Cover Image: The Dictionary of Difficult Words

The Dictionary of Difficult Words

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Member Reviews

This is a dictionary, but not a typical one. It is designed for children who are intrigued by words or who could use something to help them to become more interested in words and reading. Appealingly illustrated and wisely selected, the entries are entertaining and informative.

The author playfully suggests ways to read the book. A few examples include back to front, front to back, by opening to a random page, etc. The idea is that exploring words should be intriguing. Before getting started, there are a couple of helpful sections; one describes the parts of speech and another offers hints for decoding some words (for example phile referring to loving something).

The words themselves are appealing. Some, even if arcane, I knew while others I came across for the first time. Often difficult to pronounce or spell, the child who learns them will feel mighty clever!

This book deserves its place in homes and schools. It is a perfect book to browse through and enjoy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this informative book. All

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I like learning new words, and its even better if the word is obscure. The Dictionary of Difficult Words immediately caught my eye, and I wanted to see what additions to my vocabulary I could find.

Before you get into the definitions, there is a brief overview of the book and what you'll find, then a short lesson on parts of speech and how you can work out definitions and pronunciations of words. Then, at least for me, the fun begins.

There is a mix of commonly used and more obscure words. Some of them I grew up hearing, but there were several that I had not heard of, but will start looking for ways to drop them into my conversations. I think that anyone who likes words will find something to like in the book.

Even though it contains difficult words, they are defined in a simple way. In fact, even older kids could probably learn with them fairly easily. The definitions are in plain language and the pronunciation guides are easy to follow. There are colorful pictures on each page that show some of the definitions.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

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Definitely a "You Learn something new everyday!" sort of book! Fun but tricky words with pronunciation guide. Interesting to kids who liked learning new words in Fancy Nancy series. Also great for "Hey, did you know..."
I just learned a group of cats in called a clowder.

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Wow! The title of this book is appropriate! Although the illustrations in this book would lead a person to think that this book is for children, the reality is only a few adults who will know most, if not all, of the words in this book. I am a voracious reader and there were many words in this dictionary I did not know. That said, I enjoyed seeing all the words I did not know because I am now challenged to learn them. Overall, this book is appropriate for anyone who desires to rise another level in their vocabulary and makes an excellent gift for anyone who has a similar desire.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book that was provided by the publisher through Net Galley. However, the thoughts and opinions presented here are my own.

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What a spectacular opportunity to further extend on your children's ever growing knowledge and vocabulary. As parents and teachers, we `seek to further educate generations of youth from present and into the future ,in order to provide the opportunity for these individuals to increase and add onto the knowledge that they are already equipped with. This novel is a wonderful way to engage individuals in learning new and exciting words which they can then utilise and explore in their every day way of life. The book engages with children as its not over childish yet displays an appropriate yet creative cover to the book which gives a sense of educational literature to the child. In my own personal and professional observations, i truly believe this book will become one of many great resources beneficial to the department of education as a tool to aid students in learning and engaging with words and definition. This book has the potential to be found in schools throughout the world. I even think it could be beneficial to those children in poverty countries who struggle and don't have the resources to facilitate the educations of young people due to the situations in these poor countries where they struggle just to make ends meet. Perhaps in such situations, a kind selfless individual may buy and provide these books to poverty countries or those whom are less fortunate and who struggle to financially provide the resources necessary for an acceptable education. As citizens of the world I feel that we all should have the compassion and decency to help those in need of such things such as educational resources in order to aid them in becoming fine and upstanding members of society and to assist them in creating an stable life for themselves in the form of careers etc. You can not live without stable income these days and so a little bit of selflessness and kindness can go a long way,

I am giving 5 stars as I have been a childcare teacher in the past and always have had the mindset that every child deserves to be the best they can be and have an exceptional education. This is why I gave 5 stars as I sincerely believe this book will go far and impact on many individuals enabling them the tools they need to excel.

I congratulate Jane Solomon on this exceptional and educational piece of literature. I look forward to any future book endeavours that she may pursue and publish.

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While this book is marketed towards children, I have to admit I wanted it just for myself. Mostly to learn some new “fancy” words to up my English skills a little.
The illustrations in this book were cute and probably make it more appealing for kids to read a dictionary. The definitions were easy to understand.
“The Dictionary of Difficult Words” is a great book for children and adults alike and would be perfect for classrooms and school libraries.

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This is such an amazing and fun books for kids and adults alike! It's a great resource for anyone who loves words, and exploring what the English language has to offer. The introduction is a great reference for understanding how dictionaries work, as well as how we might figure out what a word means.

I think this would also be a great book for classrooms to use to refer to in writing, or for exploring a new word each day!

I highly recommend this book. Who knows, while reading you might just find out you're an affable ailurophile, or a bespectacled bibliophile!

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I can't wait to get this book for the children I work with to use. The illustrations are beautiful and the presentation of the words on the page is very engaging. I particularly enjoyed the page that tells you about how to look at the end of a word to start working out the meaning (-graph, -ology etc). I can see this book being used both as a tool in lessons and also just as a book to pick up and enjoy. I wasn't always convinced by the suggested pronunciation of some of the words or the spelling of this but I suspect this will be down to regional accents more than anything else and will in no way deter me from buying a copy and sharing it with colleagues and the children. A beautiful book.

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Loved this! Already bought it for my library!

Dictionaries are great, but can be overwhelming for struggling readers or dreary to accomplished ones. No more! This books makes learning new words enticing and colorful. I may just swap it for the Merriam-Webster on my word-of-the-week display.

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What an absolutely fun book! Okay, you have to be willing to "read the dictionary" with this one, but on the very first page of definitions I actually said, "that's a word?!?" With bright colors and fun illustrations, I think this is a book that kids can play around with together and have great conversations. I also really appreciate the intro pages helping kids understand parts of speech and how to help figure out what a word means by clues like "-ologist," "-ism," and "-phile."

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I absolutely LOVE this book!!
An A-Z of some of the more difficult words ont he dictionary. It’s very well done to appeal to young and old readers alike. There’s a helpful “how to read this book” in guide in the beginning AND instead of jumping right in to the words and definitions, there’s and overview of parts of speech and how to sound out words! It’s short and sweet, but packs a punch! The illustrations are beautiful and the layout is very attractive.

Highly Recommend!

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What a neat book! It takes big words and defines them but doesn’t have pages upon pages of them to overwhelm. Some words I did not know my many I did. In a day where literacy is on the decline (as far as using and comprehending large words) and language being shrunken to emoticons and text message shortenings, this is a great addition to one’s home library! It would be a great extra book for summer learning or homeschooling!

My only thing I was not a fan of is the fact that they had to get into people wanted to be called “they” instead of an actual gender on the very last page. It may be something up for debate these days but I feel it was unnecessary. Given some of the titles I see by this publisher I should not be surprised, but I think it begs warning.

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The most unique and fun dictionary ever. Conventional dictionaries are referencing tools. Despite the fact some people do enjoy "reading" dictionaries, but most of us only point our ways to them when we need to look up words we don't know. This particular dictionary, however, is more than "a tool" but a fun read for readers of all ages. Majority of the words in this collection are not commonly used yet they are some of the most practical vocabularies everyone should know. We normally describe people who love cats as a cat lovers but how often we call them "ailurophiles?" How many times we have seen people name the "coming-of-age" novel a "bildungsroman?' And I can only imagine how cute my 5yo would be when asking me for his "bumbershoot" rather than using the normally used word "umbrella."

With the exception of the abstract words, vocabularies are accompanied by fun illustrations which is the publisher's signature niche. Definitions and explanations are written in the most direct and the simplest way. The author also provides pronunciations which is helpful.

Useful, aesthetic, educational and fun, "The Dictionary of Difficult Words" is DEFINITELY a book everyone should own. Already placed my pre-order online today. I highly recommend!

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Every classroom and home should have a copy of this beautiful book to encourage playfulness and joy in language!
Each word is accompanied by cute, colourful explanations which are child-friendly, often giving examples to assist in usage.
I learned a few new words, all of which I am planning to use in the near future:
Kakistocracy - a government ruled by the worst people...
Ultracrepidarian - someone who has very big opinions about things about which they know nothing
Sesquipidalian - someone who knows lots of big words and enjoys using them
Zeugma - a play on words where one word is used in two different contexts in the same sentence e.g. She devoured her book and sandwich.
I absolutely loved this quirky collection of words and will be getting my hands on a few copies for our school library!

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I love the idea of the book. The words are very good for developing a child's vocabulary. The illustrations are simple and nice, the explanation of each word is easy for children to understand. Teachers can use this words for students assignments.

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This is a cute dictionary of less than common (or easy) words for those young readers who like to learn and like a challenge. As someone who always loved to learn new words and to be able to say and understand the hard ones, I would have been all over this!

It’s an easy way to challenge a young ones mind and vocabulary, while also making it fun. There are tips inside as to how one can read it, which would encourage kids to read/play with their friends or family by quizzing or guessing etc. Even as an adult, some of these words are challenging and new to me.

The illustrations also make it more fun as opposed to just words on a page, with a few extra tidbits of info and coloured pictures.

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What a fantastic book! Will certainly need to buy a print copy! Cute pictures and a great selection of difficult and unique words! Perfect for all ages.

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What an amazing book! It brings to light words that might be new but even better ones we’re familiar with but had no idea what they meant or how to pronounce. I see this in every household as parents would enjoy the variety of unique words and would help develop their vocabulary. This would be great for a librarian to use in group sessions again to help bring a greater understanding and appreciation of the words in our world to students.
I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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The Dictionary of Difficult Words is a beautifully illustrated book that shares about difficult words and their meanings. Our 3rd grader comes home weekly with a spelling list and he loves having the chance to try and decipher the trickier words he is learning about in class so this was a fun connection. This book was so fun to read with him and it was very engaging for an elementary school audience. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

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The Dictionary of Difficult Words is a colorful resource of vocabulary words. I enjoyed the illustrations and the variety of the terms. It would be perfect for my academic advisement students when they are working on word stems. I will refer this book to my Gifted and Talented teachers for their classrooms. Thanks Quarto Publishing Group-Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

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