In my day, when I didn’t know a word, I had to hunt for it in a big, black, tiny-font dictionary. Of course, kids these days have Chromebooks, iPads and all sorts of other technological devices to help them with spelling, vocab and reading comprehension. They also have an abundance of engaging, colorful, fun and age-appropriate dictionaries made just for them.
“A quality children’s dictionary gives its readers a standard, basic definition of everyday words,” said Lisa Julien-Hayes, head of children’s services at my hometown library, the Swampscott Public Library in Swampscott, Massachusetts, noting that offering an example sentence for each word is also a “key feature” of a quality children’s dictionary.
Julien-Hayes said classic children’s dictionaries are usually geared towards kids between the ages of 8 and 12, or across elementary and middle school. They contain fewer words and definitions than traditional dictionaries and have fewer historical and language references. Kids’ dictionaries are also indexed differently than adult dictionaries, Julien-Hayes said. For example, a children’s dictionary could have a large section for words A-Z, and then may contain helpful reference information like grammar and language guides, numbers and measurement tables and even maps and geographical information.
While certainly all of these things are online, Erin Wilson, a children’s and adult fiction assistant at the Whitby Public Library in Whitby, Ontario, said printed, physical children’s dictionaries teach young readers problem-solving and independence. When they’re reading a book and see a word they don’t know, or if they’re pronouncing something wrong or wondering about the spelling, they can feel empowered to teach themselves by diving into a user-friendly dictionary.
“Many people underestimate children and what they’re capable of understanding,” Wilson said. “If you have an avid reader, having a dictionary nearby will not only increase their vocabulary in the long run but will also help with their enjoyment of the book they’re reading!”
To help you find the best children’s dictionaries for your personal library, Wilson and Julien-Hayes shared their favorites.
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"[It's] more of a traditional dictionary," Wison said. "It still has simple black-and-white photos and illustrations to break up the text. It also includes some pop-ups with synonyms and word histories for those looking for a little extra. Kids really do love facts!"
"Dictionaries don't have to be boring!" Wilson said. "This book is full of bright colors, silly illustrations, and some very interesting vocabulary words that could be easily overlooked in a regular dictionary."
"Illustrated dictionaries will illustrate certain definitions on the page and make the book more visually appealing," Wilson said. "[They're] more familiar to children who are used to reading picture books."
Wilson recommends the Oxford First Illustrated Dictionary. "The definitions are simple and approachable, and each page has a colorful illustration to keep the kids engaged."
The librarians didn't recommend a particular picture dictionary, so we chose Merriam-Webster's “150 First Words.” It has a ton of 5-star reviews on Amazon, with people calling it an "appropriate everyday realistic book" for teaching sight words to a little one.