The Boy Who Loved Words

February 20, 2006
How do you spell enthusiasm? Selig, a boy driven by his desire to collect words, surely knows the answer in this quirkily inspirational picture book. Rather than play ball or hang out with friends, Selig prefers jotting down words that appeal to him on slips of paper (his "pockets positively brimmed with words"). The other kids think he's an oddball, and nickname him Wordsworth. But Selig receives affirmation from a genie with a Yiddish inflection who appears to him in a dream and tells the boy to find a "poipose" to match his passion. On his ensuing travels, Selig finally finds ways to literally "spread the word," from his copious collection, for the greater good. Schotter's (Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street)
text, though slow in spots, whimsically conveys Selig's zeal for vocabulary building. Potter (The Year I Didn't Go to School
) joins in the fun by sprinkling her stylized earth-tone watercolors with collaged words in various fonts. Scenic background details and characters' clothing suggest 1950s New York City, giving this volume a pleasingly old-fashioned flair. Endpapers feature an extensive glossary to tickle young word-fanciers. One design quibble: the italic typeface used in the text to highlight newly discovered terms is sometimes difficult to read. Ages 4-8.

Starred review from April 1, 2006
Gr 1-4 -Schotter blends magical realism with a tongue-tingling narrative to create an ode to the power and purpose of language. Selig is passionate about words -their sounds ( -tintinnabulating! -), their taste ( -tantalizing! -), and the way they -moved his heart. - An avid word-hoarder, he delights in discovering new terms, recording them on paper scraps, and stowing them in pockets. Unable to comprehend their son's -strange predilection, - his practical-minded parents worry about his future, and his classmates cruelly add -oddball - to his collection. After dreaming about a Yiddish Genie who advises him to embrace his passion and seek his life's -poipose, - Selig embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Feeling weighted down by his vocabulary slips, he climbs a tree and carefully attaches them to the branches. Fantastically and fittingly, several of them blow into the hands of a poet who is struggling for the right adjectives to finish his verse. Selig realizes that his mission is to bestow his word wealth upon others. He tosses out -luscious - to accentuate a baker's wares, halts an argument with -harmony, - and invigorates an elderly man with -spry. - He grows up to find personal fulfillment and even true love. The author shares her own affection for language through the descriptive, lyrical text, italicizing particularly delectable but possibly unfamiliar terms and defining them in a two-page glossary. Potter's folk-art paintings echo the story's whimsy and set the action in an idyllic-looking, early-20th-century past. An inspiring choice for young wordsmiths and anyone who cherishes the variety and vitality of language." -Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2006
Gr. 2-4. Some people collect shells or stones; young Selig collects words. Whenever he hears a new one he likes, he jots it down on a slip of paper and stuffs it into a convenient pocket, a sock, a sleeve, or a hat. When you're a kid, such eccentric behavior doesn't go unnoticed, and soon his classmates have given him a new name, "Wordsworth," and a new word to add to his collection, " oddball." Ouch! But with the help of a friendly genie, who calls him "Voidsvoith, a lover of voids," Selig finds his life's purpose and romance, to boot. Potter's signature naive-style art is light and comical, while Schotter's words are a lovely celebration of the power and the music of language. A glossary of Selig's favorite words--from " aflutter" to " windmill--"adorns the book's endpapers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)