Noah Webster and His Words

by Jeri Chase Ferris and Vincent X. Kirsch

A playful, informative look at the life of fascinating Noah Webster, originator of... read more

A playful, informative look at the life of fascinating Noah Webster, originator of Webster’s Dictionary , notes that by age twelve Noah was skilled at farming, like the long line of Websters that came before him. “But Noah did not want to be in that long line. He did not want to be a farmer at all.” Noah wanted to be a scholar (“noun: one who goes to school; a person who knows a lot.”). Jeri Chase Ferris’s delightful account goes on to tell of Webster’s early days as a school teacher during the American Revolution, when he wrote a speller that distinguished American spelling from English. He began work on his dictionary—his major accomplishment—in 1807, after he’d studied twenty different languages (to provide word derivations). Nearly twenty years later, he finally finished (and took a nap). Ferris’s light touch is perfectly matched by Vincent X. Kirsch’s appealing illustrations in this picture book biography that includes additional information about Webster in an end note, along with a timeline and sources. (Ages 6–9)

© Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2013

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