The Dictionary of Difficult Words: With More Than 400 Perplexing Words to Test Your Wits!

by Jane Solomon (Author) Louise Lockhart (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade
What is a bumbershoot? Or a moonbow? And what does it mean when someone absquatulates...? Find out all this and more in The Dictionary of Difficult Words. Test your knowledge with more than 400 words to amaze, confuse, and inspire budding wordsmiths (and adults). All of the words featured in this book are difficult to spell, hard to say, and their meanings are obscure to most children (and most adults)! Written with simple, easy-to-understand definitions by lexicographer Jane Solomon, this dictionary celebrates the beauty of the English language for family trivia time spent around the printed page.
Select format:
Hardcover
$29.99

Find books about:

Publishers Weekly

In this oversize volume, lexicographer Solomon introduces more than 400 intriguing words to children. From abecedarian to zygodactyl, these terms, many of them tongue twisters, are sure to have young readers hooked on the challenge of pronunciation. Straightforwardly articulated definitions are easy to digest (about ergophobia: "People use this word when they want to be funny"), with some featuring facts and examples to contextualize the word, as for juxtapose: "An artist might juxtapose dark and light colors, and a musician might juxtapose slow and fast parts of a song." Solomon alternates phrasing and includes a delightful array of words so that each page turn feels fresh and inviting. Playful digital illustrations by Lockhart vitalize each page, pairing definitions with memorable visual aids (a chimera breathes fire, one rabbit manages to jostle another). Front matter explains the purpose of a dictionary, delves into parts of speech, and includes instructions for navigating the book. An appealing celebration of language. Ages 7-up. (Apr.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"The whole package is artfully colored and styled, with lexical and graphic marvels galore."
- Stan Carey, Sentence First
Jane Solomon

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. Jane has a twin sister who is also a lexicographer.

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 cutouts and line drawings. Her books include The Dictionary of DifficultWords (published in 2019 by Frances Lincoln Children's Books) and her clients include: Heal's, Mini Boden, Flow Magazine, Anthropologie, The Independent, Anorak Magazine, Mollie Makes Magazine, Donna Wilson, Graniph, Little Otsu, and Liberty.

Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781786038111
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Frances Lincoln Ltd
Publication date
April 30, 2019
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF021070 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Games & Activities | Word Games
JNF048030 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Reference | Dictionaries
Library of Congress categories
-

Subscribe to our delicious e-newsletter!