Book Review: THE RIGHT WORD: ROGET AND HIS THESAURUS

BOOK REVIEW, GENRE 4: THE RIGHT WORD: ROGET AND HIS THESAURUS

Author: Jen Bryant

Title: The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus

Illustrator: Melissa Sweet

Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: 2014

ISBN: 9780802853851

Plot summary: The story of British physician Peter Mark Roget and how the events from his youth created a need for order. That need manifests itself into a list of words in neat rows until he has so many notebooks filled that a book was created: Roget’s Thesaurus. Roget’s hope was every person, no matter their profession, could consult his book to find just the right word.

Critical analysis: The collage design of The Right Word was what first drew me to select this book for review. The use of ephemera mixed with line art and watercolor drawings make crazy quilt illustrations -- your eye is always finding something new you hadn’t yet seen. Illustrator Melissa Sweet wrote in her Illustrator’s Note that it was Roget’s vertical red line separating his entries in the original 1805 word book that inspired her to use collages in the illustration.

There are many nuggets of information throughout the book which adds credibility to the accuracy in the events told in this children’s biography. A List of Principal Events not only includes main events in Roget’s life, but also world events. The Author’s Note tells the story of what piqued her interest in Peter Mark Roget. For readers who would like to explore more, there is a Selected Bibliography and a For Further Reading. What I feel the readers would enjoy seeing most is a picture of a page from Roget’s original word book.

Author Jen Bryant opens The Right Word with Roget as a small boy when his father died in 1783. The story moves forward chronologically from there. Due to the many moves his family had to make, Roget found friends wherever he went in his books: “Peter’s family moved often, so making friends was difficult. But books, Peter discovered, were also good friends. There were always plenty of them around, and he never had to leave them behind.” Readers learn that Roget made word lists as a coping mechanism: “And when he put them in long, neat rows, he felt as if the world itself clicked into order.”

Bryant’s writing incorporates a thesaurus-type style when Roget frets on finding just the right word to use: “Perhaps worry wasn’t quite the right word. What was the right word? Peter began a new list: worry, fret, grieve, despair, intrude, badger, annoy, plague, provoke, harass, enough to drive one mad. How wonderful it felt to find just the right word!” Very appropriate for a biography on the man who created Roget’s Thesaurus – which has stayed in print continuously since 1852.

Review excerpt:

• 2015 Randolph Caldecott Medal honor book
• 2015 winner, Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal
• Best Children’s Books of the Year, 2015, Bank Street College of Education
• 2015 winner, Golden Kite Award, United States
• 2014 winner Lupine Award

• The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, November 2014 (Vol. 68, No. 3), by Elizabeth Bush: “Most kids will encounter a thesaurus at sometime in their education, and Bryant encourages a sense of wonder about the kind of guy who would dream up such a tome.”

• Children’s Literature, by Jean Boreen, Ph. D.: “While I am very familiar with Roget s Thesaurus, I have to admit that I had never given much thought to Roget himself, or why he put his lists of words and definitions together. After reading this delightful picture book, though, I now have a real appreciation for Peter Mark Roget, his love of books, and his lists of words.”

• Kirkus Reviews, August 1, 2014 (Vol. 82, No. 15): “Sweet embeds vintage bits (ledger paper, type drawers, botanical illustrations and more), creating a teeming, contemplative, playfully celebratory opus. In a word: marvelous!”

Connections:

• Students can visit Jen Bryan’s web site to learn more about her works: http://www.jenbryant.com/

• Librarians can share this book trailer to entice students to read the book: https://animoto.com/play/sefjwM77x6QLfOrR10ot4g

• Other books by Jen Bryant:

A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams ISBN: 9780802853028

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin ISBN: 9780375867125

Georgia’s Bones ISBN: 0802852173

Bibliography

Bryant, J. (2014). The right word: Roget and his thesaurus. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. 9780802853851

Cover, Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Personal photograph by Amy Wilson. October 12, 2016.