Story by Ion Creanga
Adapted by Sabina I. Rascol
Illustrator Holly Berry
Big Words:
Author and Illustrator Doug Cushman
Big words:
detective
ostrich
spied
boa
Mystery at the Club Sandwich is a tongue-in-cheek Bogart-style mystery. It’s not a ‘Big Words’ book, but it is filled with figurative phrases like, “I work for peanuts”, “She looked like trouble”, “tough nut to crack”, and “lost her marbles”. The author also has fun inventing nauseating peanut-filled recipes for the elephant investigator. They make read-alouders and their listeners grimace and laugh. Kids have fun following the clues and solving the crime. Club Sandwich is long and effortful as a bedtime story. It’s a good book for kids to read to themselves or to a parent who is cooking or folding laundry.
Author John Lithgow
Illustrator C.F. Payne
The Remarkable Farkle McBride provides an opportunity for the whole family to learn the lexicon surrounding the symphony. Fifty-seven words rarely used at home grace this joyful poem. One caveat: Farkle is violently adamant about his musical disappointments, and many instruments are harmed in the pages of this book. Anyone worried about children imitating such behavior might proactively delay reading this book until any risk of mimicry has passed. I give this book as a gift to musicians, music teachers and students. It’s a timeless and ageless treasure.
Big Words:
Author and Illustrator Uri Shulevitz
How I Learned Geography is an autobiographical story. It holds lessons for every age: forgiveness, resilience, and the power of imagination. It transports readers and listeners to another time with new places and cultures. It gives parents a vehicle for gently introducing the concepts of poverty and war.
The Caldecott Honorawardees don’t always have rich vocabulary, but this one has deep words to accompany the deep themes it conveys. Buy this one. Read it to your babies, read it again when they’re elementary-aged, then again when they reach pre-teen, and again to your teens. There are layers upon layers to learn from this incredible and challenging book.
Author Sarah Stewart
Illustrator David Small
Big W
nearsighted incredible
adrift olympiad
manufactured
preferred
promptly
goddesses
attending
volumes
parlor
ripe
This sweet biography tells the story of Elizabeth Brown, who is a role model for all book lovers. Her story is told in flowing rhyme and expressive illustrations, making it a pleasure to read aloud. The simple watercolors are framed by informative line drawings and filled with surprises and supplementary characters, some so subtle you might miss them on your first read. But on subsequent readings, their antics will have everyone laughing and looking more closely.
‘The Library’ serves multiple purposes in a family library: sharing the biography of a real-life philanthropist, celebrating a deep love of books and reading, applauding differences seen as ‘nerdy’ in some circles, inspiring smiles and giggles, recognizing the value in repeated readings, and filling little ears with words to grow broad vocabularies. This is one to own and share regularly.
Author Jamie Lee Curtis
Illustrator Jamie Lee Curtis
Big words:
Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell have created several fun, purposeful books. Their creations empower families by tackling the real challenges of being and raising small children. Humor and sincerity are balanced perfectly, making them useful tools in every parent’s toolbox.
The title brought this one to the forefront, of course. Big Words for Little People could almost be the title of this website. The book checks all the boxes: Funny, engaging, enriching illustrations that add layers of meaning and beg to be examined; novelty portrayed through the illustrations of families in familiar, but subtly intriguing situations; and rich vocabulary used in meaningful and memorable settings. The only reason this might not make your permanent bookshelf is the stilted rhyme scheme. Read-alouders may struggle to find rhythm never found by the author. Check it out at the library and try for yourself. We found amusement and talking points in the Yoda-esque reaches for rhyme. (e.g. “you persevere till the right piece you find.”)
Curtis and Cornell give parents a couple of bonuses in this fun book: extra big words in the dedication and cover flap texts, and validation of some hard-fought parenting values. The text tells kids, “Many things are too old for you that lots of your friends may still get to do.” and “Different is never something to hate.” Family, Respect, and Love are defined and celebrated beautifully, and the artists leave kids with a challenge to go ‘have some really great fun’ with their own big words! It’s invaluable to find books to give us additional opportunities to communicate these parenting universals.
Author and Illustrator Taro Yashima
Published by Puffin Books
tiny
forlorn
amuse
“kill time”
interesting
trudging
imitate
hatched
arriving
Caldecott Medal and Honor books are recognized by the American Library Association as “the most distinguished American picture books for children”. The new winners are often apparent at bookstores and libraries, but the old ones are worth seeking out for timeless vocabulary and read-aloud joy. Crow Boy is a 1956 Caldecott Honor book that allows read-alouders to transport listeners to an unfamiliar culture where they learn the values of acceptance, observation, perseverance, industry, and kindness. Synonyms for words toddlers hear frequently are embedded and recasted and well defined within context.
Readers fall in love with Chibi and empathize with the abuse he receives from his oblivious classmates, who fail to see the talents Chibi is developing as he struggles to attend school every day. We cheer as Chibi’s gifts are recognized and valued by his community, and we wonder how many Chibis we know in our own lives. Wondering this aloud lets families share a bit of introspection and personalizes the story.
Parents do super-multi-tasking when sharing this glorious classic. Bathing little ears in vocabulary, introducing an impoverished, agricultural lifestyle, and teaching universal values. This is one to own and read repeatedly.
Torben Kuhlmann, Author and Illustrator
Published by NorthSouth Books, Inc.
My cheeks hurt from smiling through five readings of Lindbergh! This is a gem!
A loveable little mouse demonstrates innovation, invention, and overcoming failure through persistence using the engineering design process! He struggles, evades predators, and then succeeds in flying across the Atlantic. I enjoyed the suspenseful, hopeful, funny build up to the joyful conclusion, and read-alouders and their attentive kids over 3 will love it, too.
Parents looking for a quick bedtime story may recoil at the thickness of this picture book. But half of the pages are double page spreads filled with enchanting, enriching illustrations! Don’t shy away from Lindbergh! It’s worth owning and enjoying for years.
As a bonus, a short history of aviation is included at the end. These mini-biographies add to the wonder of this fictional tale by introducing the real inventors of flight.
This book layers on big and bigger words for everyone: toddlers to adults:
by Mara Rockliff
illustrated by Eliza Wheeler
Peachtree Publishers
toupee
ramshackle
accusations
Really big words:
umbrage–offense or annoyance
imbroglio–extremely confused or embarrassing situation
dudgeon–a feeling of offense or deep resentment
pique– feeling of irritation or resentment resulting from a slight, esp. to one’s pride.
This book is a vocabulary-builder, moral-teacher, and smile-generator in one! Several examples of figurative language are thrown in, too: left-handed compliment, took offense, flung accusations, high dudgeon, pet peeve, bone to pick, get my goat, mad about you. College-level words fill the text, accompanied by recasting for several different terms. The illustrations are complex and engaging and add depth to the text. The Grudge Keeper is one to add to your home library, as it will provide vocabulary layering options from preschool to college.
Teach your kids the value of releasing grudges in favor of kindness as you fill their ears and your own with exciting new words to help solve your next disagreement!
by Pamela Duncan Edwards; Illustrated by Henry Cole; Scholastic printing
Big words:
Jennifer Stone 