Unwrapping
The Dictionary of Difficult Words
With more than 400 perplexing words to test your wits!
Authored by Jane Solomon
Illustrated by Louise Lockhart
* Age Range: 8-12
* Grade Level: 2+
* Hardcover: 112 pages
* Publisher: France Lincoln Children's Books; New edition
* Pub. Date: April 30, 2019
* Language: English
From the Author
The Dictionary of Difficult Words is geared toward children aged 7-12, but it's written to appeal to adults as well. As the cover suggests, it's a highly illustrated dictionary with only difficult words in it. This book welcomes all readers, even those who would never sit down and read a traditional dictionary cover to cover.
In addition to the definitions, each letter of the alphabet has a featured word that is explored in depth and accompanied with a bright full-page illustration by Louise Lockhart. These 26 pages are like an ABC book within the Dictionary of Difficult Words.
From the Publisher
WELCOME, WORDSMITHS!
Words are wonderful!
Without words, we wouldn't be able to share all our ideas with the people around us. That's why we've put together a dictionary that will take you on a journey through some of the most brilliant and surprising words in the English language.
WHAT IS A DICTIONARY?
A dictionary is a collection of words and their meanings. Sometimes dictionaries are books you can hold, like this book, and sometimes they're digital. Dictionaries are written by LEXICOGRAPHERS. Lexicographers study how people use language, and then write down what they learn in dictionaries.
Look out for the clouds around some of our favorite definitions. You can find extra information about the word in a cloud, along with a big illustration, on a nearby page.
PARTS OF SPEECH
A word's part of speech gives you information about how it's used in a sentence. The definitions in this book have one of these three parts of speech:
noun
A noun is a word used to talk about a person, place, thing or idea. Sister, park and love are all nouns.
adjective
An adjective is a word used to describe nouns and to give extra information about someone or something. Big, grey and smart are all adjectives.
verb
A verb is a word used to talk about actions. Jump, learn and look are all verbs.
HOW TO WORK OUT HOW TO SAY A WORD
If you're a big reader, you often learn new words from books. You might know a word's meaning, but when it comes to saying it, you have no idea how to pronounce it. This happens to people of all ages, so you're not alone. Many of the words in this book are hard to say. English rules can be extremely confusing.
For instance, the letter X can sometimes be pronounced like Z, and -ough can be said in many different ways in English, like in the words cough, dough and through. Luckily, there is a handy pronunciation guide underneath each word to help you work out how to say it.
Unwrapping the flavour of the book
BIOLUMINESCENT
Fireflies are bioluminescent and this helps them find and recognize one another. Different types of fireflies flash in different patterns and colors. The flash of a firefly can appear as yellow, white, green or blue.
REPLICA
An artist might create a replica of a painting they love in order to understand how that work was made. This can help them learn new techniques for their own paintings.
YODEL
Yodelling is very popular in Switzerland, Austria and other areas with a lot of mountains. This style of singing is used to help people communicate with each other. When you're high up on a mountain, you can hear people yodel from far away.
My Take
This book is the #1 new release in children's dictionaries on Amazon. The cover itself is a sight to behold and very classy. It is a large hardback with an embossed title and beautiful texture. The illustrations are kid-friendly and fun. Each page displays multiple drawings or collages that adds much interest to the reader. Lists of words from A to Z are brilliantly presented by lexicographer Jane Solomon.
Kids will love and appreciate the science, nature, feelings, emotions and language words that adorn the book. More than 400 difficult words to pronounce and spell are documented with easy to understand meanings that will intrigue both the young and the old alike. I know I bumped into many that I was not familiar with.
This delightful book should not only be in every home but in every classroom and library. It would make a perfect year-end gift to give to a teacher. It truly is a celebration of words and our amazing language. Who knew learning big words could be so much fun? I highly, highly recommend this book.
Storywraps Rating - 5 +++HUGS!!!!!
Meet the author
Jane Solomon is a lexicographer based in Oakland, California. She spends her days writing definitions and working on various projects for Dictionary.com. She's a member of the Unicode Emoji Subcommittee, the group that decides what new emoji pop up on our devices. She has a twin sister who is also a lexicographer.
Her children's book *The Dictionary of Difficult Words* is out spring 2019 with Lincoln Children's Books, an imprint of Quarto Kids.
Twitter: @janesolomon
Blog: lexicalitems.com
About the illustrator
Louise Lockhart is an illustrator living in an old mill in a small town in England. She spends her days creating designs from little paper cut outs and line drawings, dreaming up worlds where men still wear suits and hats. As well as working as a freelance illustrator, Louise also applies her illustrations to products for you and your home, which she sells in her online shop The Printed Peanut.
"[Louise Lockhart's] work is reminiscent of Eric Ravilious, but through a joyful 1960s Technicolor telescope." Bibelot Magazine.
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