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Review:

Most people who enjoy reading do so because of their love for stories, real or imagined.  It is indeed rare to find a person who loves reading who also delights in breaking sentences down into their grammatical parts.  Fortunately for young knights and princesses, author Diane Mae Robinson has addressed the subject of grammar in a way that will help kids (and even adults) enjoy the topic.  Imagine studying syntax in the context of fire-breathing dragons, ogres and the like.  In Robinson’s The Dragon Grammar Book readers are introduced to terminology before diving into meatier topics such as dangling prepositions in this enchanting book which ends with dragon grammar skill tests to help youngsters assess what they’ve learned.  Recommended for home and school libraries, The Dragon Grammar Book has earned the Literary Classics Seal of Approval.
LITERARY CLASSICS Book Awards & Reviews International Book Awards • Top Honors Youth Book Awards • Seal of Approval https://clcreviews.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-dragon-grammar-book-earns-literary.html

The Dragon Grammar Book – Grammar for Kids, Dragons, and the Whole Kingdom wins two top gold awards, Gold medal in Chapter Books/Middles Grades and Lumen Award for Literary Excellence: http://www.clcawards.org/2018_Award_Winning_Books.html

Literary Classics Top Honors Gold Book Awards honoring excellence in literature for children and young adults
Literary Classics Lumen Book Awards honoring excellence in literature for children and young adults

Kindle, Paperback, and Hardcover: https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Grammar-Book-Dragons-Kingdom-ebook/dp/B078G1VKP2

Book Synopsis:

2018 Four-Time Gold Medal Winning Book in Children’s Education.
Finally! An easy-to-understand English grammar book with fun grammar lessons for middle grades and up. An excellent education reference for classroom and homeschool grammar lessons.

The Dragon Grammar Book is the perfect grammar study guide to help readers learn the rules of grammar and improve language art skills with ease and enjoyment.  From multi-award-winning children’s fantasy author, Diane Mae Robinson, The Dragon Grammar Book provides a fun and engaging approach to learning English grammar through easy-to-follow lessons, humorous example sentences, and chapter quizzes to conquer all those tricky grammar rules.

  • Easy-To-Understand Lessons organized to gradually build on the basic grammar rules toward an intermediate level.
  • Engaging Examples Sentences explain each grammar rule through a humorous and creative writing style.
  • An Expansive Resource of grammar terminology, confusing words, punctuation rules, types of sentences and proper structure, parts of speech, verb agreement, and more.
  • Quizzes with Answer Keys reinforce each lesson before proceeding to the next lesson.

 Featuring the zany fantasy characters in the author’s international-award-winning The Pen Pieyu Adventures series, The Dragon Grammar Book is sure to be enjoyed by kids, teens, young adults, and the whole kingdom.

“Oriented toward pragmatic, real-world usage, The Dragon Grammar Book is a great resource for kids, their teachers, and anyone else who’d like to know more about language and how to use it. Most highly recommended.”–Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite.
2018 Book Excellence Awards, 1st Place Winner, Education & Academics. 2018 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards, Gold Winner, Children-Education. 2018 Literary Classics International Book Awards, Gold Winner, Educational Books. 2018 Lumen Award for Literary Excellence.

Read Reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Grammar-Book-Dragons-Kingdom-ebook/dp/B078G1VKP

View other award-winning dragon books for kids by author Diane Mae Robinson: https:www.dragonsbook.com

Easy Grammar Lesson

“Are” and “Is” in Verb Agreement

Copyright 2013

The Dragon Grammar Book –

Grammar for Kids, Dragon,

and the Whole Kingdom

Published by Diane Mae Robinson Ink Dec. 10, 2017

“Are” and “Is” in Verb Agreement, Chapter 2

Are you sure this is right? Are and is can get confusing when we’re not sure if the thing we’re talking about is a single thing or more than one thing.

When using a singular noun or subject, the verb needs to be singular. When using a plural noun or subject, the verb needs to be plural.

     Look at the noun or subject of the sentence as a whole to decide if it’s singular or plural. Single noun – is. Plural noun – are.

In the following example sentences, the noun or subject of the sentence is underlined.

The witch’s pot of onions is simmering over the fire. (Pot is a single thing that happens to be full of onions; “pot of onions” is a single subject and requires the single verb is.)

Petra’s favorite type of book is adventures. (The single noun phrase “type of book” requires the single verb is.)

Fantasies are my favorite type of book. (The plural noun Fantasies requires the plural verb are.)

The Lord of the Kingdoms is getting frustrated with all his subjects who are asking silly questions about the mess. (“Lord of the Kingdoms” is one person and requires the single verb is.)

Review: when a subject is made up of two elements joined by “or” or “nor,” the verb is singular if both elements are singular. If one of the elements is plural, the verb becomes plural.

Either the dragons or the donkey are responsible for the smelly mess. (The subject “dragons or the donkey” uses the plural verb are after the single noun donkey because the plural dragons is one part of the two elements.

Neither the king nor the prince is responsible for the smelly mess.

As noted earlier, there is a rule that many writers follow called the proximity rule. The proximity rules states that the noun nearest the verb governs it. In my studies of grammar, I believe the proximity rule to be less common, but both rules are correct. It is more important to be consistent with using either rule.

     The subject in a sentence will come before a phrase beginning with of.

A coat of many colors is a nice thing to wear. (Coat comes before of and is a single subject requiring the single verb is.)

     Usually, a plural verb is used with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.

A dragon and a crocodile are my only pets.

But not if the and is part of a single subject phrase.

Playing Dungeons and Dragons is fun.

     If the subject is separated from the verb by such phrases as “as well as” or “along with,” these words and phrases are not part of the subject. Use a singular verb when the subject is singular and a plural verb when the subject is plural.

Singing, as well as dancing, is the terrifying part of the knight exam.

The magicians, along with the councilman, are writing new rules.

     When sentences begin with here or there, the subject follows the verb.

There is one waltz the knights have to perform.

Here are your dancing shoes.

Subject-verb agreement comes down to figuring out if the subject is plural or singular.

The rules of the kingdom are listed in the royal rule book. (Plural subject requires are.)

Economics is a silly subject. (Tricky, but here Economics is a single subject even though it looks like a plural word. It requires is.)

The economics of the kingdom are silly. (Plural subject requires are.)

     The same rules apply to does and do (does being singular and do being plural).

What do the dragon and I have in common? (Plural subject “dragon and I” requires do.)

Queen Mabel is the only one of the royals who does follow the rules. (Single subject requires does.)

     Use does for the pronouns, he, she, and it. Use do for the other subject pronouns I, you, we, and they.

I do my singing in the morning. He does his singing at night.

The rules for are, is, do, and does are the same as for all verbs to be in agreement with their subject. Remember that the verb is not always pertaining to the noun it is beside but pertaining to the subject of the sentence.

Available at:

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For more information about the author’s multi-award winning dragon books for children: https://www.dragonsbook.com  

The Dragon Grammar Book–Coming Soon

The Dragon Grammar Book –  Grammar for Kids, Dragons, and the Whole Kingdom

Finally! An easy-to-understand grammar book with a sense of humor. From multi-award winning children’s fantasy author, Diane Mae Robinson, The Dragon Grammar Book, featuring the characters of The Pen Pieyu Adventures series, introduces beginners to the basic rules of the English language.  For middle grades to adults, The Dragon Grammar Book is an entertaining adventure into the mysterious Land of Grammar.  Releasing late 2016

Endorsements

When Sir Princess Petra clobbers Snarls with a book, she uses the only book that can help her fire-breathing dragon-steed: The Dragon Grammar Book. This amazing book uses kid-friendly sentences, humorous illustrations, and easy-to understand examples. The Dragon Grammar Book is a fun tool that will help your middle-grade dragons better understand the basic rules of writing—and reading.  —Sue Morris, Kid Lit Reviews

In her latest offering, Diane M. Robinson takes on a challenge greater than any of the obstacles which Sir Princess Petra has yet faced: how to make the arcane rules of English grammar interesting and accessible to a wider audience. While many kids and adults would rather face a fully-grown ogre than the laws of punctuation, The Dragon Grammar Book provides a clear and comprehensive look at our language for princesses and dragons alike. With clear examples and fun activities, this book is a must-have for readers and aspiring writers. —Peter Takach, High School English Teacher and Grammarian

The Dragon Grammar Book takes some of the basic rules of writing and makes them more approachable with a dash of creative fun courtesy of The Pen Pieyu all-stars. So whether you’re a sword wielding princess, an onion loving dragon, or an everyday Jane/Joe, you’ll walk away with a clearer understanding of the English language and be ready to tackle sentence structure and word usage with the best of them.  —Gina Reba, Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Unbeatable winning combination . . . Sir Princess Petra faces her fears of the menacing fire-breathing dragon and conquers the pitfalls of grammar! Clever, painless, and fun way to learn, implement and test yourself in the English language. —Barbara Ann Mojica, Author of the Little Miss HISTORY children’s nonfiction book series, http://LittleMissHISTORY.com

Excerpt

Subject/Object of a sentence

Subject is the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something. To find the subject of a sentence, ask “who” or “what” the verb is talking about.                                                   The dragon studies grammar.

“The dragon” is the subject, grammar is the object, and studies is the verb.

Sometimes, a subject can be more than one word and even be an entire clause.                               The rules about onion fighting could fill pages in the royal rule book.

To find the subject in the above sentence, ask “what” could fill pages in the royal rule book. The subject is therefore “The rules about onion fighting.”

The subject of a verb is not part of a prepositional phrase (phrases that start with words such as at, in, on, among, along, within).                                                                                            Prince Mesoggie, along with his puny army, have hung their wet clothes on the drawbridge.

In this sentence, both Prince Mesoggie and his puny army have hung out their clothes, but because “along with his puny army” is a prepositional phrase, the subject is “Prince Mesoggie.”

Usually, but not always, the subject comes before the verb in a sentence.                                         Within the castle moat are several snapping crocodiles.

In this sentence, are is the linking verb following moat but moat is not the subject because “Within the castle moat” is a prepositional phrase. The subject crocodiles follows the verb.

Object is the person or thing that is affected by the action of the verb. There are three different kinds of objects.

       Direct object is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that receives the action of the verb in a clause or sentence.                                                                                                               The dragon studies grammar.

Grammar is the noun and direct object that follows the verb studies and completes the sentence of what the subject “the dragon” is doing.

     Indirect object is a noun or pronoun that indicates to whom or for whom the action of a verb in a sentence is performed. When a verb is followed by two objects, the indirect object usually comes right after the verb and always before the direct object.                      The dragon gave her a book.

Her is the indirect object. The pronoun her comes after the verb gave and before the noun and direct object book and completes the sentence of what the subject “the dragon” did.

     Object of a preposition is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that follows a preposition and completes the meaning of the sentence.                                                                 The princess clobbered him with the book.

Book is the noun and the object of the preposition with and completes the sentence of what the subject “the princess” did.                                                                                                    The dragon now reads in a cave.

Cave is the noun and the object of the preposition in and completes the sentence of what the subject “the dragon” does now.

*****The Dragon Grammar Book will be another release in the collection of dragon books for children by author Diane Mae Robinson.

copyright Diane Mae Robinson 2016