Rex Barks is a masterful presentation of grammar. It is a well-structured, incremental course in diagramming with clear explanations and memorable illustrations of each new principle. One of the best features of Rex Barks is the ever-present personality of the author. Mrs. Davenport reminds the reader of that teacher we all once knew: the strict, demanding teacher who made her students think and work hard, who knew her subject and required that her students learn it, who never accepted excuses­ and who was loved best by everyone in the school. The book is filled with her firm admonitions for students to stay in focus. (In response to the question of how one can ever learn the difficult task of distinguishing among the various types of verbs, she says, \"By THINKING.\") It contains many clever devices to help students with tricky concepts (e.g., prepositions are to be remembered as \"anything a squirrel can do to a tree.\") And it is pervaded by her sense of humor and enthusiasm for her subject