Book Review: Punctuation to the Rescue

Reviewed by Toni Woodruff

A creative adventure about your favorite plucky punctuation marks

Exclamation point is fed up! Period is over it. Comma is, you guessed it, misused and under-appreciated. And how is question mark feeling? Does anyone even care?

After falling out of a book in the lighthouse library, this punctuation team decides that they need a vacation. So exclamation point places his finger on a random spot on the map—and lucky for them, it’s the Island of Fun. 

But unlucky for them, sailing comes with about as many problems as you could imagine for a small group of grammar heroes. On their paper sailboat, the team sets across the sea only to lose one of their own in a giant wave. They even get knocked around by a giant shark. But eventually, the team washes ashore. 

They’re glad to be here, but when they meet Pilcrow, an outdated punctuation mark from the time period when we needed to show a paragraph break, they learn that they’ve arrived at the Island of Chaos, a place where animal-like creatures are spouting sentences and questions without any punctuation. It’s chaotic to say the least.

They might be on vacation, but it’s time to get to work.

Punctuation to the Rescue is a wonderfully cute educational story with sparkling illustrations. Illustrator Sara Not really brings these characters to life with visible personalities, but it’s author Cheryl Olsten who capitalizes on the little things, like the way the punctuation marks always use their own punctuation in their dialogue. When Exclamation Point talks, he shouts! When Comma says something, he takes an extra pause. This small detail is among my favorites of the execution of this story.

The sailing adventure is also a blast. With the help of Sara Not’s colorful illustrations, the waves on the sea provide an eye-full of entertaining things to look at. The waves are ginormous and swirling. Even when they get to the Island of Chaos, the characters are drawn with such personality that you can’t help but love their plucky selves.

The story has a strong educational base where kids can definitely gain knowledge about the proper use of punctuation. I’m glad the punctuation marks get to put their powers to use and that the characters are rewarded with love and appreciation—it fits since the punctuation marks feel under-appreciated at the beginning of the story—but the message sometimes gets lost in the events that happen, like when Period spills overboard, when the shark attacks, and when the animals on the Island of Chaos ask for ice cream with sprinkles. 

Kids who are just starting to learn about punctuation marks will get the most out of this educational story. They’ll learn first-hand how important it is to un-jumble a series of words and use proper punctuation, and they’ll do it with some fun characters and lively illustrations by their side.

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