Wednesday a ‘W’ word, seems the perfect day to share three books I’ve been poring over the last week.
All three centre around words…another ‘W’ word and how delightful it’s been to share excitement over words with my younger elementary children as we read the first book by the fabulous Peter H. Reynolds.
The Word Collector is a book I picked up for the library a few years ago when one of the teachers told me how fascinated her grade 1 children were to learn new words and how they were ever eager to start a little collection of words.
As we continued exploring books around books and reading as a continuation of our Book Day reads, one about words seemed like the perfect choice.
The story brings out all that fascinates the protagonist about words...their rhythm, sound, texture and meaning, while underscoring the delight found when shared through different forms with others...be it spoken, or written, poetry or song, through humour or kindness.
We’ve started a little collection of words that seem to pop off the page as we read. The children were briefed that they could be either words that look attractive to the reader, a word they didn’t know the meaning of, one that trips off their tongue prettily, or one that they enjoy saying, a new word that they’ve never come across before or one whose meaning they particularly liked or any other reason. If they don't know the meaning, they are encouraged to look it up in the dictionary.
As they read, they note these words and come to our little ‘World of Words’... a fish bowl holding them all. The aim is to fill up the bowl with words and you’ll have to wait to see what we plan to do with them.
Excited about the power of words resonating with older elementary students, I dug out a book from my personal collection sent to me by fellow picture-book enthusiast and book lover Parul Kaushik. The Wordy Book by Julie Paschkis is a magnificent creation where images and words are intricately woven together. Jerome, the Word Collector from the previous book, would surely appreciate how the words are neatly embedded within each illustration, reminiscent of his own meticulous word organization in scrapbooks. Take a moment to admire the stunning images in the carousel above.
Taking my time with the third one, I am savoring it, admiring the clever storyline... Woebegone’s Warehouse of Words by Payal Kapadia is expanding my imagination in various ways while compelling me to continue reading. The plot is incredibly creative and captivating, with the author appearing to criticize censorship and the right to freedom of speech. I will share more thoughts on this once I finish reading!!!
Do you have any favourite books about WORDS?
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