Noah Webster: Weaver of Words - Hardcover

Shea, Pegi Deitz

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590784413 ISBN 13: 9781590784419

Publisher: Calkins Creek, 2009

Synopsis

This NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book celebrates one of the most important patriots in post-Revolutionary times. Most readers know Noah Webster for his dictionary masterpieces and his promotion of a living "American Language" that embraces words and idioms from all its immigrant peoples. But he was also the driving force behind universal education for all citizens, including slaves, females, and adult learners. Speaker of twenty languages, he developed the new country's curriculum, writing and publishing American literature, American history, and American geography. He published New York City's first daily newspaper. As editor, Webster conducted a study and linked disease with poor sanitation. He created the country's first insurance company, established America's first copyright law, and became America's first best-selling author.

About this title

About the Author

Pegi Deitz Shea writes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. A number of her books have won awards from the International Reading Association, National Council for the Social Studies, National Council of Teachers of English, and other organizations. She lives in Vernon, Connecticut.

Monica Vachula is an artist whose paintings and drawings have been exhibited throughout New England and are in many private collections. She provided the illustrations for Tea with an Old Dragon: A Story of Sophia Smith, Founder of Smith College by Jane Yolen. She lives in Harvard and in Hatfield, Massachusetts.

From Booklist

This highly illustrated, large-format book presents the life of Noah Webster (1758–1843) from his early years, when he neglected work on the family farm in favor of reading, to his later accomplishments, including an Americanized spelling book. Though his influence on political thought and education was notable in his day, he is best remembered for his dictionary of the American language. Shea’s succinct text, longer than that of a picture book and with a reading level suitable for junior-high students, offers a well-organized and clearly written account of Webster’s life, studded with memorable facts and supported by informative sidebars. Rich in color and detail, the oil paintings represent the period well. Though a couple of scenes show a little awkwardness in the relation of one figure to another, the portrayal of individual people and their surroundings is often very fine. Back matter includes an afterword, a chronology, and lists of primary and secondary sources. Grades 4-7. --Carolyn Phelan

About this edition

• Publisher: Calkins Creek
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1590784413
• ISBN 13: 9781590784419
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Vachula Monica