Children's Illustrated Dictionary

With high quality pictures and useful meaning of words,this book is an excellent production.

Most DK products for children are outstanding and this is one of them. It is a beginner's dictionary for Second and Third graders although my First Grader, who is an advanced reader uses it extensively. It has a section devoted to how to use the dictionary which is well explained and easily understandable for the student. From it a student learns that each entry tells what part of speech the word is (i.e. "noun"), how it is pronounced (used in the Dictionary only on some hard words) , other forms of the word, the plural, antonyms, comparisons, tenses, and related words, as well as a sample sentence. It also has a section on parts of speech "All About Words" which is well written, although the terms used to describe some parts of speech may not be the same terms used in different schools. For example, the dictionary describes some verbs as "Helping Verbs" where others describe them as "Linking verbs." It also includes a section of Dictionary games which are helpful in teaching the use of a dictionary. There are two pages of definitions, a one page Spelling Guide that summarizes phonics, a good one page on Word Building, useful in teaching prefixes and suffixes, a not too useful page of Facts and Figures, a useful page of Numbers, and lastly a brief list of the Countries of the World. What it lacks are second definitions such as for the word "rare" as it would apply to meat. What is best about this Dictionary as an invaluable tool for parents who assist or tutor their children. When children are first learning to read, they encounter many new words and they frequently ask parents what those words mean. It is challenging for parents to tell children the meaning of a word in terms that are simple enough for a child to understand. This dictionary is very helpful in that respect and because it includes more than 5,000 words, it is particularly useful for that purpose, unlike other My First Dictionarys which are limited to a 1,000 words and never have the word you are looking for.

This dictionary by Dorling Kindersley is just what a childs reference book should be. It is sturdy and brightly attractive and my 4 year old daughter often asks me to sit down with her and just look at the various pictures and tell her what word goes with them. Beyond that I have found it to be a mommy life-saver because this same child --and now my son-- will ask me what something means and I find myself at a loss as to how to explain the word in simple enough terms. Wa-La, the DK Illustrated dictionary. Their explanations are short and perfect; and although it is not a comprehensive dictionary (you will not find words like impugn and insolent) it is certainly the best one that my hubby and I have found on the market.

Great gift from Grandmother. Children love this book. It's a great book for anybody learning the English language. EVERY class should have this book. This is a gift that everybody appreciates. Get the book down for the child to look at and learn. Great teaching tool! Exceptional pictures! I always buy two--one for the new grandchild, and a copy goes to the school, when they start school. You have my vote for the VERY BEST.

We needed a good dictionary for our second-grader. This fit the bill. Our cover looks slightly different (e.g., "DK" instead of "Darling Kindersley"), but it is the same ISBN. I looked at ALL the appropriate dictionaries, probably 40 in total, and this was the best. There are 5,000 main entries (related words bring the total to 12,000 words), including most of the ones that our child uses in class -- he wanted to make sure they were there. The alphabet runs down each page with the current letter highlighted in color. Each word tells what type it is (noun, adverb, etc.), but it is unobtrusive. There are 2,500 pictures, which many of them being incredibly descriptive -- good pictures for words like "lose", "guess", "shrug", "zigzag". Many of the words not only have the definitions, but a sample sentence that uses the word clearly. This is definitely a best-buy for our second-grader.

Young readers will not only love the 2,500 full-color photographs and illustrations, they will find this dictionary easy to understand. When you look up the word "wave" you not only find the description, you will also find a picture of the wave. Not all the words have pictorial explanations, but in many cases the word is used in a sentence. For example, "every" would have a sentence using the word and state: "Every" space in the parking lot was full. The 12,000 word entries are explained through clean definitions, examples and usage. This is an invaluable reference book for young readers and writers. It was developed in consultation with experts in the teaching field. The vocabulary lists are up-to-date and includes entries such as compact disc, biodegradable and word processor. The introductory section encourages dictionary skill. This book will help to build a child's understanding of language and will help them to improve spelling and grammar skills. ~The Rebecca Review