The A-Z Manuscript Penmanship titledA Trip to the Zoo is a digital download available through CurrClick.com but published by LightHome Publications. This digital download comes with 79 pages, but the last 16 pages are not a part of the workbook. They are ads for other digital downloads and information about the author. Included in the 63 pages of workbook pages are four mazes, three letter practice pages, 26 copywork pages, and 27 coloring pages that correspond with the copywork. The first two pages and the last 16 are in color, but everything in between is black and white. This is a complete penmanship workbook and can be easily printed at home or through your local office supply store. The cost for this digital download is $8.80.

I chose to have this workbook printed and spiral bound through our local office supply store. It was under $3.00 and would have been cheaper had I realized the last 16 pages were just ads. I printed it in black and white, and everything came out clear and easy to read. I also chose to have it printed one-sided so that the coloring pages didn’t bleed through to the other side once colored on. This workbook is intended for grades 1-3 but also great as a handwriting refresher for older grades as well. I printed two of these workbooks: one for my third grader and one for my first grader. It was a great refresher for my older child and terrific practice for my younger child. This workbook is great for homeschoolers and on-the-go learning.

I liked the workbook because the layout is thorough and in order. The coloring pages are clear and easy to color. My children enjoyed it as well, and the copywork pages were easy to read and copy. They enjoyed having something fun to color in between writing. I also like that each copywork page is an educational sentence or paragraph pertaining to the coloring page that follows. The copywork page also has a picture included which gives it a fun visual. The copywork pages didn’t have enough space for how long some of the copywork was, and on a few pages, they ran out of room. This is especially difficult for a child just learning to write since they tend to write a lot bigger and run out of room quicker than an older child who has mastered their penmanship. On the letter practice pages, it would be nice if the letters to be copied were also on lines so that younger students can easily see where they are to write the letters on the lines below. A warning about how many pages of ads at the back of the book would be nice too; 16 extra pages is a lot of wasted paper and ink.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a thorough penmanship practice or review workbook. It is fun and educational. I would buy it if it weren’t already in my possession. There are many other themes available through CurrClick that offer the same style of manuscript workbooks, so when you’ve finished one, you can move on to another.

-Product review by Leslie Talley, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, June 2017