The back of the book tells you that this book is aimed at children aged 5+, whereas the website says 8-12. I'd tend to go with the website as I can't see many 5 year olds getting their heads around pronouns and tenses and commas ! But it does seem about the right level for Sophie, who is 8 but bilingual, with French being her stronger language, so it could possibly appeal to 6 or 7 year olds.
Despite the very educational content, it's quite an enjoyable book to look at - full of colourful pictures and the text is short and easy to understand. There are no offputting, highly complicated grammatical explanations or examples.
Obviously, in a book this size and with a target audience this young, it doesn't go into any great detail but the basics are covered. It does all seem a bit disjointed though, jumping from one unrelated topic to another, but then again, you're not supposed to sit down and read it from cover to cover - it's a book to dip in and out of as needed when you don't understand something in your homework.
As a parent, it's sometimes hard to "dumb-down" your explanations of grammar, maths or science so that young childen can understand. As a teacher, I also know that some parents are unable to help their children with their homework because they dropped out of school so they don't know the answers themselves. This book could be a helpful tool in both of these situations.
I also love the Ladybird book format and the little ladybird on the front, because it makes me all nostalgic, remembering my collection of Janet and John Ladybird books when I was little !
For a very young child or one in great difficulty at school, this is an enjoyable way to approach a few simple elements of grammar and punctuation, but for anyone who has already seen the basics, it doesn't really go far enough.
With a cover price of £1.99, you can't go far wrong though. You could also complete the Homework Helpers collection with the other titles : French for School, Spelling for School, and Times Tables for Schools. I would actually think these titles work better than the Grammar and Punctuation book that I had for review, as the topic is so vast and complicated, it's a virtually impossible task to condense a useful amout of information into a 32-page child-friendly reference guide !
star rating : 3.5/5
RRP : £1.99
Format : Hardback
ISBN : 9781409302254
Size :112 x 170mm
Pages :32
Published :06 Aug 2009
Publisher : Ladybird
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