The Dictionary Story - A Cover to Cover Masterpiece

 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:

Candlewick Press, 2024 Front Book Jacket

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".

Dictionary for a Better World: Letter by Letter

Covid update:
"Openings" from Safer-at-Home policies have varied, based on communities, states, and lawsuit results. It's been a solid two weeks since Memorial Day. Since then, openings are ubiquitous, including a wide range of cautionary recommendations and an even wider range of non-compliance with those guides. In recent days I've heard that numbers of Covid-19 are rising-- in positive test results, in hospitalizations, and in deaths. 
I have no words for the frustration and fear I feel at the prospect of SO MANY people deciding that "it's over", that they "need" to get out into crowds, ignoring simple cautions when they do.
The stock market had been ignoring economic and science cautions, leading to record highs this week. Until yesterday, a day of reckoning and drastic losses after forecasts of slow, lengthy economic recovery were announced by top officials. Just imagine the reaction when (not if) Covid-19 returns with a vengeance: with a change in seasons, with unhealthy choices, and with the backlash following false assumptions that it is gone.

BLACK LIVES MATTER protests update:
Two weeks ago George Floyd's murder under the knee of a uniformed police officer was recorded by a bystander. Since then a nationwide protest response has expanded globally, with powerful consequences still unfolding. In those two weeks I've had many important conversations. I hope to have many more. I've viewed, listened to, and learned from videos and people whose voices have not been heard in the past, at least not outside a powerless echo chamber. In recent days, I've been reading predictions about a potential "White Backlash" coming. I will continue speaking up about the need to open doors, windows, minds, and stories more widely in order to counter any efforts to slow the momentum of this movement.

Anyone reading this as it posts live will wonder why I would bother adding a note about something(s) so self-evident. I've been writing these posts for nearly a decade now. I'm including these introductory comments for myself or others who could return to posts in the future, reading with my perspective in the moment in this time in history. I find that these current global and local forces affect my choices and reflections about which picture books to feature here. My notes are also a way to preface my book thoughts that follow.

Carolrhoda Books

DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z is the second writing collaboration between poets  Irene Latham and Charles Waters. Illustrations are by Mehrdokht Amini.  
These two authors first opened a poetic dialogue in CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? Poems of Race and Friendship (2018). There, they used alternating poems in the voices of a young white girl and a young black boy, an exploration beginning with curiosity and cluelessness, but growing into an accepting and affectionate friendship. 
DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD features  poems from alternating poets (with related quotations from others and memoir-like reflections by the author for that particular poem/theme). Each poem adds a note about its form/structure, and each full spread provides an inviting challenge to "TRY IT", suggesting simple acts or reflections that readers might try for themselves.


That may sound like a heavy burden for one book, but this "dictionary" is uplifting. The book design elevates its appeal with the gorgeous artwork and visual interpretation on each spread. A Table of Contents offers the scaffolding on which this wonder is built. Poems are listed alphabetically with several letters launching more than one theme and spread, including such timeless topics as ALLY, DREAM, GRATITUDE, SHERO, and WONDER, among a total of forty-eight explorations. Back matter includes authors' notes, references for quotations, recommended books, poetry-writing resources and forms, and acknowledgements listed as gratitudes. 

I read this two different ways. First, I dove in from cover to cover, moving through more quickly than I would recommend. I tend to devour favored foods (think pizza, fresh melon, etc.) so fast that, after the last bite, I'm feeling overstuffed. It's a pattern I work to curb, but not always successfully. In this case, I was eager to get a sense of the WHOLE, knowing I'd return to taste it another way after I reached the last page. 
I have no regrets about the approach, because I found it to be delicious, even if it was a lot to digest in one sitting. The choices of topics/themes for each letter are mindfully sequenced, each building on the body of thoughts that came before. In their earlier work the poems collectively revealed a story of friendship. A dictionary is not intended to tell a story, and yet within its pages are all the stories one could choose to tell. This dictionary offers that same wealth of emotional and social vocabulary to write and revise our own stories.
Taken individually or as a whole, this book offers timeless and universal inspiration, but is particularly suited to the current times. Here's an example, from Charles:

EMPATHY     (Acrostic Poem)

Ears open

Mouth closed

Paying

Attention

To the other person

Helping them know

Yes, they matter.

QUOTATION: 

"Even though I didn't think I'd like empathy it kind of creeps up on you and makes you feel all warm and glowy inside. I don't think I want to go back to a life without empathy."

Kathryn Erskine, MOCKINGBIRD

Charles says...

(He shares details of a painful incident in high school in which he was hurt by a teacher's comments, with a reflection on the way a trusted teacher helped him through it.)

TRY IT!

(Simple suggestion about ways to handle others who gossip, about you or someone else.)

Before you get worried that the topics are all introspective and intense, the options include:
LAUGHTER, ZEST, EXERCISE, HOPE, and YES. The range is  impressive and wide-ranging enough to serve as conveniently as any dictionary, a book to keep on hand to weave poetry, inspiration, and fun into every day life. The poetry forms and back matter tips make this mentor text of the best kind, providing excellence in example and clarity in directions.

I hope you'll take a look at this book. it is much longer than a typical picture book, but one that provides material to spark conversations, encourage exploration of poetry  reading and writing, and provide a wealth of comfort and joy. 
Sounds pretty good about now, right?