Cover Image: Don't Dangle Your Participle

Don't Dangle Your Participle

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

The author uses words and pictures to show children what a dangling participle is. Young readers can be shown an incorrect sentence that has in it a dangling participle it is then used to teach them how to make the sentence read correctly. It is done in a clever and humorous way. The dangling participle loses its way and the children learns how to help it find its way back to the correct spot in the sentence. There are some comical examples of sentences with funny illustrations that the children really enjoyed looking at and spotting what was wrong,
This was a fun book to help children to properly word sentences with participles to avoid confusion. The illustrations were adorable and fun.. some of the proper sentences could have been worded better as they seemed a bit forced. All in all a great book for the classroom.

Was this review helpful?

Vanita Oelshlager's Don't Dangle Your Participle is a cute presentation on dangling participles and a great way to introduce the topic or review with students. However, the book would have been a stronger resource if fewer of the sentences had been in passive voice.

Was this review helpful?

love this book! my students really enjoyed it! hope to find more like it! can't recommend it enough!

Was this review helpful?

I wish I had such a nice book for my learning when I was a kid. This book explains one important grammar topic with help of multiple examples and pictorial aids. Recommended book for learning.

Was this review helpful?

Don't Dangle Your Participle was a fun way to teach grammar to children. I'll be using this with my students. The explanation of the rules at the beginning was easy to follow and then the pictures and text with the examples were delightful. Humorous whilst getting the point across. The perfect book for a sometimes confusing topic. Highly recommend.

Was this review helpful?

This book is definitely not what I expected it to be. The title, at least to my dirty mind, I expected to be funny and more geared towards adults in all honesty. However, my dirty mind aside, this book is really great. It teaches cleverly a relatively difficult subject about English that could very easily create a bridge between children's knowledge and confusion. I would recommend this for somebody who struggles with nouns and verbs and participles. 😂 Very well done.

Thank you #netgalley

Was this review helpful?

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review

This is probably my favorite of Vanita's books that I've read. I really enjoy children books that are silly, have great art, an are educational. This was hits all three points pretty perfectly. I feel like I learned something even as a 24 year old adult. This would be a fun one to read during story time at the library

Was this review helpful?

Kids are going to love this book and not even realize they are learning about participles. I love when education is illustrated in a fun way so kids can see it doesn’t all have to be boring, quiet school.

Was this review helpful?

As a kid, I used to look up the Dangling Participle section in my school grammar book and read it like a joke book. Now, as a mother and an English teacher, I still find them hilarious! My son (11) and I read this book together and got a big kick out of it. The author sets things up well in the first pages with a clear explanation of what a participle is and how it might end up dangling. The illustrator does a beautiful job showing the contrast in meaning between a properly written sentence and one with a dangling participle. The last page of the book also has information on how the illustrations were made. My only wish is that there had been room in the book for about a hundred more funny examples.

Was this review helpful?

The explanations in this book would be great for younger kids, but could also be useful for reviewing participles with older students. The examples with illustrations were a fun and memorable way to explain the correct use of participles. However, there were too many instances where the "correct" version used passive voice which, is very awkward and also something that children and writers of all ages must learn to avoid.

Was this review helpful?

It’s always tricky to try to teach participles to young elementary students. However, I think I have found the right book to do so! The author lays out a fairly clear definition of what a participle is, and then provides an example of incorrect usage in a sentence (accompanied with an illustration), followed by a correct sentence (again, accompanied with an illustration). This will be my new “go to” book when I reach this point of the curriculum.

Was this review helpful?

This book explains grammar to kids in a funny and engaging way. It's great for elementary-aged students and will make it easy to remember thanks to the way the book is laid out.
Many thanks to Vanita Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Was this review helpful?

The illustrations in this book do a fantastic job of showing the difference of meanings in the sentences depending on how they are written. I’d enjoy using this in my classroom for my students to understand participles.

Was this review helpful?

This was a cute book about grammar. The concept is presented in a humorous way that could certainly get kids laughing and learning at the same time.

Was this review helpful?

Clearly lays out what a participle is and how a dangling participle can lead to confusion and unclear communication. And the examples all have cute drawings and are hilarious! That said, some of the well formed sentences are written in the passive voice, which is also a grammar no no!

Was this review helpful?

I had a hard time reading this book to my son. I think he is a little too young for it, but my brain also struggles with it 😂

Was this review helpful?

Don't Dangle Your Participle
by Vanita Oelschlager
Back of the Book: “Words and pictures show children what a dangling participle is all about. Young readers are shown an incorrect sentence that has in it a dangling participle. They are then taught how to make the sentence read correctly. It is done in a cute and humorous way. The dangling participle loses its way and the children learns how to help it find its way back to the correct spot in the sentence. This is followed by some comical examples of sentences with dangling participles and their funny illustrations, followed by an illustration of the corrected sentence. Young readers will have fun recognizing this problem in sentence construction and learning how to fix it.”
Impressions: Certainly, the title is intriguing enough to pick up this book. I think this was a fun and silly way to learn more about grammar.
Liked: The illustrations were fun and brought the text to life.
Disliked: Grammar is still not my thing. There are some other familiar parts of speech that it would have been nice if the participles were compared to in order to clarify.
Learned: I learned what a participle is.

Was this review helpful?

This book was a cute way to teach a grammar concept with humorous illustrations. It was a little repetitive, but the drawings were really funny and kept my kids' attention. What a unique idea to teach grammar! I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Thanks NetGalley for the book and
Vanita Books in exchange for my opinions.
Teaching children about the proper grammar function of a participle, It shows the difference between proper participle placement, and hilariously improper placement with charming illustrations.
If you didn’t know before you will get lessons along with the kids that you won’t forget. Joys all round.

Was this review helpful?

Vanita Oelschlager's Don't Dangle Your Participle is a perfect book for aspiring grammar nerds. It's grammar made funny and picturesque. At first the author explains what a dangling participle is. This bit is mostly for the parents who forgot their grammar lessons. For the children, the pictures will tell the story, and illustrate, for example, the fate of this poor girl: "Melting in the hot sun, Ida rushed to finish her ice cream." I would hate to melt before I've been able to eat mine. The artwork is cute and the idea is clever. Warmly recommended because it's rare that an educational book is this much fun.

I read a free copy that I got from Netgalley and wrote my own honest opinions.

Was this review helpful?