Author/s: John Ayto
Publisher: Oxford University Press UK
Reviewed by: Jay Heale – FMR (Fine Music Radio)
ISBN 13: 9780199112210

Some dictionaries are rather dull. Children connect them with spelling tests. This one is fascinating: the OXFORD SCHOOL DICTIONARY OF WORD ORIGINS edited by John Ayto.

You could use it to check spellings or meanings, but young readers are going be far more intrigued by the stories behind the words. For example, drum and trumpet both come from the same word origin, probably because they both make loud noises. The word hamlet comes from the word home. A scold was once a poet. In the middle is a section explaining the meaning of things like Days of the Week, Months, Numbers, a lot of supernatural creatures, and a page of Invented words like bandersnatch and spoof. Great fun!

Link to online catalogue
Oxford School Dictionary of Word Origins