The Girl’s Like Spaghetti                   

Why You Can’t Manage Without Apostrophes!

By Lynne Truss

Illustrated by Bonnie Timmons

Another ‘must-have’ grammar / conventions mentor text for your classroom!!!  This would be a great mentor for elementary grades 2 and up and middle schoolers.

In this book, author Lynne Truss focuses on The Apostrophe, its strength as a convention, how it changes the meaning of a sentence when you use it correctly AND incorrectly and how everyone must have a clear understanding how to use it.

In the book introduction, Truss states that the apostrophe “is the most helpful of all the punctuation marks.”   She discusses its use in helping all contractions and its use to show possession. (Unless the writer is showing possession for the world ‘it’).

Truss manages what could be a dry topic, in a fun, easy-flowing style of writing—choosing humorous sentences that are illustrated in equally playful and comical ways by Bonnie Timmons.

Following the same writing pattern as she did in the comparatively whimsical book about grammar : Eats, Shoots & Leaves—Why,Commas Really DO Make a Difference!, Truss places the same sentence on both sides of the open page. On one page, she uses an apostrophe in one place in the sentence, on the other page with the same exact sentence, she places the apostrophe in a different position—or doesn’t use one at all.  

Here are some examples from the book:

*The dogs like my dad.   The dog’s like my dad.

*Those smelly things are my brother’s.  Those smelly things are my brothers.

This book will draw the students in with the hilarious sentences and pictures.  Capitalize on their  engagement—by coming up with your own class book, class binder, of fun sentences using apostrophes. 

The Girl’s Like Spaghetti is a small book—it would more effective to use under your document camera for your students to get the most out of the book and enjoy it together!

Have fun and get those kids talking about apostrophes!!

Suggested Uses as a Mentor Text:

Book Genre:  Nonfiction / Informational (narrative)

Reading Workshop strategies: Monitoring and Correcting, Maintaining Fluency, Adjusting Fluency, Understanding Conventions, Search for and Use Information

Writing Workshop genre and strategies: Informational Writing, Grammar, Understanding Conventions

Curricular Themes: Grammar

Lynn Trusse’s website: http://www.lynnetruss.com/

Bonnie Timmons’s website: http://www.bonnietimmons.com/content.html?page=1