Language Arts Books

The book explains a simple method to analyze and rewrite a sentence. The first fifty pages felt redundant, but slowly changed my view of writing. I now don't look at copy the way I used to. I'm using the method to write this review. The typical author can cut down copy by more than 50% to clearly convey a point, while respecting the reader's attention. I found the book in the bibliography of the Nuts and Bolts of College Writing, another outstanding book.

I have the 2nd Edition with the $8.00 price tag still stuck on it. 20 years ago, this was a required text for Technical Writing. Now I'm writing my first technical book, and picked it up the other day. What a shock! It's still relevant, quick, funny, and very inspiring. How many college texts hold up that well?

Here's the thing. Revising Prose practices what it preaches. It shows how to mercilessly cut filler, sharpen your opinion, and ultimately to say what you really want to say. That it does this in much, much less than the usual 300 pages shows that it works pretty darn well.

Let's face it. You pay much more for a small diamond than a big piece of cubic zirconium. This is a true diamond of a book.

I teach college rhetoric and composition, and I ultimately decided not to order this book for my classes. The information and explanations are as good as any I've seen in a writing handbook, but I cannot justify asking students to pay this much for a book that is essentially a supplement to another textbook. The book is short and small, and I can only imagine the students' reactions when picking up the slim little volume in the student stores and seeing the price tag. They'd be too mad to read the darn thing. I give it five stars for content, but 1 star for price. Where is the price coming from? There are few copyrighted items reprinted and no color illustrations. It's just original prose in black and white in a tiny paperback. It's absurd to charge that much! I'll be placing it on reserve.

I'm working toward my MFA in creative writing, and ran across this book during editing classes for my BA years ago. It was a required text, and I wish I'd had it much earlier.

While ostensibly for business, academic or technical writing, I've found it very useful for fiction and creative non-fiction. If nothing else, it illustrates clearly how combinations of particular words create certain effects for the reader (examples of how to best confuse, bore, or torment a reader are always useful!) I've bought it as a gift for other writers, recommended it to collegues at work, and use the ideas in the Paramedic Method to "get the lard out" of all my writing. This book is useful to anyone who wants to write clearly. Like most of the better books on writing, it's also short, precise, and occasionally funny.

I have the 4th edition of this book, which is about 50 pages less than the 5th edition. The first two chapters and the appendix are excellent. The rest of the book is very repetitive, although periodically interesting. The author offers unique advice. I now wish I had ordered the 5th edition to see if the other 50 pages contains new information.

I have received but not started his "Analyzing Prose" book, which is very substantial and appears to contain similar material.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

Mark Ortman's "simple guide" is an easy to read, comprehensive look at the various aspects involved in self-publishing, including preparatory steps (copyright, ISBN), printing, marketing, and distributing. He offers lots of references to resources which will be useful, and he provides some tips as well.

Brevity is the chief positive attribute of this book, and it is also a weakness. You might want more about each of the subjects that Ortman raises. Another problem with the book is that much of the information involving technology is outdated, although most of the rest of the book is up-to-date.

Not everyone will want to read this book. But the beginning writer can certainly benefit from it.

Back in the late 1980's I had the privilege of attending a self-publishing workshop with Mark Ortman, the author of this excellent how-to guide. I purchased "A Simple Guide to Self-Publishing" and used the knowledge I gained to successfully publish and market my first book. I've recommended this book many times over the years, since it provides a perfect introduction to the topic. I'm happy that Mark has kept the book up to date, and that the Third Edition includes helpful information on On-Line Publishing.

This book may be a handy ADDITION to your publishing library, but it is definitely not "the" source book for marketing. In fact, in the rapidly changing world of publishing, I found that most of the information I did want to use was already out of date.

This book helps you compare regular publishing with self-publishing to see if it's right for you.

Three main questions underlie the process:
Why do you want to publish your book?
Who is your audience?
What makes your book different or unique?

Chapters cover such topics as:
Learning about the industry and preparing the manuscript
Printing
Announcing your book
Distribution
Creating a demand, touring, marketing--by far the longest chapter

This book has lots of great suggestions, but he doesn't go into any very deeply. At only 62 pages, this is useful as a handbook. It is geared toward writers who needs an overview of the process, particularly those wanting more traditional paper publishing for their books.

This simple guide is exactly that, the bare bones basics for those who don't want to wade through hundreds of pages. You can get more than three times the information for only twice the price in a book like Dan Poynter's The Self-Publishing Manual, but more is not always best for everyone. If you are the type of person who wants "Just the facts" this book could be your ideal introduction to self-publishing.

A couple years ago I just happened to be browsing the music section of my local Borders, looking for some inspiration, and stumbled upon this book. It is truly great, and has had large effect on my outlook (and skills.) I read through it regularly, write in all the margins, and should really be putting more effort into mastering these ideas. Buy a copy if you can, even at the current used price of $45. It's worth it, if you can only see the knowledge it contains and truly adopt this performance outlook for yourself.

If you want to "entertain" an audience, Liv can tell you how to do it. This book is concise, entertaining, and a MUST read. The author provides some real-world reality checks, shows you how to engage the audience, and does it all with humility and good humour. It is truly unfortunate that the book is out of print. It shouldn't be.

Buy it, if you can find it. Borrow a copy, check the library, but definately READ this one! It is short, to the point, and it is even a FUN read! I would sell my copy to you, but I want keep it so that I can read it again!

RHB

I have seen Liv live on a number of occasions. He is an amazing performer - not as technically proficient as, say, Vince Gill, but he never claims to me. One walks away from his concert feeling as though their emotions have undergone Ty-Bo.

He mixes grace, humor, and modesty in a way that few have managed to master. For the new (or experienced) performmer, this book is a great way to begin that Mastery process.

Highly recommended, to say the least.

Excellent, engaging, compassionate, humorous, with lots of useful information on myriad facets of the music business. This material is the fruit of 30 years of experience, and is laced with gritty, funny anecdotes that bring each of Taylor's "lessons" to life. I'm buying another two copies for friends.

Liv Taylor's book is an excellent resource for all musicians and performers who engage in live performance or touring. As a writer, Taylor brings the reader into his Berklee College of Music Stage Performance Class, where assorted characters (based on real students) receive coaching and wisdom Liv has garnered from his 30+ years of performing and touring experience.

Taylor's primary message is one of cultivating a sensitive and attentive relationship between the performer and his or her audience. He also presents useful thoughts on stage presence, performance anxiety, audience interaction, life on the road, and the requirements for maintaining a viable performing career.

Though Taylor's book is primarily targeted at young, aspiring popular musicians at the beginning of their careers, more experienced artists, musicians from other disciplines, and even actors and public speakers can benefit as well.

-Doc Wallace, Faculty, the Juilliard School

I had the opportunity to attend one of Ellen Sandler's lectures, recently and was impressed by what she had to say and had to know more, so I bought her book at the event. Best tv/screenwriting book, I have bought in years. This is one that I will continue to reference as needed. It is written in a voice so entertaining, that you can understand why she has been so successful in her career as a tv writer. I recommend this book to anyone who is starting out and to anyone who needs a fresh prospective.

I feel like I am in a Master Class and teacher's pet! Ellen Sandler provides a friendly and in-the-know work guide in how to write TV scripts. She offers exercises that had me laughing hysterically at my OWN details/specifics that will be used for my characters. The 7 deadly sins became that evening's "dinner topic" with a group of journalists that not only livened up the night but provided MORE embarrassing, sensitive and humiliating inspiration. I have more to read and to study but I knew I was in wise and experienced hands from the first few pages. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I rarely make a recommendation, but this book is the most helpful I have ever read on TV writing. It offers a very practical process that is like a key opening a door to your own creativity.

This is by far the BEST TV writing book I've ever read and I have nearly all of them. Sandler doesn't just tell you the steps necessary to write a fantastic spec script, like all these kinds of books do, she guides you through the creative process of mining story material for it. And she tells you how to fashion subject matter that has the most emotional meaning for you, the author--which is the benchmark of great writing. It was a concept that until now, that no matter how many books I read, or how many harsh notes from execs I received on all my previous specs (or so I thought, now I FULLY understand their notes!) that I didn't grasp until now. TV Writer's Workbook, has provided the creative lightbulb I needed to get me out of my sucky spec script darkness. Highly recommended!

I've been using Ellen Sandler's book as a guide for the last few weeks, and I feel I've done much better work in that short time than I did all last year. The book is mainly geared towards sitcom writers, and for those interested in writing a comedy spec, this book is the one to get!

When this book arrived in the mail, I sat down to thumb through it. My 3 1/2 year old noticed the kids on the cover and came over to see what I was looking at. I read her one of the poems and she was immediately drawn in. She kept asking for more and more. We spent an hour with the book on that first sitting and return to the book with great frequency.

There are illustrations, photographs, paintings, something visual on every page. I've been speaking the rhyming poems to my toddler who enjoys them as well. I am very impressed with this book, will be purchasing the two workbooks and look forward to the books for for each progressing age.

This is exactly what I needed to fill in the gaps of convenient cultural resources.

Give your child the background on which the rest can be built.
Teach them the contents of the needs-to-know series, then the school text books will make sense.

We've been using this book series since our oldest child (now in 5th grade) entered Kindergarten. We've now gone back and purchased this book for our 4-year-old.

We send our kids to the local public schools, and I find these books to be a fantastic supplement. Reading these books with my older son has made it so much easier to find out where there are holes in his education, and have sparked some very interesting conversations. I quickly figure out where he's picked up some misconceptions, and I'm able to dispel those easily, especially since the books often have exactly the information he's looking for.

Don't be surprised if your child is confused by the rhymes at first. With enough exposure, they'll start to understand them. But the sentence structure of poetry, and its subtle messages, take a while for young children to appreciate. The pictures certainly help.

These books can also be used as the basis for a home school curriculum as there are several citations of outside resources that can be used to expand upon topics introduced in the book.

Fantastic series!

Set up like a textbook. Very easy to read a few pages out of each section daily. Fun book!

This is a great book. My son is two and a half and loves the songs and rhymes (although I do wish there was a CD of music since I can't remember the tunes for some of them). I love the history, science and art. We pick a few things to do or read everyday. He has fun and I feel like I'm making more of our time together.

I've worked in publishing for over a decade and thought I knew it all when it came time to get my own books published. Not by a LONG shot! I bought this on the suggestion of an editor and I bet I've referred to it 32 times since I got it. It helped me get through the first and second steps of the process. Now if my agent can just get my books sold!

Great coverage of markets and their needs. I recommend this highly if you are a writer for children. Do not go very far without this book!

2002 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market is a very highly useful and authoritative guide for both aspiring authors and artists to getting their work published in the specialized area of children's books. From finding the best markets, to writing effectively for the age index of one's choice, to preparing professional submissions, 2002 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market is packed from cover to cover with solid wealth of tips, tricks, and techniques on how to stand out in a highly competitive field. 2002 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market is an absolutely essential reference, especially for new writers and novice artists looking to break into the children's book market.

This is THE book if you want to get published. 2002 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market shows over 800 editors and art directors who want to buy what YOU write or illustrate. I am planning to try get publihed. And this was my resource! I've already found tons of publishers! If you want to get published, then this is your book!

Great coverage of markets and their needs. I recommend this highly if you are a writer for children. Do not go very far without this book!

Professionals in the children's book genre have been relying on the yearly Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market for 18 years. This guide covers everything writers and/or illustrators would ever need to find a home for their work.

The 2006 edition contains more than 800 listings of opportunities. Book publishers, magazine opportunities, literary agents, contests and conferences are just a few of the numerous types of listings you get in 400+ pages.

Each listing is updated yearly to make sure the contact information, pay rates and specific publishing needs are accurate. Editors of the guide generally work all year long to ensure the listings are up-to-date.

What makes this guide even more valuable are the articles, interviews and also help for those just getting started in the business. The guide could simply be a compilation of listings and it would be a great investment but the fact that these other resources are added make it a powerful tool for any writer or illustrator's career.

If you're searching for markets on your own, you're wasting precious time. The 2006 Writer's & Illustrator's Market does the tedious work for you so you can simply choose an appropriate market and find a publishing outlet for your work.

If you want to write for kids, there's two things you need to do (i.e., other than writing your book!): join SCWBI and get this book. The book is full of great advice and contacts. A must-have for all children's writers.

This is a highly informative book that no household should be without. Held within these pages are countless words and expressions for every aspect of writing. From A to Z you will find references for everything. Fundraising letters, personal letters, query letters, sympathy notes, email, business, thank yous, etc. It is all found in this highly recommended book! Don't write without it!

This book gave me a good perspective on what it takes to "try" to get a children's book published. I really feel like I have a better grasp on the reality of writing children's books...it's not as easy as I had first expected!

This is well-organized and has all of the information one would need to access publishers. Agents and publicists, as well as writers, need to have this "encyclopedia" of resources. There is a wealth of information needed for sending book proposals and manuscripts. Just excellent!

This is a great book with LOTS of useful information and lesson plans. It really helped me to understand the 6 Traits better, and how to go about teaching them to my kids. If your new to 6 traits this is a must have!

This is a terrific resource and one that I have been using all year in my classroom. We have begun using this book as a book study for a Professional Learning Community at our school for those teaching K-3. My Grade One class has never loved writing more and their enthusiasm for writing has been tremendous.

This book will definitely aid in developing your 6 + 1 writing classroom. It is filled with classroom ideas and great picture books to use to enhance each lesson.

This is a fantastic tool for lower elementary teachers. This is how writing should be assessed. This book is a practical tool. It includes practice assessments and lots of student example papers to help you better understand each trait and how to evaluate it. It also includes many wonderful teaching ideas and picture book examples!

We asked. We pleaded. We begged, "Pretty pleeease." Ruth Culham responded to our request with great enthusiasm with 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for the Primary Grades. And teachers across the globe cheered, "Wahoo!" Finally, a resource book for primary educators who have been searching for child tested ideas that tackle instructional strategies and assessment techniques in one comprehensive book. Thank you, Ruth, for doing a wonderful job of explaining each trait, equipping us with developmentally appropriate focus lessons, and reminding us that teaching writing to young authors is a process in which they need plenty of practice and opportunities, and an extra helping of patience on our part doesn't hurt. This must have book for all teachers - novice and experienced alike - won't be another resource that is shelved after a quick glance. It will be close at hand as it is used throughout the year to help develop the talents of young writers.

This is wonderful! I wasn't sure when I ordered it. Even when it arrived I wasn't sure until I saw that each letter had a sing along to a familiar tune. The tunes are really cute and catchy.

I received this as a baby shower gift and I love it. My son is due in a month and I can't stop singing to my belly. I haven't tried the cd yet, but I am buying this as a gift for my other pregnant friends.

We bought this book for our two yr old daughter, who is really into following along with songs and has us read quite a few song-books. The book comes with a CD which is a great help to me, as I am not the greatest singer, yet it also helps my daughter learn the tunes and the words to the songs in the book. The book and CD have the familiar tunes from when I was a child, but have changed the words to match the music and the letter you are singing about. A lot of fun to do with our daughter.

My daughter started listening to this cd when she was 18 months and has loved it ever since. It's a favorite in the day care she goes to and that I work at. The management had to buy a book and cd for every class in the building! Kids love it!

I really like singing these songs to my daughter. The books is loads of fun. My only negative (besides the fact that I can never get these songs out of my head) is that the CD singing is a bit cheesy. But it is a kids CD, so should I really complain?

This book is fascinating and will it will be highly valuable in planning spelling lessons. It is the ultimate resource for the wisdom of teaching phonetics.

For intermediate to advanced phonics, Bishop's text is a great resource, but it's not for every reading teacher. It should be particularly valuable for reading specialists, speech therapists, and anyone looking to develop curriculum material.

How have I used the text? It's helped me adapt and develop materials for a junior-high student who reads 3-4 grades below level because of dyslexia. He hates the skill-sheets that were so obviously developed for elementary students. Now I can adapt or create materials easily.

What does the text offer? It generally gives 20-40 examples for every spelling-sound pattern, and explains the situations that lead to the exceptions. Entries are cross-referenced to examples that follow similar patterns. Bishop points out differences you probably haven't thought of noticing before (for example, when the featured spelling-sound pattern is stressed or unstressed, voiced or not voiced. Each of these distinctions comes with a separate set of supporting examples.) Bishop offers clues that help readers know which pattern to follow when sounding out a word that "sounds" equally like two different spellings.

This book far exceeded my expectations!
It unravels the mystery of the so-called unexplainably strange ways of spelling so many of our English words. Clear & concise format.
EXCELLENT for young children learning to read & spell...it answers any questions you might have about the rules of the way letters are put together in words & pronounced.
A must have for any home library...

Seldom is it possible to find an extensive list of specific 'unusual' information about our language. The ABC's and All Their Tricks contains a list of the number of times phonograms appear in English words.
As an educator of children and adults, specializing in spelling and grammar, I needed this information at my fingertips. Using the book as a reference, I find it easy to explain the consistency of our language and dispel the myth that English is too irregular and difficult to learn. Amazon is the only place I could find this book, as it was not available in Australia.

I liked the information this book offered, particularly because I believe it would be helpful to anybody teaching children--educators, parents, tutors, etc. You don't have to have a certain curriculum package to make this work. I LOVE having resources around that you don't have to read cover to cover. This is one that you can look up what you have questions on. Sometimes, when a student doesn't "get" something, it is only because it isn't presented in a format they understand. Often, the educator just needs a different tactic than what appears "obvious" to them, but not to the child. A great reference.