Best Children’s Books for Building Vocabulary
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We’ve compiled a list of our favorite children’s books for building vocabulary. These fun and engaging books will create an awareness of and interest in words, creating deep and meaningful connections for learning new and important vocabulary words.
Building Vocabulary
Vocabulary is the knowledge of words and what they mean.
The National Reading Panel (2000) found that kids learn vocabulary best through a variety of indirect and direct methods of vocabulary instruction.
Most research points to kids indirectly learning the majority of vocabulary, through their everyday experiences with language (both oral and written). But research also finds that direct strategies for vocabulary learning must also be used!
Research-based strategies for direct vocabulary instruction include three general areas:
- Dictionary Use: Effectively using a dictionary to define a word or confirm a word’s meaning.
- Morphemic Analysis: Determining meaning based on morphemes, or word parts. Visit our posts to read more about this. We have free morphology practice worksheets, information about using word sums, and a free word matrix for word-part analysis.
- Contextual Analysis: Inferring meaning based on context. Read more in-depth about this and get research-supported materials like a context clue anchor chart and context clue mini-book.
Word Consciousness
A part of direct vocabulary instruction is called ‘Word Consciousness.’ This includes building students’ awareness of and interest in words.
“If we can get students interested in playing with words and language, then we are at least halfway to the goal of creating the sort of word-conscious students who will make words a lifetime interest.”
M. Graves (2000)
We’ve compiled a list of fun books that help build students’ word consciousness. These books can be used at different times and in various ways.
Use them to read aloud to the class or include them in your classroom library!
Best Vocabulary Books for Kids
We’ve included summaries of books we highly recommend for getting kids interested in words and learning new vocabulary!
Absurd Words
📖 Get Absurd Words on Amazon or get it from your local library.
This book is a fun and hilarious vocabulary builder for future “word nerds.”
Words are grouped by common features like “What a Zoo!” – which features words for all things rowdy, loud and chaotic. A sample word from this category is “berserk.”
Included is the word, pronunciation, part of speech, definition, and example of a word being used in content. Included are sidebars with etymology facts that appeal to kids.
For example, ber and serk are Old Norse words that literally mean “bear shirt.” Did you know that “berserkars” were a tribe of violent Vikings who wore bearskin clothing?
Once Upon a Word: A Word Origin Dictionary for Kids
📖 Get Once Upon a Word on Amazon or get it from your local library.
This book is organized into 3 parts:
- Part 1: A fun and engaging introduction about the history of the English language, calling it a “Word Jungle” with a focus on Latin roots & Greek roots along with prefixes and suffixes.
- Part 2: An actual dictionary with words organized in A-Z. But what’s different about this dictionary is that it clearly gives interesting information about the word’s origin. It also does a great job making connections between word families with similar bases.
- Part 3: Word Play. This section groups words by common features – like food words and music words.
Ox, House, Stick. The History of our Alphabet
📖 Get Ox, House, Stick on Amazon or get it from your local library.
This book tells the fascinating history of written language and the alphabet, from ancient times to today.
Included are fun illustrations, clear explanations, and lots of engaging text features to engage students in learning the history of the alphabet.
No Reading Aloud: The Word Read-Aloud Book Ever
📖 Get No Reading Allowed on Amazon or get it from your local library.
This book is just the BEST! It’s a collection of hilarious homonyms and sound-alike sentences. With sentences that sound exactly alike, but with different written words and different images to illustrate- kids understand homonyms, homophones, and homographs.
For example:
- “They mustered everything but couldn’t catch up. We relished it.” The image is of two people with metals as they finished running a race and cheering, with a few stragglers still running on the track.
- “They mustard everything but couldn’t ketchup. We relished it.” With a bunch of kids at a bbq with relish and mustard on their plates, and and empty ketchup bottle. Also shows the importance of punctuation!
Looking to learn more about homophones? Learn about teaching homophones, and then grab our free homophone list and homophone worksheets.
You can also get our super popular homophone bundle of resources!
What Does That Mean?: Better Understand Idioms, Phrases, and Sayings
📖 Get What Does That Mean? on Amazon or get it from your local library.
This book focuses on 101 popular idioms that kids have heard before, and it helps kids discover what these strange phrases mean. Phrases like “Cool as a cucumber” and “break the ice” are included.
Each page includes the history and origin to explain where these phrases originated and then provides examples in context. Kids are sure to find this book super fascinating!
Colossal Words for Kids: 75 Tremendous Words: Neatly Defined to Stick in the Mind
📖 Get Colossal Words for Kids on Amazon or get it from your local library.
This engaging book uses rhythm and humor to teach important words that all kids need to know. This book is special because it’s a bunch of fun and silly poems that kids really love!
The targeted vocabulary words are clearly defined, but in the form of a rhyme, making vocabulary building both fun and effortless.
This book is best for kids starting in 3rd grade, once they have learned the majority of phonics concepts and can skillfully read multisyllabic words.
References & More Resources
Graves, M. F. (2000) A vocabulary program to complement and bolster a middle-grade comprehension program. In B.M. Taylor, M.F. Graves, and P Van Den Broek (eds.) Reading for meaning: Fostering comprehension in middle grades. New York: Teachers College Press
National Reading Panel (2000). Teaching Children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: National Institute for Child Health and Human Development.
Best Science of Reading Books for Educators: A list of our personal favorite Orton-Gillingham aligned books for teachers to learn and improve!