Nonfiction Review: The Right Word: Roget And His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant Ill. by Melissa Sweet

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The Right Word: Roget And His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant Ill. by Melissa Sweet 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bryant, Jen. 2014. THE RIGHT WORD: ROGET AND HIS THESAURUS. Ill. by Melissa Sweet. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books. ISBN 978-0802853851 2. SUMMARY All of us have used a thesaurus, but how exactly did the thesaurus come to be? This fascinating picture book biography is all about the life of Peter Mark Roget, the man who created the “treasure house” of words. 3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS While most people probably find the thesaurus to be mundane reading, Jen Bryant tells the surprisingly fascinating story of how it came to be. Through Bryant’s portrayal, readers can sense that Roget is a curious, incredibly smart child. She describes how he would write his own books, but instead of writing stories, he would write lists, and categorize them. Bryant’s style of telling Roget’s story encourages readers to be lifelong learners. Melissa Sweet’s beautiful mixed media illustrations and child-like sketches transport readers into Roget’s world. The inclusion of word lists throughout the story give insight to how Roget began to list and categorize words. I didn’t necessarily know that I needed this biography, but I am so glad that I read it. I found it captivating and it inspired me to buy my own version of Roget’s Thesaurus. 4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY: “Together with Bryant’s sympathetic account, Sweet’s gentle riot of images and words humanizes the man behind this ubiquitous reference work and demystifies the thesaurus itself.” COMMON SENSE MEDIA: “THE RIGHT WORD is a richly illustrated biography of famed thesaurus author Peter Mark Roget.” 5. CONNECTIONS *Give students one word. Have them come up with as many synonyms for that word as they can, and then compare to the words in Roget’s thesaurus. Make it a game and time them for extra fun! *Allow students to create a word cloud using their favorite word and its synonyms from Roget’s Thesaurus.

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