Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids―Building Vocabulary Through Etymology, Definitions & Stories Paperback – February 25, 2020 by Jess Zafarris

Description

Author: Zafarris Jess

Brand: Rockridge Press

Package Dimensions: 19x234x664

Number Of Pages: 268

Release Date: 25-02-2020

Details: Product Description
Where do words come from?―Teaching kids ages 9 to 12 vocabulary through word origins
The English language is made up of words from different places, events, and periods of time. Each of those words has an exciting story to tell us about where, when, how, and why they came about. Once Upon a Word is packed with easy-to-understand definitions and awesome word origin stories. With this dictionary for kids, you can understand the history and meaning of English words, improve your vocabulary and spelling, and learn to play with language.
Explore how weird words like gnome, fun words like zombie, and common words like caterpillar came to exist. Discover why some words sound funnier than others (like cackle, sizzle, and twang) and why some groups of words start with the same few letters (like hydrate, hydrogen, and fire hydrant). In this dictionary for kids, there’s a whole world of English words to uncover!
This unique dictionary for kids includes:

Roots & branches―Learn about the building blocks that make up words, called roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
Kid-friendly definitions―Look up definitions designed for your reading level in this dictionary for kids.
Word tidbits―Find out where your favorite food words got their start, from bacon to marshmallow, spaghetti, yogurt, and beyond.

See how the English language evolved with this colorful dictionary for kids.
Review
“This thorough and visually delightful book is a yellow-brick road paved with ‘a-ha!’ moments. It is written in an engaging style that will open the door wide for young minds to enter the magical world where language meets history. I expect it will inspire many of them to a lifetime of discovery in an overlooked field.” ―Douglas Harper, etymonline.com
“Once Upon a Word makes learning new words fun and efficient. Jess Zafarris has written a book that is accessible to kids and educational enough for adults. Every parent and educator should keep a copy for engaged minds on hand.” ―Jordan Rosenfeld, author of How to Write a Page Turner
“As kids flip through this book, they’ll feel like they’re decoding secret messages from the past. This book teaches an important lesson: by understanding language we can better understand each other and the world around us. I love that.” ―Aubre Andrus, award-winning children’s book author
From the Author
Did you know that…

“Amateur” comes from the Latin amatorem, meaning “lover,” because an amateur does something for the love of it rather than for work?
“Thesaurus” essentially means “treasure trove,” from the Greek thesauros, meaning “treasury” or “treasure chest”?
“Clone,” comes from the Greek klon, meaning “twig” because the earliest cloning process involved breaking twigs off of plants and using them to grow new ones?
“Brilliant” comes from a Latin word literally meaning “shining like beryl” (beryl being a category of mineral/gemstone to which emerald and aquamarine belong)?
“Algebra” comes from the Arabic al-jabr, meaning “a reunion of broken parts,” and was both an Arabic mathematical term and a medical term for setting broken bones?

Discover the magic of word origins in the pages of this new book of etymology, definitions, stories and more.

About the Author
JESS ZAFARRIS is the author of Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids (Rockridge Press, 2020). She is also an award-winning innovator of digital content and marketing solutions and a prolific online and print journalist, having most recently served as the Executive Director of Marketing & Communications for Gotham Ghostwriters. Before that, she served as Digital Content Director and Content Strategist for Writer’s Digest and Script, and she still occasionally writes for WD.

Her nine years of experience in digital and print content direction and marketing include such roles as editor-in-chief of HOW magazine and online content director of HOW and PRINT magazine, as well as writing for the The