Hello. I’m Steph and I’m a logophile

(logophile: n, a lover of words).

I love discovering books about words. I love learning new words. My very wise friend Jack once told me to keep a log of all of the words I learn from books, so in my handbag there is essentially my very own vocabulary book: any time I see a word I don’t know, I look it up and I write it in my vocab book (it’s something I tell kids they should be doing all the time, so why shouldn’t I do it too? They love learning about the new words I’ve been learning!)

I thought today I’d share with you 4 of my favourite books about words. I have more, but they’re at school, so I have no access to them! If you have any word book recommendations, I’d love to hear about them (because I clearly need more books about words…)

The Dictionary of Difficult Words – Jane Solomon and Louise Lockheart

This is a gorgeous, captivating book set up like a dictionary ja-packed with brand new words and it certainly taught me a lot. I’ve bought an extra copy to live in my classroom because my kids loved it so much. It’s beautifully illustrated and the words are described in a really accessible way too!

Literally – Patrick Skipworth

This is one of those lovely books that describes where words come from, which I ALWAYS love reading about. Like companion originally meant with bread (which makes PERFECT sense… pan = bread in Spanish!). Who knew? We take a lot of our words for granted and I love learning about where words originate! This is the perfect book for lovers of origins. 

What A Wonderful Word – Nicola Edwards

This book is a wonderful collection of worlds from all over the world which are untranslatable in our language. It celebrates the magic of language, with gorgeous original artwork and fascinating facts about each word and the culture it comes from. There’s some gorgeous words here that we should totally have in the English language.

Lost in Translation – Ella Frances Sanders

Very similar to What A Wonderful Word, this book is a celebration of words that are untranslatable in our language, but which have a wonderful meaning. I love the illustrations which go along with the words in this. 

And there you go! Four of my favourite WORDY books. There’s a few more that I have, but like I say, they’re safely at school at the minute. 

Have you got any favourite books which celebrate words?
Have you got a favourite word?
Do you keep a log in any way of the words which you learn from books?

I’d love some more word book recommendations if you’ve got them! Leave them in the comments, or let me know on twitter. I just love words ok?

S x