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200 Tricky Spellings in Cartoons: Visual Mnemonics for Everyone
“At last... a simple and engaging breakthrough to help those who find writing a barrier to personal expression. Many children and adults, including those who are dyslexic, use simple words as far as possible due to the fear of attempting the longer, more complex ones. Visual and amusing, this book will help many people dare to express themselves - and give them a further strategy to help them achieve.” – Dr Lindsay Peer CBE Educational Psychologist, international speaker and author. Why is this book different? It’s fun. Most books about spelling have an uncanny way of making readers switch off after the first couple of pages. This book will make you smile, and laugh out loud in places. It brings situational humour to learning. It’s easy. You’ll learn to spell 200 tricky words in a fun, intelligent and virtually effortless way. You are not being offered a structured spelling programme but a reference manual; you can dip in and out of any place in the book as often as you like. It’s practical. The black-and-white cartoon format lets you photocopy pages and use highlighters and colouring pens to create your own spelling artwork that you can enjoy while enhancing your learning. By using your hands and brain, you become an active speller. What’s in the book? Each tricky to spell word is a cartoon that helps you connect the word’s meaning and graphical features with its spelling pattern. The spelling hints are visual mnemonics, i.e. memory triggers that help us remember things we easily forget, for example tricky spellings. We can readily recall mnemonics because of their funny and unusual associations with things that are part of our daily lives. Best of all, mnemonics require almost no effort to learn. The book is structured Who is this book for? This book is for anyone who wants to improve their spelling skills. It was written with older children and adults in mind; adult guidance is recommended for younger children. The spelling method is very popular with visual learners and those with dyslexia – the two groups that are not always compatible with traditional spelling instruction at school. Lidia Stanton has been successfully using it with her own students for well over a decade. Visual mnemonics have been found to particularly benefit those Click on “Look inside” and find out much more!
222 pages, Paperback
Published June 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 12, 2021
A little background please. I have spent a decade of my life as a freelance English trainer for adult learners, and one of the most troublesome parts for students to learn in this language after grammar is spellings. I made up my own mnemonics for words such as discrete, complement, separate, etc. to help them remember the right spellings and this concept never failed. So I believe in the power of mnemonics in making confusing spellings easier to remember.
That said, a mnemonic has to be sensibly made. A forced connection between a word and its clue hardly ever works. So a clue that connects “deSSert” with “sweet stuff” is brilliant and will function effectively. But a clue that connects a “bra” on the road with a driver stepping on the “BRAke” suddenly is just silly. Both are examples from this book.
The entire book, thus, has a medley of brilliant (complement, insure, piece, there, bargain, broccoli, and a few more) and silly (flour, pronunciation, quite, steal, awkward, and many, many more!) mnemonics. Unfortunately, the misses outnumbered the hits for me.
The title of the book indicates clearly that it teaches readers how to handle tricky spellings. However, most of the illustrations/examples don’t even tackle the tricky part. Instead, they create a mnemonic for another part of the word. For instance, in the word “castle”, the confusing part for learners is whether the word should be spelt “castle” or “castel”. However, the mnemonic explains the “cast” part of the spelling rather than tackling the tle/tel dilemma. This same error occurs multiple times over the course of the book. The purpose of the mnemonic is lost in such cases.
In addition, some of the clues don’t fit the actual meaning of the words such as in “reassure” or “caricature”. Psychiatry vs. psychology are actually common confusables but there’s just a passing reference to them without any mnemonic aid provided. Lastly, it is essential that mnemonics work on the same phonetic sound as the word. Else, they might end up creating pronunciation errors. So a “SCHool” for “SCHedule” mnemonic works fabulously but a “Get it” for “Gist” doesn’t.
I thought I might have been reading it with too rigid a perspective given my background. So I asked my thirteen year old to volunteer her opinion on some of the mnemonics provided. She found even those few pages obscure and weird. I actually had to explain to her how the bra for brake mnemonic worked, and she just stared back at me in disbelief. Mind you, she is a very advanced reader. So this doesn’t bode well for the book.
Overall, this was a book with a fabulous potential idea that lost its way somewhere during implementation. The only reason I didn’t DNF this book was because it is a very quick read in spite of its 272 pages. Otherwise, I doubt I would have trudged through it. I’m sorry but this book just didn’t work for me.
I received an advance review copy of the book from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
*************************************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
That said, a mnemonic has to be sensibly made. A forced connection between a word and its clue hardly ever works. So a clue that connects “deSSert” with “sweet stuff” is brilliant and will function effectively. But a clue that connects a “bra” on the road with a driver stepping on the “BRAke” suddenly is just silly. Both are examples from this book.
The entire book, thus, has a medley of brilliant (complement, insure, piece, there, bargain, broccoli, and a few more) and silly (flour, pronunciation, quite, steal, awkward, and many, many more!) mnemonics. Unfortunately, the misses outnumbered the hits for me.
The title of the book indicates clearly that it teaches readers how to handle tricky spellings. However, most of the illustrations/examples don’t even tackle the tricky part. Instead, they create a mnemonic for another part of the word. For instance, in the word “castle”, the confusing part for learners is whether the word should be spelt “castle” or “castel”. However, the mnemonic explains the “cast” part of the spelling rather than tackling the tle/tel dilemma. This same error occurs multiple times over the course of the book. The purpose of the mnemonic is lost in such cases.
In addition, some of the clues don’t fit the actual meaning of the words such as in “reassure” or “caricature”. Psychiatry vs. psychology are actually common confusables but there’s just a passing reference to them without any mnemonic aid provided. Lastly, it is essential that mnemonics work on the same phonetic sound as the word. Else, they might end up creating pronunciation errors. So a “SCHool” for “SCHedule” mnemonic works fabulously but a “Get it” for “Gist” doesn’t.
I thought I might have been reading it with too rigid a perspective given my background. So I asked my thirteen year old to volunteer her opinion on some of the mnemonics provided. She found even those few pages obscure and weird. I actually had to explain to her how the bra for brake mnemonic worked, and she just stared back at me in disbelief. Mind you, she is a very advanced reader. So this doesn’t bode well for the book.
Overall, this was a book with a fabulous potential idea that lost its way somewhere during implementation. The only reason I didn’t DNF this book was because it is a very quick read in spite of its 272 pages. Otherwise, I doubt I would have trudged through it. I’m sorry but this book just didn’t work for me.
I received an advance review copy of the book from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
*************************************
Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
January 14, 2021
Some of these cartoons and memory tricks will be helpful for kids (or adults) but many of them are just weird and will not stick for most people. A lot of them involve telling a story and then you remember the story to remember how to spell the word (like a boy has to brake his car because there's a bra in the road, so remember bra is in brake). They're such stretches and not normal things you'd associate with each other that I can't see you really remembering them. There were a few that were clever, but the book became overly long pretty quickly and not that much fun to read. I'm not sure how many kids would really read through this book and also commit the mnemonics to memory, but there are some fun gems in it.
I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.
I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.
March 11, 2021
Thank you to NetGalley for an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is a clever book! I think a lot of kids and adults could really gain a lot from this book. I appreciated the way that this book was divided into distinct sections: confusing pairs of words, tricky everyday words, and academic and formal words. The final section was most helpful to me, especially the mnemonic for spelling separate. This is a word that I have always struggled to remember the spelling, and I am grateful for this new tool to remember! The layout is very user friendly, particularly with the addition of the index at the back for looking up specific words in a pinch. It is notable that some of the mnemonics are a bit of a stretch, but the inclusion of both pictures and a verbal description of the mnemonic is helpful for processing on multiple levels and increases the likelihood of remembering. There are also a few words that could have easily been added to the confusing pairs of words, like edition v. addition, and I noticed that only 'two' and 'too' were included, excluding the 'to'. Overall, this is a very potentially helpful book, and the younger you are when you read it, the more helpful and long-lasting the effect will be!
February 23, 2021
200 Tricky Spellings in Cartoons
Visual Mnemonics for Everyone - US edition
by Lidia Stanton
Back of the Book: “The new revised edition of Lidia Stanton's bestselling book of cartoons demystifying over 200 of the most difficult spellings, fully adapted for a US readership. The book is structured around confusing pairs of words, such as homophones or words that 'go together', tricky everyday words and tricky academic words, with memorable illustrations on every page to help you connect the word's meaning and graphical features with its spelling pattern.
This is not a traditional spelling book, but a resource that will really get you thinking, and laughing out loud. This guide encourages active learning and recollection, breaking away from repetitive methods such as 'look, cover, write, check', enabling you to effortlessly recall and identify once-confusing spelling patterns.”
Impressions: I did not read this book from cover to cover however used this book as the author suggests as a reference guide. This being said it was not a great reference as an ebook due to being unable to flip back and forth for reference. I think the beginning could have better explained the differences between homophones, homonyms, and homographs. It would have also been helpful to have definitions with the words as well as the cartoon to help understand better what each word means. This was a cute book but there was room for improvement.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review shared here.
Visual Mnemonics for Everyone - US edition
by Lidia Stanton
Back of the Book: “The new revised edition of Lidia Stanton's bestselling book of cartoons demystifying over 200 of the most difficult spellings, fully adapted for a US readership. The book is structured around confusing pairs of words, such as homophones or words that 'go together', tricky everyday words and tricky academic words, with memorable illustrations on every page to help you connect the word's meaning and graphical features with its spelling pattern.
This is not a traditional spelling book, but a resource that will really get you thinking, and laughing out loud. This guide encourages active learning and recollection, breaking away from repetitive methods such as 'look, cover, write, check', enabling you to effortlessly recall and identify once-confusing spelling patterns.”
Impressions: I did not read this book from cover to cover however used this book as the author suggests as a reference guide. This being said it was not a great reference as an ebook due to being unable to flip back and forth for reference. I think the beginning could have better explained the differences between homophones, homonyms, and homographs. It would have also been helpful to have definitions with the words as well as the cartoon to help understand better what each word means. This was a cute book but there was room for improvement.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review shared here.
February 12, 2021
I know this book is probably aimed mainly at younger children, but as a secondary school teacher I can tell you that many of my students have issues with spelling certain words - and not just the students who are lower ability, either! And honestly I know some adults who could do with the reminders, too.
This book is full of words that are tricky to spell, with each word having a page with a cartoon and a sentence or two telling a story to help remember the spelling. There are also several pages featuring words that are similar (eg. affect and effect) with ways to remember which is which.
If it wasn't for the fact that it's based on US english and I'm in the UK, I'd be recommending this to loads of students. And honestly, given how few words there are in here that are different, I'm still tempted.
This book is full of words that are tricky to spell, with each word having a page with a cartoon and a sentence or two telling a story to help remember the spelling. There are also several pages featuring words that are similar (eg. affect and effect) with ways to remember which is which.
If it wasn't for the fact that it's based on US english and I'm in the UK, I'd be recommending this to loads of students. And honestly, given how few words there are in here that are different, I'm still tempted.
February 1, 2021
Thank you #NetGalley and Lidia Stanton for this fun read of the visual mnemonics for everyone. My brother is a teacher and my grandma was a resource teacher so I had opportunity to show them bits of this book and they agreed this would / will be very helpful for all elementary- middle school children.
Mnemonics weren't something I was readily taught in school, and this book would have been super helpful to have when I was younger. I'm keeping this book ear-marked for the current and future kids in my life! :)
Mnemonics weren't something I was readily taught in school, and this book would have been super helpful to have when I was younger. I'm keeping this book ear-marked for the current and future kids in my life! :)
January 19, 2021
I would recommend this book to 4th - 8th grade teachers who teach the art of writing. There are some really great illustrations and ideas on how and when to use some tricky words (for example, accept and except). This book could come in handy in those teachable moments that just pop up during lessons.
June 3, 2021
This is a cute book of cartoons that uses Mnemonics for help in spelling and the correct usage of words that are easily confused like lay and laid, affect and effect, break and brake, etc. Good for young teens and adults. It's a fun read that doesn't insult your intelligence. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.
January 9, 2021
This is a great book for kids and adult. It gives you ideas and mnemonics on how to improve your spelling.. Some work and a few doesn't but. it's a lot of fun and a little silly. The pictures are cute. My kids love it. A great book to read.
March 22, 2021
This is a handy little book for complicated spellings for children
The author suggests using this book as a guide to dip in and out of when needed and I agree, although you could probably read this with a child a bit at a time if you wanted to do it cover to cover
There are fun illustrations throughout and the illustrator has left a lot of the images as line art so children can colour them in, which I think is a fabulous idea
Overall, a great guide for children
The author suggests using this book as a guide to dip in and out of when needed and I agree, although you could probably read this with a child a bit at a time if you wanted to do it cover to cover
There are fun illustrations throughout and the illustrator has left a lot of the images as line art so children can colour them in, which I think is a fabulous idea
Overall, a great guide for children
April 16, 2021
200 Tricky Spellings in Cartoons: Visual Mnemonics for Everyone by Lidia Stanton is an excellent book that I would highly recommend for everyone - children to adults! #200TrickySpellingsinCartoons #NetGalley
February 3, 2019
So many great ideas in here for my year 2s. The contractions with the paper lips are brilliant. A great way to bring full spelling rules to life and make the lessons multi-sensory.
May 23, 2022
This is a really cool book! There's a section on confusing words - like words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings like college vs collage. She gives you tricks to remember how to use each and which spelling to you like college is a place of eeducation and collage is art. Tons of examples of these types of words with drawings. There are also tricky everyday words like bargain. A good bargain is always a gain. Lots of good tricks for remembering how to spell correctly. There's also a section on academic and more formal words like amiable- am I able to help you? It seems like this would be a great help to those who aren't good at spelling or who don't have English as a first language.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
March 22, 2021
⏩ Do you or someone you know gets confused between the usage of 'there' and 'their'?
⏩ Do you know the meaning of certain words but don't know their usage in English language?
⏩ Do you want to improve you vocabulary?
.
If your answer is YES for all three questions above, THIS IS THE BOOK YOU NEED TO READ.
.
The book consists of not just 200 words along with their meanings but also pictorial representation and their usage along with examples.
.
The book is written in a very interesting way and encompasses most of the common mistakes one makes when using English language. The book can be used by adults as well can be a great resource to teach new words to kids.
.
The pictures and examples of how to use a particular word makes it very interesting and easy to understand.
.
Highly recommended !!
⏩ Do you know the meaning of certain words but don't know their usage in English language?
⏩ Do you want to improve you vocabulary?
.
If your answer is YES for all three questions above, THIS IS THE BOOK YOU NEED TO READ.
.
The book consists of not just 200 words along with their meanings but also pictorial representation and their usage along with examples.
.
The book is written in a very interesting way and encompasses most of the common mistakes one makes when using English language. The book can be used by adults as well can be a great resource to teach new words to kids.
.
The pictures and examples of how to use a particular word makes it very interesting and easy to understand.
.
Highly recommended !!
March 10, 2021
This is a great book for elementary students! It has many words that are tricky for students, such as than and then. Many of the words are homophones, which have the same pronunciation but different meanings, origins, or spelling, such as bare and bear. They break down the words in a fun and creative way. I highly recommend this book for every teacher and every family.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews