Book Review: THE RIGHT WORD: ROGET AND HIS THESAURUS

         Bryant, Jen. (2014). The right word: Roget and his thesaurus. Ill. by. Melissa Sweet. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. (ISBN 9780802853851)

PLOT SUMMARY

Ever looked through a thesaurus and wondered why or how anyone would take the time to write and research those many words? Well, that is what author Jen Bryant was thinking when flipping through the thesaurus, which in turn wrote The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus and answered his own questions. The Roget and his thesaurus all started when a small boy named Peter Mark Roget unfortunately loses his father and has to move with his mother, uncle and sister. His family constantly moves which makes it difficult for Peter to make friends. He falls in love with reading books and discovers making lists of topics that intrigue him constitute as “friends”. As a teenage boy he adventures off on his own to London, enrolls in medical school at the age of fourteen, graduates from medical school at age nineteen, becomes a tutor to a wealthy man’s two sons, then at last, became a doctor, all the while Peter was creating multiple lists throughout this time. By the time 1805 comes around his big book of word lists is completed. During the time of his medical practice he also provides lectures of his knowledge to others, which find him intensely interesting. He marries at the age of forty-five and has one boy and one girl. As Peter held on to his book of lists, others around him had published their own work of lists, but found them to be incomprehensible. That encouraged Peter to work on his own book to be more user friendly so that everyone from doctors to fishermen could use and understand it. In 1852 Peter finally publishes the first edition Thesaurus: Thesaurus of English: Words and Phrases, Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition.    

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The author Jen Bryant from the beginning of the book to end the author Jen Bryant keeps the text light and is easy to follow along, making it interesting on how she decided to format the text on every page. For example, the books starts off with the paragraph in a list format, then goes back to using regular style format, and also includes journal like note taking style format. The style of text, keeps the readers engage throughout the book, along with the illustrations. The illustrations represent the book of lists Peter had worked on throughout part of his lifetime and Illustrator Melissa Sweet helps the readers visualize Peter’s world.

REVIEW EXCERPT (S)

-Book List starred (2014) “Bryant’s and Sweet’s talents combine to make the lowly thesaurus fascinating in this beautifully illustrated picture-book biography of Peter Mark Roget.”

-Horn Book Guide starred (2015) “Sweet embellishes her own gentle watercolors with all manner of clippings and realia.”

-School Library Journal (2014) “Those who have relied upon a thesaurus (meaning treasure house in Greek), either in print or through the tool menu of word processing software, will gain a greater appreciation for the reference tool in this beautifully designed picture book biography of its creator, Peter Roget.”

*Caldecott Honor, 2015

*Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, 2015

CONNECTIONS

The following books would greatly pair with Roget and His Thesaurus as students use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast their unique findings on inventions:

Brown, Don. Rare treasure: Mary Anning and her remarkable discoveries. ISBN

9780547349107

Ferris, Jeri. Noah Webster and his words. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN

9780544582422