Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids

Jess Zafarris's Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids is a fascinating dip-in book for 11 year olds who've ever wondered why a word is called what it's called.

What happens

It's not a story. It's a proper A to Z, and each entry tells you where the word came from. Some of those backstories are brilliant.

Did you know "muscle" comes from the Latin for little mouse? People thought a flexing muscle looked like a mouse running under your skin. An aardvark is literally an "earth-pig". An abyss is a place "without bottom". And "amaze" shares its roots with "maze", so amazing someone means dropping them in the middle of a confusing maze!

Algebra comes from an Arabic word meaning "a reunion of broken parts". In fifteenth-century English it also meant setting broken bones. "Aloof" started out as a sailing word. The alarm on your clock goes back to Italian soldiers shouting "To arms!"

Before the dictionary part there's a short, clear tour of where English comes from. It covers Greek, Latin, Old English and the French the Normans brought over in 1066. It's honest that plenty of words travelled through wars and conquest, not just friendly borrowing, which is nice to see.

Then there's the fun of taking words apart. Word parts click together like building blocks. Add "dis" to "appear" and you've made the word disappear (see what they did there?). The author even shares a game from their own childhood, building a ridiculous made-up word and working out that it means someone who studies old trains.

A few bits will delight Harry Potter fans too. Dumbledore's name means "white bumblebee" and Voldemort's means "flight of death" in French.

You won't read it cover to cover, and you're not meant to. It's perfect for the child who keeps asking "but WHY is it called that?" at the dinner table.

It's an American book, so you'll see American spellings like "color", and a few examples from American life. That doesn't get in the way.

Got a child who collects odd words the way other kids collect stickers? They'll love having this to hand.

What to read next

For a story about how much words matter, try Patricia Forde's The List. Letta is a wordsmith's apprentice in a city where the words people are allowed to use are being cut to five hundred. Even saying "burdock tea" gets her into trouble.