The Dictionary of Difficult Words

The Dictionary of Difficult Words - Jane Solomon

What is a bumbershoot? Or a moonbow? And what does it mean when someone absquatulates...?

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)!

The Dictionary of Difficult Words has been on my bookshelf for a while now and is a firm favourite within my classroom. I first saw it on Twitter about 6 months ago, when a flurry of fellow twitter teachers were purchasing and using it in their classrooms. Keen to improve vocabulary in my own classroom and because of my own love of words, it wasn't long until this fantastic book found its way into my hands.

The book is written by Jane Solomon, a lexicographer (the definition is explained within the book of course!) and illustrated beautifully by Louise Lockhart and each page brings an eclectic exuberance of words. Written in alphabetical order, the words are carefully and simply explained, alongside a colourful illustration and a pronunciation guide.

This is a brilliant book to use within the classroom to increase the knowledge and love of vocabulary in a class. We have loved looking at the really unusual words together, those that we have never heard of such as equanimity (being calm and thoughtful especially in a stressful situation), as well as the more common words such as opaque. It's a book that we dip in and out of each day and although many of the words are uncommon the children love the challenge of dropping them into conversations with other adults in school.

This is a perfect non-fiction addition to any teacher's bookshelf, or anyone who just has a love of words!

An illustrated dictionary that will make you a maven of words.

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