THE BEST CHILDREN’S DICTIONARIES FOR YOUNG READERS
by Michelle Regalado
( bookriot.com)
Michelle Regalado is a New York-based digital writer and editor. When she's not hunting down her next must-read book (recommendations are welcome!) or writing about all things pop culture, you can probably find her drinking iced coffee and hanging out with her dog, Lola. Follow her on Twitter: @mar8289
When it comes to helping your kids develop their language and vocabulary skills, there’s no better tool than a dictionary. Today’s children’s dictionaries aren’t the boring, text-heavy versions you remember from back in the day. These updated versions are bright, colorful, and filled with compelling illustrations and photographs that are sure to keep the attention of any young reader. Most importantly, these children’s dictionaries are packed with information that will prove useful for any kid as they continue their learning, from preschool to high school.
You really can’t go wrong with the Merriam-Webster Children’s Dictionary, which features 35,000 words and phrases along with some illustrations. The entries for each word are packed with information, including the definition, usage, and specific notes on spelling and punctuation. The latest edition offers color-coded page borders for each letter of the alphabet, making it easy for kids to find exactly what they’re looking for.
Scholastic’s dictionary is targeted to kids from the ages of eight to 12 (approximately third to seventh grades). This edition uses high-quality photos rather than drawings to highlight entries, which feature each word in red and each definition in black. It also includes several notable extras, including a 10-page thesaurus, a guide of grammar and idioms, a list of U.S. presidents, a table of acronyms, and more.
A new version of this dictionary hits shelves in September, so you may want to hold off on purchasing if having the most recent edition is important to you.
These aren’t so much dictionaries as they are vocabulary books. But if you want to get an early start on word development with your kids, this series is a useful tool. Meant for young toddlers, Roger Priddy’s “Big Board First 100 Words” is a popular choice to introduce children to words and phrases around a variety of subjects, from animals to toys to everyday objects. The series also features themed word books, such as animals, farms, trucks, and numbers, colors and shapes. Several of these options are also available in a First 100 box set.
If you’re looking for an easy and intuitive dictionary for your child to browse, this is a solid choice. Meant for children from the age of five, this edition features a small picture alongside every one of its 1,000 entries, which allows your kids to quickly identify what they’re looking for even if they can’t read every word. The overall look of the book is also bright and colourful, making it appealing to a young reader’s eye.
Made for students ages eight and above, this portable dictionary of synonyms, antonyms, and homonyms serves as an excellent reference tool to consult while writing papers or working on other school projects. It contains more than 20,000 examples, including a handy guide of 2,000 homonyms at the end.
Kids Picture Dictionary is just like the app name suggested a picture dictionary app for early readers. It can also serve as a sight word flash card app for younger kids.
The layout of the app is very simple. When kids open the app, they see pictures of words arranged in alphabet order. Tapping on each letter opens up the words that start with the letter, one by one. Each word is shown with a big picture illustrating the word, while the word is read aloud to the kids, followed by an example sentence. The app also allows parents or kids record their own voice – either reading the word or adding another sample sentence.
The WordWeb Dictionary is useful for pretty much all ages, starting from middle school and up. It features 285,000 words and phrases, along with thousands of usage examples, synonyms or related words, and more. You can bookmark words as necessary. Plus, the search allows you to filter by noun, verb, adverb, adjectives, or other customized search options, like derived forms.
If you prefer to stick with the tried and true, you can always go with ol’ faithful, the Dictionary.com app. With over 2 million definitions and synonyms, it’s probably the most comprehensive vocabulary app out there. Aside from offering the meaning and etymology of every word, it also provides help with spelling and audio pronunciations. Kids can use a quiz widget to test their own vocabulary skills as well.
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Have a beautiful weekend everyone! Read to your little bunnies and enjoy some quiet time with your own book. You are invited back next Monday to discover some more awesome books that I will be unwrapping just for you. Blessings!
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