Mrs Wordsmith Storyteller’s Illustrated Dictionary Ages 7–11 (Key Stage 2): + 3 Months of Word Tag Video Game

Excellent book.

Would recommend

After reading all the positive reviews, I have high expectations for this dictionary, plus I have been looking for one for a while. However, I find it not as useful as how I thought it would be. the way how it organized it I find it quite tricky and the words that put together under different themes is a bit too complicated for a 7 years old and some of them are very odds as well. I would rather to have a traditional dictionary rather a one like this.

This is a pretty solid hardback book that is actually more of a cross between a dictionary and a thesaurus. The book is split into different sections- action, character, emotion, setting, taste & smell, and weather. There is then a word pair glossary section- this is what I would consider to be a ‘normal’ dictionary and a index.Each of the main sections have an introductory page detailing the words or nouns included in that section. There are then one or two double page spreads for each of these different words, which are designed to improve their vocabulary and suggest alternative words. For example, within the Character section is a page for ‘beautiful words’ which then suggests chiselled, dazzling, flawless, impeccable, mesmerising and statuesque as alternatives, giving definitions for each of these. It also includes word pairs for each of these- recommending that style, reputation or manners would pair well with impeccable. The illustrations on the pages take up a large bulk of the pages but this makes the book feel more approachable and less foreboding than a traditional dictionary or thesaurus.This is a great book and my son will make lots of use of it over the next few years, its aimed at 7-11 year olds and this seems the right age.

Absolutely brilliant book for our kids, my oldest two are 8 and 10 and avid readers and writers of their own stories, they get their descriptive language from the mountain of books they read but a lot of the books do not push their knowledge of the language and are often similar and use more of a jokey language rather than descriptive.The book is very nicely illustrated throughout with cartoon images on each page. The pages have defined sections to do with descriptive areas such as sights and sounds and they give clear descriptions of each.The kids started out looking up a word they weren’t sure of as we found out when they are reading out loud to us if they came across a word they didn’t know they just read it out loud anyway and carried on, now they will look it up and use that word in their own story.A brilliant aid to have in the house for budding story writers.

This is an excellent book for the target age range (7 to 11) to help broaden a child's vocabulary and linked to story telling. As others have said its a bit of a cross between a dictionary and a thesaurus. Whilst marketed with storytelling in mind it's just a good reference book for keen minds.

This book contains “1,000 words of inspiration”, and it truly is inspirational. Written in an engaging manner with attractive illustrations, and ingeniously structured in sections that children can easily delve into to broaden their vocabulary choices and improve their writing, it’s an excellent resource for the classroom or home.The sections are ‘the six key building blocks of storytelling’ - Character, Setting, Taste and Smell, Action, Emotion, and Weather. Children can easily look up alternative word choices to make their writing come to life, and the hilarious illustrations reinforce meanings, ensuring words are unforgettable.I ordered this book to use in my Year 5 class (ages 9-10) and it has already become a firm favourite ‘go-to’ in the writing resource corner.

My 8-year-old daughter has recently been told by her teacher to try to use more descriptive words and phrases in her schoolwork and stories. This book has come exactly at the right time in her learning. The illustrations are funny and colourful and really make the book work well in my opinion. The book is divided into sections which include action, character (nouns), emotion, setting, taste and smell and weather. There are so many great ideas here and new words for my daughter to learn. This is a great hardback which assists with storytelling in a really fun way.