The New Colour- Picture Dictionary for Children

As a parent, you do not need anyone to explain how your child learns words. You have watched the process closely for the past few years. You have heard your child imitate you, use the words you use, struggle to put them into phrases and sentences until they come out exactly like yours. How often have you been astounded to hear your child repeat, word for word, a sentence you used the week before? You have heard your child repeat words again and again. He or she says the word, sings the word, whispers the word, screams (until your nerves can no longer take it) the word until it is deeply recorded on the brain. You have also noticed your child exchanging a word for another of similar meaning. Finally, you have seen your child attracted to books by colour-thumbing through books without understanding the words but enchanted by the "scenery." In other words, you already know that among the most important tools for learning words your child has are imitation, repetition, substitution, and fascination with colour. As publishers, we also need no one to explain how children learn words. We have been in the "word business" for many years, producing dictionaries (from "encyclopaedic" in scope to "vest pocket"). This NEW COLOUR PICTURE DICTIONARY FOR CHILDREN resembles no other dictionary that we have produced, but is is the result of all the experience and knowledge we have accumulated in producing the others. We have taken 1500 words and definitions from our NEW WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE and presented them in a way that matches your child's natural tools of learning. We have tried to attract your child to the book by a profuse use of colour. Your child's fascination with colour should bring him or her back to this book again and again. This will encourage repetition. (But the colour in this book is not mere "scenery," only meant to attract. The illustrations also aid your child in understanding the words.) And the definitions are almost always given by means of substitution, by means of examples that say the same thing in different words and thus define the word. One tool remains to be utilized. Only you can supply it: imitation. You must read this book with your child (not always, but frequently) for it to be completely successful. You must give your child a chance to imitate you, to hear how the word is pronounced, to see how it is used. We feel that you will find this task pleasant and rewarding. As an added feature we have included 100 difficult words (difficult in spelling or meaning). These are marked by an asterisk (*). You should spend some extra time with your child on these words. This book is your child's first step into the world of dictionaries. We have done our best to make the first step a happy one, one that will make the move up to the next grade of dictionary natural and comfortable. *The publishers*.