Silent Letters Loud and Clear

June 1, 2008
Gr 1-3-As in "Punctuation Takes a Vacation" (2003) and "Nouns and Verbs Have a Field Day" (2006, both Holiday House), Pulver and Rowe tackle another grammar lesson with humorous examples and whimsical illustrations. The students in Mr. Wright's class have decided that they have had enough of silent letters; they can't be heard and they make spelling too tough. After listening to their complaints, their teacher urges them to email the local newspaper to demand the banning of silent letters. When the letters find out, they decide to escape from the missive and teach the class a lesson. The editors of the newspaper respond with an editorial criticizing the children's "poor" spelling, whereupon the letters reappear to convince the youngsters of their importance and that practice will make the children better spellers. The acrylic cartoon art floats in mid-air against a vivid blue background, yet the usage depicted in each example is clearly matched with the speech each letter is trying to make. This topic could have easily resulted in a didactic lesson, but the story line and examples of silent letters or letter pairs appearing in everyday words lighten the presentation."Lynne Mattern, Robert Seaman School, Jericho, NY"

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