The Boy Who Loved Words
By Roni Schotter
Schwartz & Wade
Lickety-split. Is that really a word? It must be, if it's in the collection of Selig, the boy at the heart of this book for kids. He has acquired other words that seem just as unlikely. Chockablock. Djinn. Jibber-jabber (we had to look in three dictionaries before we found that one). Others are familiar but a bit eccentric (tintinnabulating,
amphora), and still others seem ordinary enough until you think about them and it dawns on you how beguiling they are. Dusk. Rhapsody. Scrumptious. There's a story in these pages, something about Selig running away from home in search of life's meaning and finding it when he inadvertently helps a poet finish his latest verse. But the book's plot is not nearly as important as its suggestion that children should think about words, about how they were invented, how their sounds reflect their meanings, and how well they conjure up the feelings or images that they represent, how well they do their job. There's a glossary of Selig's words at the end. Illustrations are by Giselle Potter. Recommended for ages four to eight.
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