Simms Taback's Big Book of Words - Hardcover

Simms Taback received the 2000 Caldecott Medal for Joseph had a Little Overcoat. In 1998, he was awarded a Caldecott Honor for There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, which he created with Harriet Ziefert. He lives in the Catskill area of upstate New Yo

PreS. There are lots of picture dictionaries out there, but few have the appealing simplicity of Taback's board book. The book is divided into four chapters--playthings, clothing, food, and animals. Its pure white pages, for the most part, feature just the word and the object, handsomely presented in ink and vivid watercolors. The pictures often build upon one another; for instance, shoes follow socks, boots follow shoes, and then comes a bright yellow raincoat. Occasionally, there are a few odd ducks among the pages (a retro dial telephone and a mixing bowl appear among the playthings), and some pictures have more than one object (the tomato picture also shows a knife), which might be confusing. But for the most part, this is just right for the age group; little ones will love shouting out the name of the object whether they are enjoying the book on a lap or in a group. Ilene Cooper
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