Poems by Jane Yolen, J. Patrick Lewis, and others introduce a peppy group of punctuation marks, including the "forgotten" colon and a very excitable exclamation point. The humorous verses serve to help explicate meaning and usage. Clever and sophisticated pen-and-ink drawings showcase each punctuation mark in a bold, personified fashion, further bringing them to life. Teachers especially will appreciate this collection.

A collection of peppy poems and clever pictures explains different forms of punctuation.Rebecca Kai Dotlich's "A Punctuation Tale" kicks off the proceedings with a punny description of a day full of punctuation; goodnight is "cuddled / in quotation marks." Ensuing poems discuss the comma, the apostrophe, the dash ("A subdued dude / in tweet and text / he signals what / is coming next"), the colon, the exclamation point, and ellipses. Allan Wolf's poem about this last is called "…" and begins, "The silent ellipsis… / replaces…words missed." Prince Redcloud's "Question Marks" is particularly delightful, with the question "Why?" dancing diagonally down in stair steps. The emphatic answer is a repeated "Because!" Other poems pay tribute to quotation marks, the hyphen, and the period. Michele Kruger explains "The Purpose of Parentheses": "inside a pair / ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) / of slender curves / we'll hold your few / inserted words." The final poem is editor Hopkins' own, "Lines Written for You to Think About" (inspired by Carl Sandburg), urging young readers to write their own verses employing (what else?) punctuation. The 12 poets included work with a variety of devices and styles for an always-fresh feel. Bloch's illustrations are delightfully surprising, both illustrating each poem's key points and playfully riffing on the punctuation itself. Both playful and enlightening, period. (Picture book/poetry. 5-8)

Gr 2-5 In this slight but lively volume, Hopkins showcases poems about punctuation. From commas to periods and every dash in between, kids' favorite marks are sure to find the spotlight at least once. "A Punctuation Tale" begins the adventure with a grammar introduction, leading into a solo poem for each mark, and capped with a punctuation-inspired poetry challenge. The poems do not adhere to any one particular structure, instead showcasing a variety of styles that seem best suited to their corresponding subject. Bloch's illustrations combine airy line drawings atop flat washes of color with the bold the punctuation marks. Most often the illustrations aid in illuminating meaning, though the duo with quotation-mark eyes may be a trifle unsettling or distracting. Perhaps not every poem works as well as it could, but as a whole this collection has great potential as a teaching tool. VERDICT Educators and libraries looking to provide grammar resources a bit lighter than the average textbook will find this a useful and enjoyable addition to their collection. Taylor Worley, Springfield Public Library, OR