If a picture is worth a thousand words, one big word, correctly used, is worth numerous little words. The big words in this book – one for each letter of the alphabet – have been selected not only for their frequency in the written language, but also for their sound. In every instance, the word has more than one syllable and the sound of the word lends itself to a pun.
The stories in the book are, as you will see, suggested by the pun. Although the stories are fanciful, they lead to the correct meaning of the words. By recalling the story and the concluding pun, children ought to remember what ach word means. The stories and the puns, therefore, serve as memory hooks and encourage children to increase their vocabulary by forming their own mnemonics for any new words they encounter.
[The Weighty Word Book] will appeal to kids who want to sound as smart as they are. It offers a clever, funny way to introduce new words into the vocabulary. . . . There’s one word for every letter of the alphabet–wait until you see what they do with dogmatic, juxtapose and zealot.
The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Each of these twenty-six short stories takes an elaborate, circuitous path that leads to a ‘weighty’ one-word punch line. . . . It’s a creative and humorous approach to vocabulary building, and a natural lead in to having students create their own tall tales with multisyllabic conclusions.
School Library Journal
