In a Word: 750 Words and Their Fascinating Stories and Origins
Grade 5-9-Spanning a broad range of topics, this collection of word origins informs and entertains readers. Organized into 16 chapters with catchy titles such as "Military Madness," "Glorious Gizmos & Great Grub," and "Tantalizing Tidbits," the concise entries are both relevant and thoughtful. "Exceptional Expressions" is a particularly fun chapter for browsing, as it offers historical context and origins of commonly used phrases such as "baker's dozen," "chew the fat," and "go berserk." Amusing black-and-white drawings and bits of pertinent trivia appear throughout. Younger students who are still developing their vocabulary and cultural knowledge may find some of the explanations a bit esoteric, but generally comprehensible. One minor drawback is that pronunciations are located in the index instead of with the actual entry, which can be a bit cumbersome. More accessible, but less comprehensive thanThe Facts On File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins(Facts On File, 1997), this is a solid choice for librarians wanting to update their English language collections.-Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.