STAR SAILOR

A starter kit for young etymologists.

Words are essential—but what is a word? Where did our words come from? And how do words change over time? Cassidy discusses word roots and stems, portmanteaux and compound words, words “named for what they remind us of” (such as a computer mouse), and terms named after the people who came up with them (including the braille system and the Apgar score). The pages are stuffed with fascinating facts, such as the assertion that 10 new English words are created every day on average. The author also covers the evolution of words, explaining that sometimes longer words are shortened (influenza becoming flu), that mispronunciations often give birth to new words, and that words can be playful (yes giving way to yep, yeah, and even yeppers). Cassidy considers some of the many words English has borrowed from Yiddish, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, and more—including First Peoples’ languages. Questions addressed to readers will elicit active engagement; a section that invites kids to say various onomatopoeic words aloud promises plenty of participatory play. McLaughlin’s lineless, slightly simplified but realistically detailed color cartoons against flat backgrounds allow the words to shine. The art is attractive and clarifies the text: On one page, LEGO-style blocks demonstrate how prefixes and suffixes can be used to build words; maps locate the countries from which words have arrived.

An appealing and enlightening examination of the gallimaufry that is English.