Vocabulary Cartoons - A Review

Product: Vocabulary Cartoons

Price: $12.95

Owner: New Monic Books, Inc.

Age Range: 3rd-6th Grade


Other Products:
SAT Word Power I & II
Picture Speller for Young Writers
Unofficial SAT Word Dictionary
Coffin's Patch
Teacher's Resources

Brief Overview:
"Vocabulary Cartoons are mnemonics designed for learning new words. Memory experts say that memory aids are the best way to remember just about anything" - from the back cover

In-Depth Look:

I am a big fan of mnemonics. Mnemonics assist the memory. They have helped me remember things since my school years. I know that in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. I can recite the planets in order, because 'my very educated mother just showed us nine planets'. Now, my children know that Roy G. Biv is more about the colors of the rainbow than about a man's name.

As soon as I opened up the book, Vocabulary Cartoons, I knew that I would like it. It is adorable and educational. Easy to read. Easy to use.

Here is an idea of the format on each page. (from page 139)

DELECTABLE

(dee LEK tuh bul) adj.

pleasant, delightful, savory, delicious

Sounds like: LICK THE BOWL

(Here you would find a cute cartoon picture of a family sitting at a table, licking their bowls clean.)

"Granny's pudding was so DELECTABLE, the family LICKED THE BOWL."

The guests said the dinner was DELECTABLE.

All the frozen dinners look DELECTABLE in the grocery store, but sometimes the food is not as good as it looks.

There is nothing that smells more DELECTABLE than bacon frying on an open campfire.


The setup is nice and sharp. The pictures are cute and help the definitions sink in, especially for visual learners. I enjoyed flipping through it and reading the funny sentences for each cartoon. I even learned a few new words. Now please, no teasing if you already knew them. But I now know Jocular and Neophyte. A review page is included after every 10 words. Your child can match words to definitions and then fill-in-the-blanks for the missing vocabulary word in each sentence.

My daughters were not as enthusiastic as I was. My oldest said that she would rather just learn the definition, plain and simple. I am surprised at this, because I like it a lot. It is a resource that I plan to keep and use in our homeschool journey.

Depending on your tolerance, there are some cartoons that you may not enjoy as much . . . a vampire, a UFO, a ghost, a monster under the bed, and cavemen are some of them.

Free sample cartoons.
Complete word list. (221 words)

To read other reviews, click here.


Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge, as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew. The above is just my opinion. Please remember that opinions may, and do, vary.