The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bryant, Jen. 2014. The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus. Ill. by Melissa Sweet. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. ISBN 978-0-8028-5385-1

PLOT SUMMARY

“When he put them in long, neat rows, he felt as if the word clicked itself into order.” After the death of Peter Roget’s father, he finds that creating word lists are a comfort to him. His family moves around a lot, leaving Roget to struggle with making friends. He turns to his lists and began his first book at eight, called Peter, Mark, Roget. His Book.

The text follows him from childhood to adulthood, as he grows up to become a teacher. He continues to add lists to his book, including a list of “right words. “After nineteen years of writing lists, he finished his book in 1885. He had become a doctor and started giving lectures. His book of word lists came in handy when he needed to be precise during his lectures. He got married and had a family of his, but he was still a bit shy. He continued adding lists to his book, but other writers had the same idea. With his children’s encouragement, Peter decide to reorganize his book and publish it. His “treasure house” book, called Thesaurus was a hit!

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The first page of the book piques the reader’s interest because it labels the text features on the page such as: the title, sub-title, author, illustrator, and geographical location. This colorful biography includes lists on every page, reinforcing the idea of Roget’s love of lists. Melissa Sweet includes only words that are found in Roget’s original book. She utilized a mixture of photography, scans, and illustrations to provide the colorful backgrounds.

After the last text, Jenkins includes a List of Principal Events that detail important moments in Roget’s life, along with world events. He also includes an author’s note that gives some background information about how he became interested in the life of Roger Roget. There is also an illustrator’s note that explains how Sweet created her beautiful collages and the inspiration behind them. A copy of a page from Roget’s original book is included, which lends an authentic touch to the book.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Starred review in the Horn Book Guide: “Apt language and ingenious imagery combine to tell the life story of Peter Mark Roget, creator of the thesaurus.”

2015 Caldecott Medal Winner

Booklist 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."

CONNECTIONS

*Invite students to rewrite familiar book titles using a thesaurus. They can present their ideas to the class.

*Other related reading about word authors:

Ferris, Jeri Chase. Noah Webster and His Words. ISBN 978-0544582422