Language Arts Books

Ordinary Miracles: Harness The Power Of Writing And Get Your Point Across! by Danny Iny is an informed and informative introduction to the writing process as a modern medium for communication. Insightfully providing readers with information clarifying the misinformed understandings presented in grade school and how they might be effecting the writing of many students, Ordinary Miracles addresses such issues as writing structures for effectively presenting solid and compelling arguments; how grammar can be used effectively by sometimes breaking rules; the subtle differences in structure and how it affects readers; and how to choose just the right words to get a specific point across. Ordinary Miracles is very strongly recommended reading for classroom teachers and aspiring writers for its concise understanding of the process of writing as an evermore creative, persuasive, and informative medium for communication.

Definitely a five star read. I've read a number of the "how-to" variety of writing books and very few of them have kept my attention, let alone gotten me to put to practice what I learned. I am happy to say it was quite different with this book!

The biggest advantage of the book is that Iny draws on a number of personal experiences to illustrate his ideas. This adds a level of intimacy to the book that makes the initial reading, and any subsequent readings, just fly by. Another feature that differs from your regular fair is you never get the feeling that the book is above you. It is so clear and concise that you can immediately begin to play around with your new knowledge. I would highly recommend this book to anybody looking to improve their writing!

In this book, the author goes over many of the common pitfalls of writing, and attempts to offer solutions or alternatives based on personal experience and extensive research.

Although short, this book is concise and to the point. It is very focused and delves deeply into the many issues it addresses.

The book itself illustrates the points it's trying to get across very well, as it is written in very eloquent prose, and is an exceptionally light read.

All in all I think this is a very good buy, definitely worth the money, and even more so the time spent reading it. I would recommend this book to anybody who decides to take pen to paper, and even more so to the people who don't, to help them understand what they're missing.

I got the book from a friend. To tell the truth, I didn't really want to read it. But when I finally got around to it, I couldn't put it down 'till the end (and I am well aware that this is not the way one usually describes such a book).
The book is short and to the point. Easy to read, and an example of it's own content simply by the way it is written.
Half way through, my fingers were itching to hold a pen and start wtiting something, anything...
Equipped with the principles I learned, I am a better judge of any literary piece, written by me or by others.
Wish I had the book when I took my English 101..

Rebeccasreads highly recommends ORDINARY MIRACLES as a simple & easily understood guide to getting the best bang out of your written words.

It is the epitome of content, organization & language -- brief, with just enough examples & history to whet your appetite, & covers a lot of territory that will be of interest to students & writers just getting started. Well worth the price, & will stand you in good stead as you work your words.

a very good foreword, the book of a master in ethimology, the work of a plenty life studyng words origin, a master piece

I am a college junior, and I have found no book more helpful in my studies than this one. It is a great reference work that can be used for so many topics and in so many contexts. It is a necessity in my reference collection. The etymlogies of so many roots and words are throroughly explained, and done so with amazing clarity.

Word Ninja

Full of interesting information, history, and insights into why and how we speak and write as we do. Excellent reference.

Among the 5,000 books in my library, 50 or 60 of them being dictionaries, this is one of the most erudite and entertaining -- a rare combination. The author's knowledge of literature and language is quite remarkable. Apart from being an invaluable serious reference work it is also a wonderful tome for reading in bed (and it's not too heavy!) It is somewhat too complex, too "deep", to buy as a birthday present for an Auntie or Uncle with everyday interests, but it would make a wonderful present for a gifted young nephew or niece who loves to explore and learn about the wondrous riches of our linguistic and literary heritage

Shipley is a scholar who wrote a study of Tolkien's language; his "discursive dictionary" shows the same mix of scholarship and fun. The book itself is organized by Indo-European roots. Shipley does not, however, expect you to know the IE root of an English word off the top of your head - he does provide an English to root index.

Tidbits of information come from an amazingly broad range of topics. For example, speaking of the root plumbum (lead) he mentions that it may come via Iberia because lead was mined in Spain as early as 2000 BC. In the entry on men (for math etc.) we get a quote from Dryden on Bacchus. In short, you get the information you need (the etmology and history of a word) along with fun tidbits.

The only complaint is that the dictionary is too fun ... looking up a word will always turn into an hour long browsing for enjoyment.

Please bring it back and put one under the pillow of every lover and liker of the language of Shakespeare and Milton. (Or, check your local used bookstore when you're feeling lucky.) My favorite book on English etymology.

If you love the English language and are truly very curious about the meanings of its words as reflected in the evolution of its origins and meanings, this is a "must have" book. I have used the 1966 issue of it for years now, and rate it more useful, although a companion book, to the seminal work of Walter Skeat. No library can realistically be said to be complete,nor can any lover of the English language, without both of these works.

Over thirty years ago I begun developing the habit of consulting etymological dictionaries whenever I wanted to deepen my understanding of words. I equipped myself with several etymological dictionaries in each of the three languages I use: spanish, french and english (which share many words). Over the years and independently of the language that triggered a given search, I found myself increasingly going FIRST to Partridge's ORIGINS (acquired in 1977) and often feeling no need of consulting another dictionary.
Quite a number of years comparing etymological dictionaries! Hence I agree, it should at least be reprinted or, hopefully, edited anew after improvement by a team of experts knowledgeable of more recent research in the field.

A little complex to use but once you get into it it can be fun. Set up like a dictionary so you need to thumb through it. Interesting resource though

If you have any interest at all in English etymology, you MUST HAVE THIS BOOK. Beg, borrow, bid, phone every used bookstore you can find -- do anything to get a copy of this book. This book is so good that when I came across a copy of it and skimmed it, all I could do was look back with new regret at the years I'd spent using other works I could now recognize as inferior.

This is simply the best book on English etymology I've ever seen -- beats the earlier etymological dictionaries by Skeats and Weekley hands down, and of course is superior to any normal dictionary's treatment of etymologies (OED, Merriam-Webster, etc.).

I gave this book to my mother who loves words. She absolutely loves it.

All lovers of language should consider purchasing this dictionary of foreign words & phrases. Without a doubt you will be enlightened by the wealth of information it has to offer. English is a widely spoken language with both native, second and third language speakers and many words and phrases used in English come from other languages especially French and Latin. This book provides many examples of these words and foreign phrases used in everyday speech as well as an explanation of the meaning and source language. This a recommended purchase and a very informative easy to read dictionary.

Although not arranged by countries of word orgin, as is true of smaller dictionaries such as Le Mot Juste, this is a full-fledge dictionary of foreign words, that goes well beyond just cognates and borrowed words across national boundaries.

It also gives some entomological information and pronunciation diphthongs as well as occasional synonyms and cognates.

The best of a good lot. Five Stars.

If you find yourself skipping words and phrases in articles and books that you sense everyone but you understands this is an excellent addition to your dictionary collection. After checking a number of similar reference books at the library I chose this one because it tells a little history of word/phrase usage in addition to just a translation, this allows you to put it into better context.

This book is an ideal reference for those of us who need to make sense of the foreign (non English) words and phrases encountered in English.

Examples include chaebol (Korean: a large business conglomerate); nebbish (Yiddish: a nobody); cum laude (Latin: with praise) and gung-ho (Chinese: work together).

Each of these words has been adopted within English with similar - but not always identical - meanings.

There are some 8000 examples of words and phrases from over 40 languages in this book.

Recommended for those who are interested in seeing practical examples of how English evolves to encompass offerings from other languages.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I bought the previous edition of the Oxford English Refererence Dictionary in 2000, when I was in my first year at the university. I have used it ever since, and the other day I bought the new edition for my friend, a student of English.
Below are a few features of this dictionary I like most:
- Several parts of speech for one and the same word are listed at one and the same entry, with special marks. This makes it possible to save a lot of paper and fit more words into one book.
- Examples and usage notes are given only when really necessary and crucial. Definitions are short and clear. This also saves paper. But mind that pre-intermediate / intermediate learners of English may find the definitions difficult to understand.
- Etymology in a concise form is given for every word.
- The book is not only a dictionary, but also a reference book containing a lot of information about phenomena, events, characters, places etc. More than once when I was not sure about something (e.g. what a given philosophy trend is famous for or when some historical event took place) I opened the book and found the answer.
- A lot of proper names with their English pronunciations are listed.

The subject matter was what I had expected, very precise and complete.

If you don't want to buy the literally encyclopedic multi-volume Oxford English Dictionary, this is the one to get. You'll still get more words than most of us use on a regular basis! If you're looking to increase your vocabulary with a word of the day, this is a great place to start.
And most new words inserted into the 'Macro' Oxford each year make their way into the newer editions of this classic.
It may not be as cheap as some of the others, but it's the best bang for the buck.

Believe me, when you are going to find a reference dictionary, This book is always the first chioce. That's why I bought it.

I only bought this dictionary because David Foster Wallace constantly raves about the "OED", which is a full (and expensive) twenty volume set. So this (...) book was more in my price range. Despite it's shorter length, I have definitely got more than my money's worth in this book. Sometimes I take a break from my day and pick it up and browse through the pages. Besides being able to find over 99% of the words for which I've searched, it's got an uncountable number of historical, geographical, etc. facts and backgrounders. If you're a learning nerd, this is a good book to have.

Outstanding work with clear illustrations and examples of how to improve your library research. I learned more about library research in this book than in all my years pursuing a doctorate degree.

A MUST have for anyone who spends time in the library. You do not have to be a professional researcher or academician to get useful tools from this book. My kids have read the book as well, and their research projects for school improved dramatically.

I strongly recommend this book is you plan any research projects in the future.

Dr. Mann really pulls out the stops with this excellent reference guide. After 18 years at the LoC he knows the tricks!

The third edition of Thomas Mann's "Oxford Guide to Library Research" is an indispensable friend for students and scholars, or anyone in the general public who has a hobby, a pet project or just the desire to know, and wants not only to improve their research skills but to learn - and take full advantage of - all the resources available to the library researcher in the Computer Age. When the second edition of the "Oxford Guide" was published, all the way back in 1998, computer programs in libraries were pretty much limited to a catalogue of a library's holdings, a smattering of databases perhaps, and Internet access, maybe. Dr. Mann unfolds the riches that may now be found at library workstations and the new ways to find the best on its shelves.

And you can't hope for a better guide. A reference librarian in the Main Reading Room of the Library of Congress for 25 years, Dr. Mann's firsthand experience in helping patrons get the most out of their library experience is evident in this book. While some would consign libraries and the outmoded technology they were built to house (known as books) to the dustbin, Dr. Mann reveals how computers have done more for library research and serious scholars than for the search for general, often disorganized and unreliable, "information" on the Web.

In the early days of computerization there was a popular acronym for the uncertain results of Internet searching, GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out). It has been supplanted nowadays by the kinder, gentler "I feel lucky" or, for the happy-go-lucky, the "sloppy search." Use these methods, whether on a search engine or a library computer catalogue, you'll likely lwind up with thousands of hits. (Good luck.) But here's Thomas Mann to the rescue. In his chapters on subject headings, on keyword searches and on Boolean combinations and search limitations, he sets out to help you define your subject concisely and precisely, and choose the search methods that will get you to the best sources for your project, instead of settling for what is "good enough." (Is it?)

In "The Oxford Guide to Library Research" you will learn how the indexed subheadings in a subject browse on the library computer catalogue can turn up unexpected sources - instant bibliographies, so to speak - that are just right for your topic, as well as how to negotiate such as the electronic databases with full-text articles from thousands of journals and newspapers. The rest of the book is devoted to the range of print and electronic resources: the specialized encyclopedias on topics that you would never imagine have encyclopedias of their own; microform and CD-ROM databases; online programs that can locate books in a more distant library if it turns out that what you seek is not available in your local branch. An innovation in this edition of the "Oxford Guide" is facsimiles of the actual search pages of major databases to illustrate examples in the text. His invaluable chapter, "Hidden Treasures," has grown by half again from the one in the second edition, now noting print collections that are also available in online databases, as well as a selection of collections exclusive to the web.

Dr. Mann's major goal is to get you to the sources you want, and ones you don't yet know you want, in the most direct and effective way; to make you think, not like a librarian, but as someone with a specific personal research goal, and to give you the knowledge and skills to accomplish it. He peppers the book with anecdotes from his firsthand experiences with researchers, the college student, the accomplished professor and the weekend scholar, while relating information in a conversational, descriptive fashion with sparing use of professional jargon. With "The Oxford Guide to Library Research" at hand when you get to work on your next project, you may discover that doing the research for it is half the fun of getting there. Or, maybe, all of it.

This is a terrific book for anyone interested in books and finding information. The author works at the Library of Congress, and has extensive experience looking for information of all kinds. he uses both print and electronic sources, and both to great advantage. His tips on using ordinary sources are exceptional; for example, did you know that the AMERICANA often prints important American speeches in their entirety? If you are a book lover, this is a useful guide, which you will use for a long time.

Besides being packed with information that will aid research at any level, it is an enjoyable read as well.

For every German student, a friend in need is this ditionary indeed. Simple definition and easy cross reference are very helpful for begginers, and various idioms and multiple entries are for experts. But you may refer the dictionary only at home, because it is too heavy to tote (about 2kg! ). So if you have to bring it daily to your classroom or office, perhaps you need another smoller one, with this excellent dictionary at your home.

The dictionary is well formatted, easy to use. It is quite heavy so certainly not a travel dictionary but it is excellent for home-use.

As a professor of German studies at a college and a reviewer of German-English and English-German books and dictionaries, I can vouch for the finely tuned qualities of this masterful work. With the thoroughness, that Duden is known for and the expertise of the publishing of Oxford, this book has all the new spelling rules, phonetic pronunciation guides, a wonderfully complete guide for German as well as English correspondence, useful phrases, and comprehensive guides for English and German grammar. While the book is heavy, it is for desk and reference work viable and highly recommended. Oxford might have done well to print the book on the new, thinner paper that I have seen modern, rather bulky Books such as the BOOK OF MORMON and the BIBLE printed on. Their thickness has been reduced by almost one half the bulk and thus are easier to place in one's briefcase. For desk and reference work, however, nothing on the market at present can equal it for those reasons I have listed.

The name and says it all "Oxford-Druden". However, this is an indispensable dictionary. Every page has a picture on it with numbers pointing to objects. The opposing page has the numbers pointing to words written in German and English. The English takes a little getting used to (suspenders = braces, elevator = lift, and so on. Can you say exposure control device in German (die Belichtungssteuereinrichtung.) tried that without pictures?

The dictionary is being continuously updated. However this is the copy that supported me through German Class and I still use it today when navigating German language books

This is about the only reference you need to learn German. The International Phonetic Alphabet, now used in most Oxford dictionaries, helps pronunciation a lot. The grammatical sketch at the back of the book saves you buying a 'Teach Yourself German Grammar' book. The new typeface and layout is very clear. The entries give precise definitions and include many examples in sentences, so that you get a feeling for the word's function. Note though that it is big and heavy, which looks good on a bookshelf but is not very portable.

Ms. Wagstaff's book, Phonics That Work, takes an enlightening approach to teaching reading. Her ideas for making a classroom actively engaged in the literature they read and write are fabulous and realistic. She takes a researched-based look at how students learn to read and applies functional and creative ideas for making them work. I recommend this book to any one who wants to give their students the best opportunity for reading success.

Ms. Wagstaff's book, Phonics That Work, takes an enlightening approach to teaching reading. Her ideas for making a classroom actively engaged in the literature they read and write are fabulous and realistic. She takes a researched-based look at how students learn to read and applies functional and creative ideas for making them work. I recommend this book to any one who wants to give their students the best opportunity for reading success.

Ms. Wagstaff's book, Phonics That Work, takes an enlightening approach to teaching reading. Her ideas for making a classroom actively engaged in the literature they read and write are fabulous and realistic. She takes a researched-based look at how students learn to read and applies functional and creative ideas for making them work. I recommend this book to any one who wants to give their students the best opportunity for reading success.

WONDERFUL, PRACTICAL IDEAS FOR INCORPORATING MEANINGFUL, COMMON-SENSE PHONICS INSTRUCTION INTO A PROGRAM BASED ON READING AND WRITING!

If you teach children to read and are looking for ways to construct a meaningful language arts program, you need to read this book. Phonics That Work! is very user-friendly and full of practical ideas. Janiel Wagstaff does a great job! I truly enjoyed reading this book. It has changed the way I teach.

The Photo Scribe is a 'how-to-book' for any of us who are crazy about doing more than flip through snapshots. As decades(!) pass, pictures may accumulate while one's filing system deteriorates. We save articles about archival care & materials while trying to hide the fact that our favorite receptacles are shoe boxes.

Then like Superman, Denis Ledoux to the rescue! Your photographs, and snapshots for which "enhancement* is now available, deserve careful formatting with clever elegance. Experienced writer Denis Ledoux will answer your many questions and share his successes.

A reading of Ledoux' book should give you/me/us more than a subtle nudge in the direction of establishing order. Heaven knows the death of parents, aunts, uncles, even siblings give an unmistakable elbow to the ribs - - to reinforce the pleas from grown children who claim their mess of pottage in the form of orderly (chronological, date-marked) photo albums. And what will please your 'heirs' most are the stories you tell about *who?what?when?* the pictures were being taken.

When we finally acknowledge that the problem must be tackled, we opt to give it a Blue Ribbon treatment. And YES, today's county fairs DO award ribbons in a scrapbook category catering to the enthusiasm of those who are 'into' the scrapbooking craze. The cover & even the title page of "Photo Scribe" feature a perfectly replicated handwriting that gives a truly elegant touch because of the unreal evenness of the script. Although not mentioned in the glossary or index, this effect can be achieved by purchasing a FONT of your own writing or printing (or both). The book does include many sources for archival materials, although other proven suppliers (in Rochester & Syracuse NY) are not mentioned.

Reviewer mcHaiku stresses that *THE EMPHASIS IS ON THE WRITING*. It gives your pictures a liveliness, and brings a value & validity to your efforts that cannot otherwise be achieved.

I bought this book after seeing it at a scrapbook convention. I had been wanting to add more journaling to my scrapbooks but was stuck on just what to write and how to write it. The Photo Scribe answered all of my questions. It is a very helpful book. It helps you figure out what information to include and how to structure your journal entries. This book would be helpful for anyone creating a scrapbook or keeping a journal.

What made you take those photographs in the first place? Why do you spend so many hours preserving them? Just what are you trying to express?

At some point, you must have decided who your "audience" would be - guests in your home, for whom you write cute and clever quips as captions to your photos? You could create albums just for entertainment. A dry historical record of the names, dates and events you are preserving? Well at least you are helping the family genealogist at some future date. Or something deeper...perhaps a heritage for your descendants someday, in which you express your personal life's story?

The Photo Scribe will teach you to do just that; to examine and organize your memories, building a file of "lifestory" experiences until you can journal the real stories behind your photographs. It is a process that you can't rush through quickly, which may be offputting at first to some who (like me) are used to speed scrapping or scrapping with the intent to display photos first and journal as an afterthought. You will learn that even those precious pictures are really just secondary players to the memories you are expressing in your journaling. Think of the lifestory you are writing as the cake and the photos as icing - mere illustrations. You could even journal and scrap a few pages of lifestory without photos at all, where necessary.

I will admit to having some problems with these concepts when I started reading The Photo Scribe. The implication that I had breezed through my journaling impatiently and missed the entire point of scrapbooking was a bit depressing. For example, I had never examined my underlying goals for my albums when I started them. If I had, I might have realized that "Jake and Eric, July 2002. My Watermelon Patch Kids!" didn't go far enough in conveying the kind of thoughts and emotions I had while taking that photo of my children among the melon vines. The real memory I wanted to preserve was in how precious and fleeting these early years are and the pure enjoyment of playing in the dirt and sunlight with ladybugs and butterflies alighting on our hair. After my older child had recovered from a serious viral illness just two months earlier, the vignette of them playing together robust and happy that afternoon was what had really inspired me to grab the camera in the first place. If I had planned my page to focus on that, rather than a fun quip, it would have been quite different, not to mention more meaningful to me and to my children.

Take heart, you don't have to redo all your old pages. There are ways to incorporate new journaling into existing areas, as the author explains later on. You can even create alternate albums to amuse and delight the casual onlooker and reserve the lifestory albums for your intimate circle of family and friends. The most important thing is that you are creating albums that satisfy not only your need to show off pictures, but the deeper need to share your thoughts and memories.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle.

I've looked at several books written to help the scrapbooker improve the journaling in photo albums, but this is by far the best. Mr. LeDoux covers the basics of journaling styles, but goes well beyond these to inspire readers to really give some meaningful thought to what they want others to know about the experiences displayed in the scrapbook. He provides food for thought, as in his caution that "cliches will never tell you or your children's children the story behind the photograph." It is easy to caption a picture with such phrases as "oh, where's the sunblock." Go beyond these lines, and really tell about the events, feelings or outcomes of that trip to the beach. Mr. LeDoux's book will help you move toward truly thoughtful and reflective photo-journaling.

I have also read numerous books and articles on how to improve your writing skills and telling your life's story. This one is simply the best. It takes you through exercises that are simple, yet effective. I read the book once, and without consciously trying, my writing effectively quadrupled. A few more reads, and I now routinely write 4-5 pages to describe a day's event. Not only that, but the writing style is much tighter, and I have learned not to focus on the obvious, but to focus on the thoughts and feelings of the participants as well.

Incidentally, I have also read Joanna Campbell Slan's book. It is different in focus, but if you must choose one, this is definitely the one. Everything else I've read is covered in this book, usually more thoroughly.

Note to scrapbookers: this book is definitely useful to scrappers. However, it is *not* a layout book. This is a book about how to write, not how to compose your writing into your scrapbooks. Don't let that turn you off, however.

This is easily one of the best purchases I've made.

This was a cute book. I use it as a first grader teacher in my math unit.

Pig, Pigger, Piggest should not be overlooked! This is a great example of why authors change a memorable story like the three little pigs into something imaginative and innovative. Pig, Pigger, Piggest also bridges the gap in reading from read to me, to let me try to read. My 5 year old loves pigs and requested this book on the name alone. Pig, Pigger, Piggest is cute, funny and a great wierd read. My son still reads this one. Its illustrations are hysterical. The plot is wierd but semi predictable. And yet, it's not the same old story. Pig is the smallest, Pigger is larger, and Piggest is the largest pig. They are a bit uppity and meet three witches: Witch, Witcher and Witchest. The story rolls from there but it's cute and worth a read. I love it, my son loves it and he can read it himself so I guess that's more of a review in itself. He likes the book. I think it's cute and it's worth a read!

I have a growing collection of works that are variations of classic folk and fairytales. This is one of the cleverest reworkings of the 3 Little Pigs I've seen. In the literacy program I am working on in Chicago Public Schools, we are using this book in several intermediate grade classrooms as an engaging way to teaching a point of grammar (comparative and superlative forms) and as one of a series of 3 Little Pig stories we are comparing--the end goal is to turn the kids into authors of their own "fractured fairy tale."

In a loose retelling of the story of the Three Little Pigs, author Rick Walton provides a romp through the world of superlatives. Join Pig, Pigger, and Piggest as they build their homes from the mud, muddier, and muddiest places. Of course there are the mean witch, witcher, and witchest, who seek to bring trouble into the lives of the pigs, but in a surprise ending everything turns out for the best for everyone. A fun book that is sure to keep children entertained Pig Pigger Piggest gets a high, higher, highest recommendation.

As a first grader teacher, this is the BEST book to really drive home the comparison of big, bigger, and biggest (and similar ideas). The students really enjoyed predicting what the next -er and -est would be once they heard "cheap sheep", "tall wall", "squeak", "cat", "witch", "huff and puff", etc. The story line was even OK for a children's book, but it's definitely worth it just for learning the skill of adding -er and -est to words!!