In this sneak peek inside the lively world of the dictionary, we meet words that are exceedingly bored and long for liberation. They break free from Noah Webster’s dictionary and march throughout the land of Hollyword.
With bustling energy, this orthographic adventure celebrates the basic components of any elementary school language arts curriculum—verbs, conjunctions, interjections, contractions, homophones, antonyms and more—making it a great choice for classrooms. The anthropomorphized letters, composed with energetic lines, relish their freedom as they march, happy to be free from the book’s spine. Author Judy Sierra amps up the madcap fun with a palindrome family reunion and an onomatopoeia marching band. With a palette of teals, greens and oranges, illustrator Eric Comstock keeps the spreads balanced and never too cluttered, an impressive feat in a book with so much going on. A glossary closes out the book for those left wondering at the meaning of “lexicon” and “synonym,” as well as “garboil” and “sackbut,” which make their own delightful appearances in the parade.
In the end, Noah orders all the letters back into their tome, but when he runs into Roget and his thesaurus, we are left wondering if a sequel is in the works. Logophiles will be thrilled.
Julie Danielson features authors and illustrators at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, a children’s literature blog.
This article was originally published in the February 2018 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
