Oxford Children's Dictionary - Robert Allen

I have used a host of Children's dictionaries in the classroom, ranging from the most basic picture dictionaries to more advanced ones and I still have my faithful 'bumper' Collins English Dictionary from when I was in secondary education which I suppose that I should replace given all of the new terminology that has appeared since I was a teenager!

I recently bought this dictionary for my friend's son who is a bright 8 year old - Thanks to her suggestion, I probably bought, what in his mind was the most boring present!! I'm hoping that he will thank me when he's older, maybe not!!

◄◄◄ The author's aim ►►►

'To explain in a clear and straightforward style the meanings and use of English words that children from age 8 upwards are likely to come across and want / need to use.'

In my experience with the 8 to 11 year olds I have used this with in a classroom setting, it has done just that!

◄◄◄ The Style and Format ►►►

Yes, dictionaries are for helping to spell words but this dictionary, as do many Junior dictionaries available nowadays, goes beyond this. Here's how…..

The dictionary is almost 400 pages long and includes more 20,000 words so it's a very comprehensive one.
There are 150 illustrations in the book - I think it's an attempt to make it look more child friendly but I can't see the point of them as the illustrations aren't for particularly difficult words.

Each letter of the alphabet is given a different colour band at the top of the page so when the book is closed you can see the different coloured sections from the side. Once the user gets to know the colours associated with each letter then it certainly acts as a quick reference guide, although some of the colours are repeated.

The book refers to each word used as the 'headword'. This is the first word in every entry and is in red. This certainly makes the page a little more eye-catching than the dictionaries I used when younger in which the text is all in black.

The 'headword' is then followed by the following but perhaps not in this order:
~ The pronunciation of difficult words is given in brackets, e.g. officious (o-fish-us).
~ Any stressed syllables are shown in 'bold' type which helps with pronouncing unfamiliar words.
~ Sometimes examples of how a word is used in a sentence or speech is given. These include contemporary examples of sentences to demonstrate how words are used in context.
~ If the word is a noun, the plural of the noun is given in brackets straight after the word.
~ As we all know, some words have more than one meaning. If this is the case then as in most dictionaries that I have used, the different meanings are numbered.
~ Verb forms of the words are also given as well as forms of adjectives, for example, able = abler, ablest etc

◄◄◄ Words explained ►►►

I found the front section of the book very interesting although most 8 year old children would skip this section unless part of their task related to the information given.

In brief there are sections on the following:

~ Examples of word origins - Old English, Latin and Greek, Norse and some other modern words.
yacht = Dutch lager = German anorak = Eskimo
~ Some examples of compound words are also given - I've used this with Year 3 children during a Literacy session focusing on compound words, e.g. footprint, paintbrush.
~ Grammatical terms are explained. Some of these are way beyond the average 8 year old but are appropriate for older children.

adjective, adverb, definite article, homograph, pronoun, preposition, phoneme, noun etc.

~ Again, I have used this with Year 3 (8-9 year olds) when looking at prefixes and suffixes. The concept is explained and some examples are given.

The features of the dictionary are explained at the beginning of the book. This is in the form of an arrow diagram which is definitely worth taking a look at with the children so as they clearly understand all of the features.

◄◄◄ Price ►►►

RRP is £7.99 but I managed to get a new copy from amazon cheaper than this, mainly because my order was over the £15 threshold for free P&P.

◄◄◄ Overall ►►►

Okay, so lots of readers may not think that this is an exciting review - a dictionary. However dictionaries are so important and useful, not only for spellings but also to enable people to know the origins of words etc.
This dictionary has it all.

◄◄◄ Other Oxford Dictionaries ►►►

There is a wealth of children's dictionaries available at the moment, the contest is mainly between Oxford and Collins.
I have listed some of the Oxford children's dictionaries:

~ Colour dictionary: for homework help
~ Junior illustrated dictionary
~ Concise school dictionary
~ First illustrated children's dictionary
~ Very first dictionary
~ First rhyming dictionary
~ English dictionary for schools
~ Junior dictionary
~ Children's picture dictionary
~ Pocket spelling dictionary

So there you have it, so many to choose from and it's imperative that you pick the correct one for your child.
This dictionary is 'pitched' at 8 years and upwards - In my experience, much of the content may well go over the heads of the average 8 year old but a good investment as it will 'see' them through secondary education.