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My Dictionary Review by Camilla Anderson

Sunshine Books International Limited
PO Box 12046
Honolulu, HI 96828-1046
808-947-6568
http://www.my-dictionary.com/

My Dictionary is a 64-page softcover book intended as a helpful spelling tool for students ages six through eight. Its purpose is to help students remember common words and to list new words as they are learned.

The book has two pages for each letter of the alphabet. For each letter there is an illustration of an object starting with that letter, followed by a list of commonly used words. For example, the "H" pages list the words had, hair, half, Halloween, hand, happy, hard, has, hat, have, he, head, heard, hello, help, her, here, high, hill, him, his, hold, holiday, home, homework, hood, hope, horse, hot, house, how hungry, hurt. The word that matches the illustration on the page is underlined. (For "H," the word horse is underlined, because a picture of a horse illustrates the "H" pages.) There are blank columns on each page for students to enter personal words as their reading skills and vocabularies increase.

In the back of the book are many helpful reference pages appropriate for this age group. There is a page of spelling words for each of the following: animals, colors, body parts, contractions, clothes, holidays, days, months, seasons, numbers, money, shapes, events, food and drinks, school items, family words, toys, games, verbs, and places to visit. There is a place to write the names of family members and friends. Additionally, there are pages listing common homophones (with illustrations) as well as a map of the United States showing state names, state abbreviations, and state capitals. (Note: I reviewed the U.S. version of this dictionary. There are also versions for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., and Ireland, with corresponding maps. The word lists are different, too, as appropriate.

I think this little book is brilliant and can see many ways a teacher would be able to use it to enhance reading, spelling, and writing skills. I have a kindergarten student, and this book is wonderful for word recognition. It is great that he has a place to record his own words and the names of his family members for reference. He is just now beginning to read, spell, and write, but already he can use this book to look up the names of his family members so that he can write our names on the pictures he draws for us. As his writing skills grow, it will be very helpful that he will be able to look up how to spell colors, numbers, days of the week, and more. We will also be able to use the pages as a list of reading words that he can memorize.

The book is very reasonably priced. For the U.S., the books are $5.00 each for up to 10 copies, and only $2.90 each for more than 10 copies. The website is very helpful and easy to navigate, with several sample pages for you to preview. If you are looking for a simple tool to enhance the reading, writing, and spelling of a young one in your home, you will definitely want to check out this adorable and useful little book.

Product review by Camilla Anderson, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, August 2009

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