Amazon.com Review
What would you do if your teacher told you to stop using the word "nice" so much? If you had the
Scholastic Children's Thesaurus, you'd flip through it until you found "nice" between "new" and "noise." Then you'd find your options: "pleasant," "agreeable," "good-natured," "delightful," and "fantastic" (defined as "extremely nice or good!"). Nearby, a color bar warns, "Nice is a very general word to describe someone you like or something that makes you feel good, but it is not very specific. Be careful not to overuse it. Often a stronger or more specific word is better." At this point, you might be rolling your eyes because your teacher already said all that, but you'll be a more pleasant, agreeable, good-natured, delightful, and fantastic writer for your efforts!
John K. Bollard's thesaurus, playfully illustrated by Mike Reed, contains more than 500 main "headwords" and 2,500 synonyms, but if you can't find the word you're looking for--"energetic," for example--you can flip to the index in the back where you'll find "Energetic--See Lively." Lively leads you to "active," "energetic," and "vigorous." All synonyms include a definition as well as one or more sample sentences. This fine thesaurus--paired with the Scholastic Children's Dictionary--will help any young writer make appropriate word choices, think more critically about language, and therefore proceed to the head of the class! (Ages 9 to 13) --Karin Snelson
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7?This accessible thesaurus will foster an appreciation for and broaden knowledge of language, stimulate the development of writing skills, and assist in the expression of ideas in a lucid and precise fashion. An introduction that explains how to use this resource is followed by more than 500 alphabetically arranged entries. Each one contains a headword printed in green capital letters, names its part of speech, and presents a group of synonyms that "progress from the more common or familiar terms to the less common or more sophisticated vocabulary." Succinct definitions and example sentences are provided for all of the words in the entry, helping students to make appropriate choices for writing assignments. See references guide readers to additional synonyms. An index includes all of the headwords and synonyms in the work, and provides antonyms to many of the headwords. Liberally interspersed with colorful illustrations, the layout is clean and readable. This volume serves as an excellent gateway to thesaurus use; however, as its scope is limited, it is recommended only for circulation or as a supplementary purchase. Roget's Children's Thesaurus (HarperCollins, 1994) offers an uncluttered layout, a word list composed of over 1000 terms, and colorful pictorial matter.?Hillary Jan Donitz-Goldstein, New York Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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