Product Overview
Bringing literature, grammar, and joy together
Jumpstart your writing program with delight! The Dart invites kids ages 8-10 to enjoy literature while learning grammar, spelling, punctuation, and reading comprehension.
Our year-long program is delivered in nine month-long lesson plans, released monthly.
Each handbook features a novel and immerses your child in the world of:
- stories
- literary devices
- grammar
- punctuation
- spelling
- and book club parties
Discover how easy it is to teach writing using literature!
Our program uses the time-tested practices of copywork and dictation as key tools to teach punctuation, spelling, and grammar naturally in context. Don't worry—we'll show you how.
Each handbook contains:
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Notes to go with a selected read-aloud (book not provided)
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Four passages taken from the novel for copywork and dictation, one per week
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Easy-to-follow instructions to teach writing elements found in the passages
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Playful and effective grammar and punctuation activities that kids love
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A delightful writing exercise to apply what they have learned
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Nine comprehension questions
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Book club party ideas
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Copywork passages on separate printable pages
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Four-color design that looks gorgeous on tablets or printed at home
Start any time. Enjoy the published Darts in any order. You will receive all nine by April 2026.
2025-2026 book list:
- August: Painting the Game by Patricia MacLachlan
- September: Sidekicks (book 1) by Dan Santat
- October: Ra the Mighty: The Crocodile Caper by A. B. Greenfield
- November: Book Uncle and Me by Uma Krishnaswami
- December: Winterfrost by Michelle Houts
- January: The Lighthouse Family: The Storm, The Whale, The Eagle, The Turtle by Cynthia Rylant
- February: With Just One Wing by Brenda Woods
- March: Heartwood Hotel: Better Together (book 3) by Kallie George
- April: The Land of Roar by Jenny McLachlan
Swap one! When you purchase the year-long program, you may swap one handbook in the program for a handbook in the Literature Singles collection. Find the swap form in your account after purchase.
Want mentorship to learn how to use Dart? Join our Brave Writer Training Program!
Delivery: The Dart is delivered to your Brave Writer online account once per month on the 15th. Each handbook (40-50 pages) is a non-consumable PDF and can be used with multiple children in your own family—no need to purchase additional copies.
Join the thousands of families that have made Dart the #1 Brave Writer program!
Want a print copy? Go to the front of the line at the Homeschool Printing Company with a special Brave Writer offer. Order here.
Note: The Dart is one part of the Emerging Writers Bundle. Get all three parts of the Brave Writer program in one bundle!
About the Books
Painting the Game
In this middle grade novel by Newbery Award–winning author Patricia MacLachlan in her “signature lyric language delivered in spare but satisfying prose” (Booklist), a young girl tries to untangle her love of baseball from her complicated relationship with her professional pitcher father.Lucy’s father is a minor league baseball player, a...
Sidekicks (book 1)
Caldecott Medalist, National Book Award Winner, and New York Times bestselling creator Dan Santat returns to Sidekicks! This expanded edition includes a brand-new cover and sixteen pages of a never-before-seen epilogue! Suit up for high-octane action and laughs!Captain Amazing, the hometown hero of Metro City, is so busy catching criminals that...
Ra the Mighty: The Crocodile Caper
Ancient Egypt's laziest detective must save a missing boy in the latest entry in this Edgar-nominated mystery series about a pampered but lovable royal cat and his wise dung beetle sidekick.Ra the Mighty is Pharaoh's Cat, Lord of the Powerful Paw. He is not Ra the Royal Babysitter. How's a cat supposed to fit in all his snacks and naps when his...
Book Uncle and Me
Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library on the street corner. But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety bookstand, Yasmin has to take her nose out of her book and do something.What can she do? The local elections are coming up, but she’s just a kid. She can’t...
Winterfrost
An ordinary Danish Christmas turns extraordinary when a family overlooks an important folkloric tradition.Christmas has come, and with it a sparkling white winterfrost over the countryside. But 12-year-old Bettina's parents have been called away unexpectedly, leaving her in charge of the house, the farm, and baby Pia. In all the confusion,...
The Storm
Life with only the sea can be lonely. Just ask Pandora and Seabold. They've lived most of their lives with the sea -- Pandora in a lighthouse and Seabold on a boat -- and they're each quite used to being alone. Or they were.But one day, the sea did something extraordinary: It brought Pandora and Seabold together! And even better, the sea gave...
The Whale
Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant brings the peaceful sounds, sights, and characters of the coast vividly to life in the second book of the Lighthouse Family series, in which the family helps reunite a baby beluga whale with its mother.Pandora, Seabold, Whistler, Lila, and Tiny have all been enjoying the love and comfort that being a family...
The Eagle
Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant brings the peaceful sounds, sights, and characters of the coast vividly to life in the third book of the Lighthouse Family series, in which the family discovers the beauty of the forest.In a lighthouse by the ocean, Seabold, a dog, and Pandora, a cat, live with their three little mice children, Whistler, Lila, and...
The Turtle
Newbery Medalist Cynthia Rylant brings the peaceful sounds, sights, and characters of the coast vividly to life in the fourth book of the Lighthouse Family series, in which the family rescues a trapped turtle.A thick fog has found its way up north to the lighthouse family, surrounding the cliffs and waters below. Always ready to lend a hand, the...
With Just One Wing
Everyone expects Coop to be musical like his beloved parents, but he’s not. That’s one of the few things he finds awkward about being adopted—well, that and the fact that he sometimes wonders why his birth mother didn’t love him enough to keep him. This summer, he’s stuck at home with a broken arm after falling out of a tree trying to get a...
Heartwood Hotel: Better Together #3
Courage, kindness, and adventure abounds in this charming, illustrated chapter book series about a mouse discovering the true meaning of home. Spring has come to Fernwood Forest, and the Heartwood Hotel is all a-bustle. With Mr. Heartwood off on vacation, it’s up to Mona and the rest of the staff to keep everything running smoothly. When...
The Land of Roar
Everyone remembers their secret imaginary world…but what if you discovered that yours was real? When Arthur and Rose were little, they were the heroes of Roar, a magical world they invented where the wildest creations of their imaginations roamed. Now that they’re eleven, Roar is just a distant memory. But it hasn’t forgotten them.When...
