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The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus Hardcover – Picture Book, September 15, 2014

by Jen Bryant (Author), Melissa Sweet (Illustrator)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 177 ratings
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"Words, Peter learned, were powerful things. And when he put them in long, neat rows, he felt as if the world itself clicked into order."

For shy young Peter Mark Roget, books were the best companions — and it wasn't long before Peter began writing his own book. But he didn't write stories; he wrote lists. Peter took his love for words and used it to organize his ideas and find exactly the right word to express just what he thought. His lists grew and grew, eventually turning into one of the most important reference books of all time.

This book is an inviting, visually engrossing portrayal of Peter Mark Roget and the creation of the thesaurus. Readers of all ages will marvel at Roget's life, depicted through lyrical text and brilliantly detailed illustrations. This elegant book celebrates the joy of learning and the power of words.

Awards and Recognition

Parents' Choice Foundation Parents’ Choice Award Gold Winner (2015)
American Library Association Caldecott Honor Book (2015)
American Library Association Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal (2015)
American Library Association Notable Children’s Books (2015)
Junior Library Guild Selection
2014 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers' Literature Finalist
2014 American Booksellers Association Best Books for Children Catalog
Society of Illustrators, "The Original Art" annual exhibition (2014)
California Reading Association Eureka! Honor Award (2014)
2015-2016 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List
School Library Journal Best Books of 2014
Kirkus Best of 2014
Publishers Weekly Best Books (2014)
Horn Book Fanfare (2014)
Huffington Post Best Picture Books of 2014: Best Biography (Non-Artist)
New York Times Notable Children's Books of 2014
Booklist 2014 Editors' Choice: Books for Youth
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2015
2015-2016 Georgia Children's Picturebook Award Finalist
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators 2015 Golden Kite Award
National Council of Teachers of English 2015 Orbis Pictus Honor
The Children's Literature Assembly 2015 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts List
Bank Street College Best Children's Books of the Year, 2015 Edition
Teachers' Choice 2015 Reading List
Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (CLSC) 2015 Young Readers Selection

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  1. Reading age
    7 - 13 years, from customers
  2. Part of series
    Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children (Awards)
  3. Print length
    42 pages
  4. Language
    English
  5. Lexile measure
    590L
  6. Dimensions
    8 x 0.39 x 11 inches
  7. Publisher
    Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
  8. Publication date
    September 15, 2014
  9. ISBN-10
    0802853854
  10. ISBN-13
    978-0802853851
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 2–5—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. Bryant describes bibliophile Roget, taking him from a timid, studious child who was always compiling lists to an accomplished doctor who by 1805 had compiled the beginnings of the first thesaurus. Busy and exuberant, Sweet's charming watercolor illustrations, layered over collages of vintage images and fonts, capture Roget's passion for classification while also providing readers new opportunities for discovery (Latin translations of animal names, mathematical terms, and a plethora of synonyms). Expertly researched and well written, Bryant's narrative not only details the creation of the thesaurus; it also conveys a sense of Roget the man: his shy nature, his keen intelligence, and his passion for knowledge. There truly was a particular blend of artistry and intellect that went into Roget's book, as evidenced from a reproduced page from the original thesaurus. The book contains extensive back matter, including an incredibly detailed time line that goes into the man's other inventions (the slide rule, the pocket chess set) and an author and illustrator's note, as well as Roget quotations that are sure to inspire if not a love of language then at least a search for the perfect turn of phrase. An excellent illustrated biography.—Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

Review

-- Publishers Weekly (STARRED Review)
"Sweet envisions Roget's work as a shadow box crammed with the wonders of the natural world, adorned with exuberant hand-lettered typography. Together with Bryant's sympathetic account, Sweet's gentle riot of images and words humanizes the man behind this ubiquitous reference work and demystifies the thesaurus itself."

-- Kirkus Reviews (STARRED Review)
Bryant's prose is bright and well-tuned for young readers. . . . Sweet tops herself -- again! -- visually reflecting Roget's wide range as a thinker and product of the Enlightenment. Injecting her watercolor palette with shots of teal, scarlet and fuchsia, Sweet embeds vintage bits (ledger paper, type drawers, botanical illustrations and more), creating a teeming, contemplative, playfully celebratory opus. In a word: marvelous!"

-- Booklist (STARRED review)
"In brilliant pages teeming with enthusiasm for language and learning, Bryant and Sweet joyfully celebrate curiosity, the love of knowledge, and the power of words."

-- School Library Journal (STARRED review)
“Those who have relied upon a thesaurus . . . will gain a greater appreciation for the reference tool in this beautifully designed picture book biography of its creator, Peter Roget. . . . Busy and exuberant, Sweet’s charming watercolor illustrations, layered over collages of vintage images and fonts, capture Roget’s passion for classification while also providing readers new opportunities for discovery. . . . Expertly researched and well written, Bryant’s narrative not only details the creation of the thesaurus; it also conveys a sense of Roget the man. . . . An excellent illustrated biography.”

The Horn Book (STARRED review)
"Apt language and ingenious imagery. . . . both decorous and warm."

-- Capitol Choices
"From its busy end pages this lively book brings to life a creator and the words he was fascinated by."

New York Times
"Spirited portrait of the Swiss-born Victorian who found an ingenious way to help people say what they mean."

Washington Post
"Young readers will see that each page of this book, like each page of 'Roget’s Thesaurus,' contains multitudes."

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Encourages a sense of wonder. . . . Myriad visual temptations luring viewers into a fine browsing experience."

Midwest Book Review
“The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus is a fabulous illustrated junior biography, celebrating the richness and power of words, and the wonderful story of the man who organized and listed words to make them accessible to all who are literate.”
 
Through the Looking Glass Children’s Book Reviews
“In this remarkable book Jen Bryant’s lyrical text is paired with Melissa Sweet’s wonderful multimedia artwork to give young readers a compelling story about a man whose book of words, and their meanings, is now a valuable tool used by writers of all kinds.”
 

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Eerdmans Books for Young Readers; Illustrated edition (September 15, 2014)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 42 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0802853854
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802853851
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 7 - 13 years, from customers
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 590L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 0.39 x 11 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 177 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Jen Bryant

    Jen Bryant

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Jen Bryant writes picture books, novels and poems for readers of all ages. Her biographical picture book: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet,received a Caldecott Honor award and her historical novel in verse Ringside 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial is an Oprah Recommended Book for ages 12 & up. Other titles include Pieces of Georgia (IRA Young Adult Choices Pick), The Trial (about the 1935 Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial), a 1960's-era novel Kaleidoscope Eyes (a Jr. Library Guild selection), Georgia's Bones, celebrating the creative vision of artist Georgia O'Keeffe, Music for the End of Time, based on a true story about WWII, and Abe's Fish: A Boyhood Tale of Abraham Lincoln.

    Jen has taught writing and Children's Literature at West Chester University and Bryn Mawr College and gives lectures, workshops and school presentations throughout the year. She lives with her family in Chester County, PA.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Melissa Sweet

    Melissa Sweet

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Melissa Sweet is a New York Times bestselling author and has illustrated nearly 100 children’s books. Her work ranges from board books to picture books and nonfiction titles and her collages and paintings have appeared in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, and for eeBoo Toys. She has received numerous awards including the Sibert Medal, NCTE's Orbis Pictus Award, as well as two Caldecott Honor awards: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, and The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus, both by Jen Bryant.

    Sweet has written and illustrated four books: The New York Times Best Illustrated Carmine: A Little More Red; Tupelo Rides the Rails; The Sibert Award Winner Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade; and Some Writer! The Story of E.B.White.

    Her newest book is How to Read a Book by Kwame Alexander, (June, 2019).

    Melissa lives with her husband and dogs in Portland, Maine. For more information, visit www.melissasweet.net.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
177 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Helen
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful prose with amazing illustrations!
Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2017
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I need Roget's Thesaurus to think of enough adjectives for this amazing book. Jen Bryant can certainly write a great children's biography, engaging, poetic, and fun! My daughter and I enjoyed Six Dots: A Story of Young Louis Braille but this book is even better. We love words at our house so this book is even more meaningful. As an adult I am especially pleased when I also learn new facts from a children's book and it turns out I really did not know much about Dr. Roget at all.

Jen's writing style is fabulous and her words flow off the tongue when reading this aloud. My favorite sentence just from the standpoint of an amazing impact on the reader- "Baby Annette slept in Mother's arms, a small pink blossom against a wall of black." I can visualize the scene perfectly from that one sentence. You can feel it even. You just know that Peter's mother must be in mourning because his father died. On the next page you find that is exactly the case. The entire book is amazing like that. I read one beautiful passage and then my daughter wanted to read it as well. It really is fun to say the beautiful words out loud!

In addition to Bryant's inspired prose, Sweet's art is also fabulous. I am not sure how to describe it, maybe scrapbook style? There really are a lot of interesting things going on in the pictures that's for sure. So, we loved both reading and looking at this wonderful book. We highly recommend it!
15 people found this helpful
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nhk
5.0 out of 5 stars Fast service and excellent condition.
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2023
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I appreciated the fast service and the quality of the book. The bonus book was great. I recommend We.Live.To.Read. Besides, how can you miss with such a great name?
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Jess Squirel
5.0 out of 5 stars The fascinating history about what a thesaurus actually IS
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2019
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I wish this book were more well known. Its two awards are an indication of its excellence. The design and illustrations alone make it worth the read. But the biography unveils a fascinating history. After reading this book, I finally knew what a thesaurus actually was--not an online source of synonyms, or words that mean the same thing, but a treasure house of ideas and words that belong together topically. After reading this I ordered Roget's International thesaurus (it is as big as 2 Bibles), and my children and I delight in purusing at the lists of gem stones, fields of chemistry, types of stories, and complex webs of related ideas to a concept like "guild".
4 people found this helpful
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Heidi Grange
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful combination of words and pictures.
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2014
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One of my favorite books of 2014, The Right Word, takes a look at the creation of Roget's Thesaurus and the man who created it. Not only are the illustrations remarkable (which I would expect from Melissa Sweet), the text is beautifully integrated with them to present a striking book that is both informative and appealing. This book would be a great tool for helping children learn how to use a thesaurus and to develop an understanding of the power of having just the right word to use. Roget strikes me as a rather interesting man to study with his word fascination as well as interest in many aspects of science so I found the author's and illustrator's notes at the end thoroughly intriguing. The list of references and resources is also helpful and indicates the large amount of work that went into making this book. It was also really interesting to see a copy of one of the pages from Roget's notebook. A great book and a great resource and very possibly a soon to be award winner.
4 people found this helpful
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Momwith2boys
4.0 out of 5 stars I loved the book and the kids were a little saddened ...
Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2015
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I loved the book and the kids were a little saddened by it. It is a great book how a boy used his talents to create his own success. Beautiful pages and the kids loved reading all of the words on the pages.
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Jackie
5.0 out of 5 stars great story
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2023
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we homeschool and i love storybooks that teach and are also beautiful
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Libby Koponen
5.0 out of 5 stars BEST PICTURE BOOK BIOGRAPHY I'VE EVER READ AND SEEN
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2016
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I love this book -- and last night I had the pleasure of watching a nine-year old boy lose himself in it. He read it to himself, slowly (explaining that he wanted to really look at the pictures). He laughed when Peter said, "Mama, I'm fine." And when I looked over to see what had made him laugh, pointed to that and the black cloud over Peter's head in the next picture.

His only comment at the end was that they really knew how to make it interesting to kids.

They did. They do -- and rarely if ever have I seen a picture book biography in which the words and the art become one whole in this way, even when the same person did them both. I wish *I* could think of one right word for this book -- beautiful, moving, funny, well-written, how did they do it? And get so much into 40 pages? If I had to pick just one word, though: ILLUMINATING.

After I read the book (and I am still reading it, over and over and over) I bought Roget's Thesaurys, the 1933 one with the word still arrange his way.

Thank you Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet!
10 people found this helpful
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Mrs. Carolyn Ching
5.0 out of 5 stars A most beautiful book and so informative
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2014
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A most beautiful book and so informative. As a writer I have used Roget's Thesaurus for many years. In fact, I have 3 copies — two of them now rather battered, but loved. But I never knew anything about Roget himself. This book tells not only about how Roget researched and wrote his Thesaurus, but also about his other achievements, which were many. The book is actually for children, which I didn't know when I bought it — but it is so full of fascinating information about Roget, a rare genius, that it is suitable for anyone to read. It would be inspiring for children. In fact, I have already decided to buy another copy for a young boy I know, who will be very interested in it.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
書斎
5.0 out of 5 stars ロジェの生涯とシソーラスの誕生までを楽しく読める
Reviewed in Japan on February 3, 2018
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Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases, Classified and Arranged so as to Fascilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition（1852）の著者で、シソーラスの祖とされるロジェの伝記は評者の知る限りは下記の3部が発行されているが、
Emblen, D. L. 1970. Peter Mark Roget；The Word and the Man, Rennison, N. 2007. Peter Mark Roget: The Man Who Became a Book, Kendall, J. 2008. The Man who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness, and the Creation of Roget’s Thesaurus,
いずれも、専門者向けで入手も難しい。本書は子供向きの絵本で､　挿絵や写真を楽しみながらロジェの生涯とシソーラス誕生の経緯を知ることができる。なかでも最終頁の手稿本（1805）（existenceの項）の写真は見る人を圧倒するだろう。また年表の中でPiozziの British Synonymy Or an Attempt at Regulating the Choice of Words in Familiar Conversation(1794)をロジェのシソーラスの先駆としてあげているのも興味深い。ロジェのシソーラスは実用的に使うには手に余る。折に触れて参照して英語と英語の文化・論理を身につけてゆくのが最も良いと思われる。その前にロジェの伝記をまず読むとよい。
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Squeak 'n Banana
5.0 out of 5 stars The Right Words and Pictures
Reviewed in Canada on April 9, 2015
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Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet did a wonderful job portraying Roget and his penchant for words and lists. This picture book is an apt/suitable/fitting telling of a remarkable life.
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L. Tuckwell
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 23, 2015
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Interesting for children
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shopper
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in India on September 21, 2015
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caldecott winner!
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