Noah Webster's Fighting Words

Starred review from March 6, 2017
Noah Webster himself serves as “editor” for this wry introduction to his life and work, marking up the pages with corrections, commentary, and deletions (usually in service of portraying himself in the best possible light). Maurer (Storm Codes) paints a picture of a man secure in his opinions, including his desire to see America “break away from Great Britain in every way. Politics. Trade. Even in its ways of speaking and spelling.” Alongside Webster’s many interjections (“I was simply helping people to see the right point of view,” he says in response to claims that he often argued), Catusanu (How to Eat an Airplane) creates lively, patchwork scenes that incorporate samples from prints, newspapers, books, and Webster’s own letters. It’s a boisterous account of a singular contributor to America’s linguistic legacy. Ages 7–11. Author’s agent: Kendra Marcus, Bookstop Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words.

Starred review from February 1, 2017

Gr 3-5-Maurer and Catusanu have created a wonderfully clever and humorous depiction of Noah Webster as an outspoken, driven man who endlessly advocated for weaning Americans from British influence by producing a lexicon of truly American words with American pronunciations. For example, at that time, the terms skunk, hickory, and chowder did not exist outside the United States. Born in 1758, Webster was a young Yale student during the tumultuous times of the Revolutionary War, and he used his words as weapons to fight against British cultural dominance. Two qualities of this picture book combine to make it engaging and amusing: Webster is introduced to readers right on the cover, where he establishes himself as editor of the content. Throughout, his "fictional ghost" adds playful editorial comments to what the author has related about his life and accomplishments. The fictionalized Webster marks out statements made about him that he doesn't like, adds his own perspective on his actions, and inserts comments here and there to provide further context to a situation. The second element that makes the title so delightful is the collaged illustrations, which incorporate archival images and excerpts from primary documents in a visually appealing, lighthearted way. Many of the people shown in the artwork have speech bubbles coming out of their mouths containing popular opinions of the time. A time line of Webster's life and notes at the back confirm the extensive research the author did to verify the information.

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2017
The story of Noah Webster, America's original man of letters. Noah Webster was concerned with letters, literally. With America formally separated from England, he wanted to break away from Great Britain in every way. As a classroom teacher, he saw that students didn't learn American geography or American history or read American stories. And students used British grammar books. So, the same year the American Revolution ended, he published A Grammatical Institute of the English Language, and his spelling book became America's first bestseller. Webster also believed in simplifying spelling, so that words would be spelled the way they sounded: center instead of centre, jail instead of gaol, iz for is, and hed for head. Though not every suggestion caught on, he changed the spellings of more English words than anyone ever had. Maurer, ever mindful of her own words and spelling every one carefully, has crafted a text that reflects Webster's feisty personality and provides enough history to establish sufficient context for Webster's work. Catusanu's mixed-media illustrations combine child-friendly depictions of Webster, Benjamin Franklin, and others with period drawings and excerpts from period newspapers, books, and Webster's own handwritten letters. Digitally collaged speech bubbles and the occasional obviously anachronistic image give the design a lively feel. Young readers encountering new words here will know where to find help--Webster's dictionary!An attractive volume demonstrating that even words themselves have a story. (author's note, illustrator's note, timeline, sources, bibliography, primary sources, more information) (Picture book/biography. 7-10)

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March 15, 2017
Grades 2-5 In this biography, interspersed with Webster's edited first-person comments in asides, Noah proudly states that he began life . . . full of confidence in my own opinions. The writing style elicits humor, showing the red-headed boy growing up, unafraid to edit out sentences and rewrite them with his own truer statements. Words and books always fascinated him, and after graduating from college, he found his voice and penned letters, speeches, and newspaper articles that fought for independence from Britain. He also wanted freedom from British spelling, insisting that American students needed American words, like skunk, chowder, and hickory. His American Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1828. The digitally processed mixed-media illustrations use collage and speech bubbles for an appealing, contemporary feel. Children will delight in catching the boy picking his nose, the dunce-capped child in the corner in school, and the printed broadsheets. A time line, sources, bibliography, and author's notes reinforce the historical element of this Monty Pythonesque tale.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)