School Library Journal Review

Gr 1-3-Jerome is a collector. While others collect stamps or trading cards, he collects words that he hears, sees, or reads-words that catch his fancy "multisyllable words that sounded like little songs" or "words he did not know the meaning of at first, but . were marvelous to say.." When he accidentally slips and his word collection scatters, he is inspired to begin "stringing words together. Words he had not imagined being side by side." Soon there are poems and songs and surprisingly simple, but mighty combinations like "I understand" or "I'm sorry." Determined to share his newfound knowledge, on a breezy day, Jerome climbs a hill and tosses his collection to the wind. Reynolds leaves readers with his own string of words, "Reach for your own words/Tell the world who you are/And how you will make it better." Less wordy (excuse the pun) than Roni Schotter and Giselle Potter's The Boy Who Loved Words or Max's Words by Kate Banks and Boris Kulikov, this book is short and sweet yet packs a powerful punch. Reynolds's signature ink-and-gouache cartoons manage to capture both the joy of learning and the power of kindness. VERDICT A perfect introduction to vocabulary units that should encourage youngsters to collect their own words to create their own poems. Have students write 10 favorite words from their collections on slips of colored paper for a poetry word wall, and let the inspiration flow.-Barbara Auerbach, formerly at New York City Public Schools © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.