Thirty Million Words by Dana Suskind is about the literacy project of the same name that focuses on improving children’s access to language from day one. In the first three years of life, children should hear 30 million words to improve their chances for learning and growth for their entire life! I enjoyed reading the research

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Lost in Translation by Ella Frances Sanders (Ten Speed Press, September 2014) is a delightful dabbling in the untranslatable (into English) words of the world. I’ve always felt that foreign languages are important to learn simply because English cannot always express everything there is to say. Artist Ella Frances Sanders brings some of these words to

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Raisin enjoyed reading the early chapter books about a word-loving girl named Daisy. In Daisy’s Defining Day by Sandra Feder, Daisy discovers the joy of alliteration and finds herself as she seeks out the perfect alliterative title for herself. As she searches for some fun phrases to enjoy, she also learns a few lessons about friendship

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Wumbers by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (Chronicle Books, 2012) is a beautifully illustrated tribute to William Steig’s C D B!, a favorite from my own childhood. In C D B!, Steig tells stories only using letters, the title, for example, becoming “See the bee!” Wumbers, then is a new creation, using numbers to create words: ca9 means

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The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster and classically illustrated by Jules Feiffer (1961) is a book for the clever reader. The book is full of wonderful wordplay, cliché, word stereotypes, and logic puzzles for a young child (and the adult!) to chuckle over and enjoy. In the story, the young Milo is bored of school

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