I recently received a review copy of this new book. It arrived without my request or order, and with no promise of a review of any kind. When a package with books arrives it is always exciting, but a surprise such as this one was doubly so. Candlewick Press picture books are reliably outstanding, and this new title rises above even those high expectations. The intricacy and entertainment value of every single word and detail is amazing. Just look at the fantastic packaging approach they used:
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| Candlewick Press, 2024 Front Book Jacket |
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| Candlewick Press, 2024 |
THE DICTIONARY STORY is a masterful co-creation by Oliver Jeffries and Sam Winston. As eager as I was to read this new arrival, the wrapping intrigued me, too. I'm not giving away the added surprise UNDER that book jacket on the front and back of the hard case. It gets its own very special treatment and I urge readers to discover it.
Once I had carefully opened the wrapping, I sat with it for a long time. The wrapper was not, as I first assumed, a reproduction of a random dictionary page, or even an intentionally selected page. Instead, it's a wholly original page, offering alphabetical listings and original definitions that are "sorta-kinda" real but pack lots of layers and hints about what this book really offers.
I grew up in an era when dictionaries were ubiquitous- every home had one, classrooms had class-sets. They were typically dog-eared and even bedraggled, but the words awaited us there. I was NOT someone who wanted to read a dictionary from cover to cover, despite my love of and curiosity about words. I was more pragmatic, saving my words-on-the-page hours for actual reading with brief interruptions to search out meanings as need arose.
That, it seems, is a pattern not really appreciated by the dictionary itself, at least not by this one. This dictionary voices its increasing awareness of the injustice of HAVING all the words but never telling a story, told through a close third person voice. She understands that all the other books on the shelves know what they are, but her dissatisfaction is the utter waste of being the keeper of words without offering a single story. That wry, tongue-in-(book)gutter humor means she experiments with an A-to-Z story development. If you guess that an alligator and a zebra may be involved, you'll be right, but hold your smugness, please. That is likely the ONLY thing you'll predict correctly, other than predicting that this is a book filled with countless surprises and rich satisfaction. It is also a book that may intrigue kids enough to have them begging for a dictionary of their own to examine and imagine and use to launch language fun.
The hand-lettered text combines with visually accurate/realistic dictionary pages containing examples of ACTUAL alphabetized definitions and other listings that contain those slightly twisted versions of entries that are reflective of some aspects of the tale that come to life on the page. Young kids who have absorbed the importance of not damaging the pages of ANY book will both gasp and giggle when alligator bursts right through the displayed page instead of remaining as text on the prior page. That process does more than visually rip a hole in the page. It results in lines and words sliding and folding and otherwise losing their grip on reality or even the page.
From that point on, Alligator's appetite and adventures lead it through the dictionary, disrupting entries and any assumptions about what is actually on those pages, launching other characters and subplots that are partially meta-aware of what is happening but thoroughly affected by Alligator's story and their place in it. If this is sounding like an increasingly chaotic story, you're r right... and wrong. It has the escalating tensions that kids adore, while losing control within boundaries that even Alligator feels a need to impose. It will have kids begging for multiple re-reading, singing along, and arguing about who gets to have the book next to look more closely for hidden details and connections.
Older readers (including adults) will discover one or two of the cleverly constructed/contrived definitions that adhere to reality until they veer a degree or two off-kilter. If you're like me, that leads to wanting to read every single entry on every page- something I never would consider with an actual dictionary. I read the entire page of that cover wrapper, which had me grinning from first to last word, then noticing that reading only the entry words themselves in the order listed offers even more content.
The creators have indicated in many interviews that this was a project of love and commitment, that they chose to take as much time as needed t get every aspect right. I appreciate each and every minute they devoted to their work. I believe you will, too. I also see this as one of those books that will become a timeless classic, used across many ages, for many purposes, and by many readers. My caution to all is to always adhere to the greatest truth in books with so many magnificent layers. When introducing this to any of the above audiences, please remember- it's a PICTURE BOOK, meant to be ENJOYED. Use it THAT WAY first, then return to it for as many hours or days or months of exploration that it invites. It is priceless on the first reading, and invaluable as en example of the depths that picture books can achieve. But that first, fantastic reading should always be honored. Oh, but don't ignore the endpages!
Note: I didn't include even one example of an interior image, or quote one twisted-entry example. To hear about those directly from this talented pair of creators, click HERE for an audio discussion between the creative pair that was featured on NPR recently. I admired the headline written for that piece and chose not to "borrow it", but it says it all: "A Kids' Book That Defies Definition".
