My book review of 'The Dictionary Story' by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston
Recommended age: 3+
The Dictionary Story
by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston

I'm always drawn to stories about books so was keen to see this, the latest from the award-winning Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winton. It's a picture book for children aged three upwards but it's got a very grown up dictionary as the backdrop, and there are stories within the main story, too. Lots here to enjoy!

Dictionary would like to tell a story just like the other books on the shelf. She's got lots of words to share, but no one reads her pages like they do with the other books. 

One day she decides to bring her words to life, to have her own adventure. 

Alligator, doughnut, ghost, puddle and tornado all feature, and many other characters too but instead of creating a story, everything gets out of control.

Dictionary didn't want this to happen so eventually realises she needs to call on her friend Alphabet to sing a song and bring calm and order to the proceedings. 

It's a fun story and visually this book is a treat. There's a collage of pages from a dictionary and pictures of the spines of books on a shelf, while beautiful watercolour characters like Alligator move along through the story. 

And on each page there are fun definitions of words in the dictionary so you can get to the end of the story and turn back for even more tales to enjoy. A lovely book!

Date of this review: October 2024
Book publication date: 1st August 2024