An Inconvenient Alphabet: Ben Franklin & Noah Webster's Spelling Revolution

by Beth Anderson (Author) Elizabeth Baddeley (Illustrator)

An Inconvenient Alphabet: Ben Franklin & Noah Webster's Spelling Revolution
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

"Delightful, relatable, and eye-catchingly illustrated." --School Library Journal

"Deelytful and iloominaating for noo and seesuned reeders alyk." --Kirkus Reviews

"Thought-provoking and entertaining." --School Library Connection

"Engaging...A comprehensible, lively read." --Publishers Weekly

Do you ever wish English was eez-ee-yer to spell? Ben Franklin and Noah Webster did!

Debut author Beth Anderson and the New York Times bestselling illustrator of I Dissent, Elizabeth Baddeley, tell the story of two patriots and their attempt to revolutionize the English alphabet. Once upon a revolutionary time, two great American patriots tried to make life easier. They knew how hard it was to spell words in English. They knew that sounds didn't match letters. They knew that the problem was an inconvenient English alphabet. In 1786, Ben Franklin, at age eighty, and Noah Webster, twenty-eight, teamed up. Their goal? Make English easier to read and write. But even for great thinkers, what seems easy can turn out to be hard.

Children today will be delighted to learn that when they "sound out" words, they are doing eg-zakt-lee what Ben and Noah wanted.

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Hardcover
$17.99

Kirkus

Deelytful and iloominaating for noo and seesuned reeders alyk.

ALA/Booklist

An extensive bibliography and notes section details the work behind the scenes to make the book factual as well as entertaining

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4--Anderson builds on readers' familiarity with the American Revolution and Benjamin Franklin to deliver a lively account of how Franklin teamed up with Noah Webster to help create an English spelling system unique to people in the United States. There was much trial and error and many failed ideas around creating a new alphabet, with many of the concepts proposed facing strong criticism and outright rejection by the public. It was not until long after Franklin's death that Webster finally publish his first ever Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. The combination of bold illustrations, humorous anecdotes, and fabulous storytelling makes this true tale anything but boring. It provides a much-needed introduction to the art of spelling and dictionaries while remaining engaging and well paced. Despite discussing wordsmiths from over 200 years ago, Anderson delicately balances Franklin and Webster's dreams with grade-level appropriate vocabulary and readability. VERDICT The potentially dry topic of American English etymology is transformed into a delightful, relatable, and eye-catchingly illustrated tale that will have readers rooting for the success of the dictionary. Most collections will want to consider.--Emily Beasley, Omaha Public Schools

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Anderson's debut picture book details the origins of Noah Webster's first American English dictionary and the struggles of Webster and Benjamin Franklin to help unify the new country through language in the 1780s. After laboring alone to streamline American English, the men meet and agree that the dawn of a new nation should also mean the dawn of a new kind of English for its citizens--one that would allow them to understand one another. "Some spoke like the king of England, others like backwoodsmen, and many barely spoke English at all." The pair join forces over what proves a near-impossible task. Lighthearted illustrations by Baddeley (I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark) feature large, colorful letters that are juggled, balanced, passed around, and left in a crumpled heap as a befuddled citizenry questions and scorns the men's proposals. Other touches, such as the changing expressions of the cameos hanging on Webster's wall, keep the story engaging. With back matter that includes an extensive bibliography, this history succeeds in distilling the sophisticated subject of early American English lexicography into a comprehensible, lively read. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Stephanie Fretwell-Hill, Red Fox Literary. Illustrator's agent: Alexandra Penfold, Upstart Crow. (Sept.)

Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

 
Beth Anderson
Beth Anderson, a former English as a Second Language teacher, thinks her students would have appreciated Ben and Noah's big idea. An Inconvenient Alphabet is her first book. Born and raised in Illinois, she now lives in Colorado. You can visit her at BethAndersonWriter.com.

Elizabeth Baddeley is the illustrator of the critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsberg Makes Her Mark, written by Debbie Levy. She also illustrated A Woman in the House (and Senate): How Women Came to the United States Congress, Broke Down Barriers, and Changed the Country; The Good Fight: The Feuds of the Founding Fathers (and How They Shaped the Nation); and An Inconvenient Alphabet. Elizabeth graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City with a degree in illustration and currently lives in Kansas City, Missouri. Learn more at EBaddeley.com.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781534405554
Lexile Measure
680
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication date
September 25, 2018
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF007020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Historical
JNF013010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Concepts | Alphabet
JNF025190 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | United States/Colonial & Revolutionary
JNF029040 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Language Arts | Vocabulary & Spelling
Library of Congress categories
United States
English language
Franklin, Benjamin
Webster, Noah
Orthography and spelling
Americanisms
Spelling reform

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