Hello Friday, Hello Poets,
Jan G. Annino is hosting our round-up today at Book Seed Studio. Make sure you visit her thoughtful, soulful, kind blog space for a poetry filler-up. She is a lifeforce of positivity that also writes.
Last year, I heard some buzz about a new book by Tara Lazar, Absurd Words. A Kid's Fun and Hilarious Vocabulary Builder for Future Word Nerds (2022. Sourcebooks eXplore).
You might recognize Lazar's name from her many other award-winning books, blog Writing for Kids While Raising Them, especially Storystorm--a January brainstorm for picture book writers (although I've used the daily prompts for poem writing).
Like any good school librarian, I asked my public library to order a copy so I could see it in person before purchasing it.
I love Absurd Words! This book nudged me hard toward choosing WORD as my O-L-W for 2023.
First, like all of Lazar's books, this book is funny! The table of contents offers Word Squads instead of chapters in bright, middle-grade-friendly colors and topics. See the humorous figurative language and turns of phrases?
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| See Kirkus' Five Star Review |
Linda, please share when you create a lesson around this book. I especially love the word "sesquipedalian." I think my gifted kids would have a fun time with all these words.
ReplyDeleteI can see why this book influenced your OLW choice! (Love your ABSURD padlet poem!!) I, too, will be a good consumer and reserve this from the library before I (likely) purchase it. I'm thinking it will pair nicely with Dictionary for a Better World and Julie Paschkis' The Wordy Book (surely you know this one? if not...you'll LOVE it). I'm planning to push-shove-gently-nudge my readers out of their comfort zone this spring with some writing. These three books will be my launchpad.
ReplyDeleteOh, what a fun source of inspiration. I love knowing about this book -- and the books Mary Lee mentions, too! Yay for new source material!
ReplyDeleteI would have loved this book as a kid (you know, the one who read the dictionary for fun), and as a teacher. Who am I kidding? I would still love it now! Thanks for sharing it. I enjoyed your delightfully absurd poem, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing me to this book - it sounds like a lot of fun. And I loved both your absurd poems - the acrostic was a bonus :)
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds & looks like just plain fun, Linda, & your "word" poem is 'absurdly' terrific! (Your year of the 'word' is going to be very interesting!)
ReplyDeleteOh "my word" what a fabulously fun word poem Linda, thanks for all the smiles, and preview of Tara'a book! 🥰
ReplyDeleteWe are all using the *word* fun to respond to this book and what fun to be in the company of people who find words--absurd and otherwise--actual fun! I hope that your OLW this year will bring you as much range and surprise as your past choices.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice review of Tara's new word book -- looks fabulous!! Also enjoyed your fun Absurd poem :). I think I may need a blue housecoat now . . . ~ Jama
ReplyDeleteOh, I forgot about this book! Might need to get it for my library too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun poem! Love that you ended it with a nod to your OLW!
ReplyDeleteI must get Tara's book! Thank you for sharing it here. Wonderful acrostic!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda--just added this to my tbr shelf!
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