Michael Dahl - Commas Say Take a Break

written by MICHAEL DAHL illustrated by CHRIS GARBUTT Hello, dear reader. Call me Comma. Here are more commas. Commas like each other. We often work as a team. Commas like to take a break. Commas like to take a break.

Com mas also tell rea ders when to ta ke a break. LETS GO ON V ACATION! Yeah! Yeah!

When we read sentences , commas tell you , me , them , and everyone when to take a break. See the comma right here? Take a short break. Here is another comma. Take a breath here. Commas help introduce sentences. Commas help introduce sentences.

In the whale was singing. La, la, la, la, la!

The comma from the rest of the sentence. The comma lets us take a breath! Commas can break up words in a . The giant graceful gray whale was singing in the salty swirling sea. Thirteen words and no commas? That sentence needs commas! Seaweedy? Its very long, but you dont have to worry. T h e g i a n t , gr aceful , gray w ha le w as sin g in g i n t h e sa lty , sea weed y , sw ir l i ng sea.

The commas help you swim along smoothly. La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!

Commas can take two sentences... The happy whale swam through the sea. La, la, la, sea- we ee edy! The jellyfish floated and twirled nearby. ... and join them together into one long sentence.

Look at the two sentences joined together!

T he h a p p y whale sw a m t hr o ug h t h e s e a , an d t he je l l y f is h f lo ated a n d t w i r l e d ne a r b y. La, la, la! Hello, jellyfish! Commas also help us write a letter. Were going to miss the whale. He was our friend. Blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub? That means, Why dont you write him a letter? Dear Whale , We hope you have fun on your trip. Come back soon! We miss you.

Your friends , The Gulls and the Jellys A comma follows a letters ... ... and its CLOSING.

Make sure Whale knows WHEN we sent the letter. June 1 , 2019 Dear Whale , We hope you have fun on your trip. Come back soon! We miss you.

Your friends , The Gulls and the Jellys Commas help us when we write out the DATE.

That letter is going air mail. Dont drop it. Thanks for your help, guys! Why cant that plane deliver this letter? Commas tell us where to take a break when writing out a city and state, or a city and country. Im flying to Walla Walla, Washington. Im heading to Paris, France.

Im on my way to Reykjavik, Iceland. How far away is Iceland? Hmmm, it says here: 3,450 miles. Thats a big number!

Commas are very helpful at breaking up long numbers. One comma in a number means a thousand! Two commas in a number mean its a million. What about THAT number? Count the commas. Lets all take a break. Lets all take a break.

We did a lot of hard work. Come on, come on, commas. Take a break, and then youll feel ready for more sentences. Commas ALW AYS say, Take a break.

Well, thats just comma-sense!