Can you name your favorite grammar reference book, and also one for lit terms, etc.?

[HappyGrace]

I'm thinking of putting together something for dd8 similar to Bravewriter Arrow (link to sample: http://www.bravewriter.com/languagearts/arrow_Charlotte%27sWebSample.pdf) where they take a passage from a book and do a kind of studied dictation on it, looking at and talking about the spellings, something interesting about the grammar and/or punctuation, vocabulary, and also a bit of literary terminology, such as onomatopoeia or alliteration.

I looked at Spelling Wisdom, Simply Spelling and some others, but I like Arrow the best since it combines a bit of everything. I just think it's kind of expensive for what you get, and I know I can do it myself with books we're reading if I can just get some good reference books to guide me as to what to include. I'd like things that have lists of things like alliteration, and what it is, and some examples. Also things like figurative vs. literal language, fact vs. opinion, anything like that, just to give me some ideas as to what to include. And a good grammar reference manual too, that will prompt me with topics to talk about like what attributions are (he said, she exclaimed, etc.), infinitive verbs, etc.

I'm kind of sick of having spelling, dictation, grammar, etc., all separate, and I think this will be a nice way to streamline. Thanks so much!

[Jana]

My current favorite is Woe Is I (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Woe+Is+I&x=0&y=0) by Patricia T. O'Conner.

ETA: I read your post more closely and Woe Is I doesn't have any spelling resources--only grammar.

[one l michele]

It's available online here:
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/cnt_punc.asp
but I wanted a hard copy.

It's very clear and non cluttered, but only covers grammar.

[HappyGrace]

Thanks for the great grammar guide suggestions!