was hurt.

Correct:   The dragon held out the paw that was hurt.

     In the above sentences,  that and which are introducing what’s known as a restrictive relative clause.  This kind of clause contains essential information about the noun that comes before it. If you leave out this type of clause, the meaning of the sentence is affected, and it will probably not make much sense. Restrictive relative clauses can be introduced by that, which, whose, who, or whom.

     The other type of relative clause is known as a non-restrictive relative clause.  This kind of clause contains extra information that could be left out of the sentence without affecting the meaning of the sentence.  Non-restrictive clauses can be introduced by which, whose, who, or whom, but you should never use that to introduce them. Examples:

                 A scroll  listing all of the dragons, which live in the forest, is in the royal  library.

                 The librarian handed her the scroll, which she took.

     A non-restrictive clause is preceded by a comma to set off the extra information. A  restrictive clause  in not preceded by comma because the information is essential  to the meaning of the sentence.

Non-restrictive clause:      The dragon brought his new sword, which was  still shiny.

Restrictive clause:                 The dragon brought the sword that was new and still shiny.

     In the next two sentences, we look at the difference in the meaning of the sentences.

Non-restrictive clause:       All the scrolls, which are about dragons, are in the library.       

Restrictive clause:                All the scrolls that are about dragons are in the library.

     In the first sentence, we are saying all the scrolls are in the library. That they happen to be about dragons is extra information.

     In the second sentence, we are saying that all the scrolls about dragons are in the library.

So think about what you need to say and portray in the sentences you write. Write the sentences well and everything will become much clearer for the reader.

copyright, Diane Mae Robinson, 2013

Visit my author's website here.