In the old days, we had to look in a dictionary if we wanted to know the meaning of a word. Dictionaries weighed as much as a small whale and had approximately 47 bazillion pages of teeny-weeny print. If you didn’t already know how to spell the word, you were just out of luck. Now you can just “Google it,” and you don’t even need to know how to spell the word.
Online dictionaries may have replaced physical hard copies of dictionaries, but let’s not forget that they are based on the work of the dictionary pioneers of long ago. Noah Webster was one of those pioneers.
Dictionaries may now seem hopelessly dull and boring, but when Noah Webster’s compiled the first dictionary of the English language in the United States, it was actually a revolutionary act. At the time he began working on it, the United States had just won its independence from Great Britain, but it hadn’t fully unified as a nation. Many languages were spoken in different parts of the country — English, French, Dutch, and German, to name just a few.
Noah Webster believed that a common language would help unify the country, and he set out to create a dictionary that would provide that common language.
The story of Noah Webster and his An American Dictionary of the English Language has been told in many books for children and adults, but the books described below tell the story exceptionally well. One of them is even hysterically funny, which is always a plus in a picture book about history.
Noah Webster and His Words
By Jeri Chase Ferris
Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch
Noah Webster and His Words provides all the important biographical details about Noah Webster’s life, but author Jeri Chase Ferris enlivens the story by including dictionary-style definitions throughout the text. For example, she describes Webster as being “full of CON-FI-DENCE [noun: belief that one is right] from the very beginning.”
From this biography, we learn that Webster was destined to be a farmer like his father. After his teacher convinced his father that Noah should be a scholar instead, he entered Yale at the age of 15. The American Revolution convinced him that Americans should no longer spell words the way the English did. He also thought that all Americans should spell words the same way, which was definitely not the case at the time.
To unite Americans under a common spelling system, Webster wrote what became known as “the blue-backed speller” because of the color of its cover. The book became widely used, but he didn’t earn much money from it. His dictionary came later.
This biography of Webster is especially strong in describing the process through which Webster created the first American dictionary. He studied 20 languages to learn the origin of words. He eventually decided that he needed to study in the libraries of Paris, London, and Cambridge, so he and his son spent time living in those cities. The dictionary took 18 years to complete, and the last entry was ZY-GO-MAT-IC [adj.: related to the cheekbone].”
The illustrations in Noah Webster and His Words have a slightly cartoon-like quality, which adds pizzazz to what could easily be a dry subject. Clever touches include the waves beneath a ship being created from dictionary words spelled in script.
The back matter includes a chart listing the important dates in Noah Webster’s life in the context of the life of the United States of America. Key words are appropriately spelled out and defined in dictionary fashion.
You can learn more about Jeri Chase Ferris at jerichaseferris.com/. More information about Vincent X. Kirsch is at vincentxkirsch.com/.
Noah Webster: Weaver of Words
By Pegi Deitz Shea
Illustrated by Monica Vachula
Noah Webster: Weaver of Words is intended for an older audience than Noah Webster and His Words, and it provides more detail about the history of the United States at each stage of Webster’s life. Pegi Deitz Shea identifies these stages as: Young Thinker, Constant Learner, Willing Soldier, Teacher and Lawyer, Wordsmith, Political Author and Speaker, Family Man, Lexicographer, and Language Detective.
All of the important information about Webster’s accomplishments is included, along with extra information that shows him as more than just another “dead white guy,” such as quotes from letters to his sweetheart when he was courting her.
As someone with a degree in instructional design, I can say that this is a beautifully designed book. For example, it makes generous use of sidebars. One lists milestones in the history of modern English language dictionaries. This puts Webster’s achievements into historic context without bogging down the main storyline.
Another sidebar describes a minister’s objection to how Webster thought “salvation” should be pronounced because it differed from the way the word was sung in hymns. This shows the type of obstacles that Webster encountered in his campaign to unite Americans with a common system of spelling.
The illustrations in the book are full-color oil paintings in the style of eighteenth century art, and they are a feast for the eye. (I cannot resist pointing out that there is a lovely painting of a cat on page 31.) The endsheets of the book show a page from a manuscript in Noah Webster’s handwriting.
You can learn more about Pegi Deitz Sheat at pegideitzshea.com/. More information about Monica Vachula is at wmig.org/artists/vachula.
Noah Webster’s Fighting Words
By Tracy Nelson Maurer
Illustrated by Mircea Catusanu
Noah Webster’s Fighting Words is one of the most irreverent biographies I’ve ever read, and I loved it. The text itself provides the basic biographical information about Noah Webster, but the joke is that Noah Webster himself, or his ghost, has edited the manuscript and made corrections throughout in red ink. He’s even added “Edited by Noah Webster, Esq” to the title page!
Noah Webster was known for being a highly opinionated, argumentative, and extremely self-confident person, and it’s easy to imagine him editing his own biography. For example, when the text reads, “He argued in speeches. He argued in essays. He argued at dinners. Noah argued A LOT,” the ghost of Noah Webster adds a note that reads, “I was simply helping people to see the right point of view.”
The ghost deletes an entire section that describes the press of his day calling him an “incurable lunatic” and a “spiteful viper.”
The illustrations by Mircea Catusanu are created in zany and energetic mixed-media collage, and they’re a perfect way to illustrate this unconventional biography. They include excerpts from newspapers, books, and even bits of Webster’s original handwritten letters, but they also include comical clip art and thought balloons.
For example, when the text describes Webster adding new American words such as skunk to the dictionary, a skunk is shown looking at the entry about skunks with a thought balloon that says, “Finally!”
The back matter for the book is in the more traditional format of a timeline, sources of information, and a bibliography.
You can learn more about Tracy Nelson Maurer at tracymaurerwriter.com/. More information about Mircea Catusanu is at mirceacatusanu.com/bio.
Which of these biographies of Noah Webster do I recommend? The answer is … all of them! Together, they create a fuller portrait of this fascinating and brilliant man.