Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kid
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Where do words come from?―Teaching kids ages 9 to 12 vocabulary through word origins
The English language is made up of words from different places, events, and periods of time. Each of those words has an exciting story to tell us about where, when, how, and why they came about. Once Upon a Word is packed with easy-to-understand definitions and awesome word origin stories. With this dictionary for kids, you can understand the history and meaning of English words, improve your vocabulary and spelling, and learn to play with language.
Explore how weird words like gnome, fun words like zombie, and common words like caterpillar came to exist. Discover why some words sound funnier than others (like cackle, sizzle, and twang) and why some groups of words start with the same few letters (like hydrate, hydrogen, and fire hydrant). In this dictionary for kids, there’s a whole world of English words to uncover!
This unique dictionary for kids includes:
Roots & branches―Learn about the building blocks that make up words, called roots, prefixes, and suffixes.Kid-friendly definitions―Look up definitions designed for your reading level in this dictionary for kids.Word tidbits―Find out where your favorite food words got their start, from bacon to marshmallow, spaghetti, yogurt, and beyond.
See how the English language evolved with this colorful dictionary for kids.
From the Publisher
Some of the word stories inside include:
Acrobat | AK-roh-bat | noun |
An acrobat is someone who puts on an amazing gymnastic performance in a circus or onstage. Many acrobats perform high in the air on a trapeze or tightrope. Acrobat means “one who goes to the top” or “one who walks high up,” from the Greek akros, meaning “height,” the “tip of a peak,” or the “top of something high up,” and bainein, meaning “to go” or “to walk.” It’s related to the Greek akrobatos, a word for walking on your tiptoes or climbing up high.
Buoy | BOO-ee | noun |
A buoy is a floating object placed in the ocean to warn boats and ships about areas in the water that are dangerous or shallow. It likely comes from a Proto-Germanic root meaning “signal” or “beacon,” or perhaps from an Old French word for “chain” because buoys are usually attached to the ocean floor by chains. Because buoys float, the adjective “buoyant” refers to something that floats or the emotional state of feeling light and happy.
Caribou | KAIR-uh-boo | noun |
A caribou is a large type of reindeer. Its name is an Algonquian (Native American) word meaning “pawer” or “scratcher” because it digs in the snow with its hooves to find moss and grass.
Publisher : Callisto Kids (February 25, 2020)
Language : English
Paperback : 268 pages
ISBN-10 : 1646112598
ISBN-13 : 978-1646112593
Reading age : 7 – 11 years, from customers
Lexile measure : 1000L
Grade level : 4 – 6
Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
Dimensions : 7.5 x 0.66 x 9.25 inches
Opus_96 –
An Amazing Tool for Word Origins
This is perfect to use for vocabulary and word parts in my 4th grade ELA class. So glad I bought it that I bought another for the students!
Martha B. Higgins –
Fascinating!
Love this fascinating book! Entertaining and instructive.
Julie –
Makes words make sense!
I teach ELA and love having this book on hand to go over the origin and morphology of words. So fun!
Kyle Shopper –
educational
Anyone who loves words will love this book
Shirley Parker –
A Fun and Fascinating Read
While this book is intended for kids, aged 9-12 years old (or grades 4 to 6), it is fascinating to an adult, even one who was an English major. Many tidbits of information set off “light bulbs” over our heads, as in “I never knew that!” Depending on your children, they may make fun of you for reading it. Just ignore them. They’re probably jealous because it’s a fun book to read.The author explains that etymology studies the way words have changed over time. Kids can also build their vocabulary and learn to guess what a word means by studying its various parts. “When you can guess the meaning of any word, you can read any book,” states the author. That seems like an exaggeration but I suspect it’s true in many cases.Today’s English is a hodgepodge of words adopted from many languages: from Anglo-Saxon, Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Dutch, Swedish, Arabic, Native American languages and so many more! Yet English is the official international language of the sea (Seaspeak), and civil aviation.The two most confusing parts of English are that so many words have silent letters in them and even without that, there’s more than one way of pronouncing a syllable, depending on its origin and the word it’s in. I’ve always felt glad English was my native language. My hat is off to all those trying to learn it from the “outside”. Yet there is never an end to learning for any of us. Having a book like Once Upon a Word would have been a lot of fun when I was growing up.The book has plenty of interesting directions for a child to become a word detective. The bulk of the pages comprise a dictionary with fun illustrations included. I won’t say what they are but a few of my favorite mysterious words are missing from the definitions. It wouldn’t be possible for any author to include every strange-looking or funny-sounding word we have, but this was an ambitious book that should whet a child’s appetite for learning.The publisher provided a review copy of the book. I’ll be keeping it until relatives or the children of friends are old enough to appreciate it.
Marmee –
Must have for English teachers!
This book is fabulous. Exactly what I’ve been looking for to use with my elementary students who are enjoying our study of word origins. Visually stunning and richly entertaining while giving structured information on etymology and morphology.