Punctuation Station

By: Brian P. Cleary
Illustrated by: Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
Publisher: Millbrook Press
Publication Date: April 2010
ISBN: 978-0822578529
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: March 2010

Period Plaza Station is whirling with travelers getting ready to head out on their trains. Elephants, cows, pigs, dogs and raccoons are rushing about trying to get ready to go. Papa giraffe is scanning the departure board trying to figure out which track his family needs to head to. Comma Gulch, Questionable River, Quotation Valley . . . look, there is Punctuation Station on Track 3! After Mama giraffe buys her tickets the family will head to their track, but along the way they will see several signs that will tell them “when it’s time to stop or pause and help [them] tell a question from a sentence, phrase, or clause.”

“Punctuation comes in marks–
some straight, some round, some curly.
And once you get to know them,
you can punctuate quite surely.”

Grandma, Mama, Papa and four little giraffes are all going to learn how to use punctuation properly on the way to their station. They will see examples of several forms of punctuation. They will learn how to use the period, the comma, an apostrophe, quotation marks, the question mark, a hyphen and an exclamation point. The busy colorful station has many animals and signs that will show them the way to Punctuation Station in a fun and easy way!

This vibrant, exciting “rhyme-filled” journey to Punctuation Station is an easy way to learn about the proper use of punctuation. Each punctuation mark to be learned is placed in the upper left hand corner of a page in a mini sign. There is a rhyme that describes how it is to be used and then the colorful family of giraffes and other delightful animals guide the reader along the way. The vibrant, humorous illustrations are very enticing and even the most reluctant reader will scan the pages looking for clues as to how to use punctuation. For example when discussing the comma, there is a sign of Station Rules that says in part, “NO bare feet, running, yelling, spitting, littering.” In the back of the book is a section on “Punctuation Information.”

Quill says: If you want to make learning punctuation painless and easy, come on board because this book is just the ticket!