A supermarket chain in my area has a sign posted overhead in all of its stores. It reads “Can Fruit.” This makes me grind my teeth every time I see it. It’s obvious to me that it should be “Canned Fruit.” I’m amazed that a large corporation would print hundreds of signs with a mistake like that on them. I am also probably the only person who has ever noticed it. That’s because I’m one of those people — the ones who care about correct spelling.
Correct spelling doesn’t get the respect it once did. People are cranking out texts, social media posts, press releases, and e-mails nonstop, often typing with their thumbs while looking at a tiny screen. No one has time to worry about spelling words correctly, even when they actually know how to spell them.
Correct spelling does still matter in business and in pleasure. Employers may automatically reject a job applicant who makes spelling mistakes on a resume. People looking for partners on dating apps sometimes “swipe left” on a candidate because of misspelled words on a profile. And though it’s undeniably elitist, there’s no doubt that people who can’t spell well are often viewed as less intelligent than those who can.
Modern technologies make it easier to catch spelling mistakes, but they’re not guaranteed to catch every error. For example, spell-checkers won’t tell you when to use “they’re” versus “there” versus “their.” Spelling a word correctly doesn’t get you anywhere if it’s the wrong word.
Learning how to spell words correctly in American English isn’t easy. It’s a big, confusing mess as far as languages go. It’s not even “English” anymore, given that it’s chockful of words stolen from other languages. We’ve got Dutch words like “yacht,” which certainly isn’t spelled anything like it’s pronounced. We’ve got French words like “cuisine,” which could just as easily be spelled quizeen, based on how it’s pronounced. Then there’s that “i before e except after c” rule that’s broken by “seizure” and “reign” and dozens of other words.
In the past, children who didn’t learn to spell as quickly as their peers were sometime ridiculed — even by their teachers! This actually made it more difficult for them to learn (because who learns well while being humiliated?). Modern science suggests that some people find it harder — but not impossible — to learn to spell because of differences in their brain anatomy or physiology. These differences can be accommodated with the right teaching methods.
Learning to spell words correctly is crucial because it is the foundation on which literacy is built, and literacy is a key to success. It’s a skill that’s best learned early in life, and it’s best learned in a playful, not punitive, setting. The picture books described below will help young spellers get off to a good start.
Lexie the Word Wrangler
By Rebecca Van Slyke
Illustrated by Jessie Hartland
Lexie is the best wrangler west of the Mississippi. Like all good wranglers, she can ride a horse, twirl a lariat, and herd cattle, but her true talent lies in wrangling words. She can lasso words together and turn CORN and BREAD into CORNBREAD. She can turn pesky PESTS into adorable PETS. She can use words to get a job done, like writing letters. She can even pen words together to create a story.
One day trouble comes to Lexie’s ranch. Someone snatches letters from RAINBOW and leaves a giant BOW in the sky. The rascal changes a STAR to RATS in the night sky. Every day, more damage is done. Lexie sets out to find the culprit, but it’s tough going because someone has changed the DESERT into a DESSERT.
Lexie finally catches the villain in the act, just as he’s about to steal the LONG from LONGHORNS. What does Lexie do with the outlaw once she’s caught him? Well, let’s just say that Russell the Word Wrestler joins the story.
The illustrations for Lexie the Word Wrangler have just the right amount of silliness for this story. For example, when the scoundrel changes DOGIES (calves) into DOGGIES, Jessie Hartland shows a herd of French poodles frolicking in a corral. When DESERT turns into DESSERT, she shows Lexie riding through what looks like Candyland.
The book concludes with a Dictionary of Wrangler Words used in the story, including lasso, critter, varmint, and bedroll.
You can learn more about Rebecca Van Slyke here. More information about Jessie Hartland is available here.
Word Wizard
By Cathryn Falwell
Cathryn Falwell begins her story with her protagonist, Anna, eating a bowl of alphabet cereal. She notices the letters D-A-W-N floating in her spoon. Then, as if by magic, the letters shift to form the word W-A-N-D. Clearly, her spoon must be a magic wand, and she must be a WORD WIZARD! She is happily changing FLEA into LEAF and STAR into ARTS when she’s interrupted by Zack, a little boy who is lost.
With a wave of her spoon-wand, Anna changes his TEARS into STREAM (with help from the M that stuck in her spoon), and the two of them set out to find Zack’s home. During her adventure with Zack, Anna changes an OCEAN into a CANOE, a SHORE into a HORSE, and LEMONS into MELONS.
When the duo reach Zack’s home, he is worried that he might get lost again. Anna reassures him that he’s going to be okay. Then she changes his toy SWORD into WORDS, which he can now use to help himself find his way. The two of them dance in a shower of multi-colored words that are sure to be handy, including HELP, WHERE?, and PLEASE.
Word Wizard is a delightful way to show children how much fun it can be to rearrange the letters in a word to form new words — and it’s great training for future Scrabble players of the world! In an author’s note, Falwell explains that this rearrangement is called making an anagram. She also offers ideas for creating movable letters out of odds and ends, such as pipe cleaners or buttons.
Falwell used cut paper collage to create her illustrations, with rubber stamps to create some of the words that Anna’s magic spoon-wand conjures. Her author’s note encourages children to try making their own collages, something I intend to do myself.
You can learn more about Cathryn Falwell here.
Take Away the A
By Michael Escoffiër
Illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
If I had to vote for my favorite alphabet book of all time … well, I’d have a hard time choosing because there are some fabulous alphabet books in the world, but Take Away the A by Michael Escoffiër and Kris Di Giacomo would certainly be in my top five.
In Take Away the A, Michael Escoffiër goes through each letter of the alphabet and shows what would happen if that letter were removed from a specific word. For example, “Without the K, the MONKEY makes MONEY,” “Without the M, the FARM is too FAR,” “Without the X, FOXES ARE FOES.”
The idea itself is clever, but Kris Di Giacomo’s illustrations send it into the stratosphere of cleverness. For “the FARM is too FAR,” she shows a pig and a chicken sitting on suitcases beside a road with a barn far away in the distance. The pig has his thumb stuck out to hitch a ride, but — uh-oh — the car that has stopped is driven by a wolf with big teeth and a license plate reading “LU 1.”
Each illustration has small but hilarious details that will delight children and adults. Trust me, you don’t want to miss seeing PLANTS wearing PANTS and a CRAB hailing a CAB! I hope this book will inspire children to have fun removing letters from words and drawing the result.
You can learn more about Michael Escoffiër here. More information about Kris Di Giacomo is available here.
Stacey’s Extraordinary Words
By Stacey Abrams
Illustrated by Kitt Thomas
Stacey’s Extraordinary Words was written by Stacey Abrams — yes, that Stacey Abrams. It’s an autobiographical picture book about her participation in a spelling bee when she was in elementary school.
Stacey learned to love words as a young child. She loved fun words, long words, and unusual words. She loved learning new words. She kept a Notebook of Extraordinary Words and was always on the watch for good words to add to it. Because Stacey excels in spelling, her teacher asks her to participate in a spelling bee. The class bully is also invited to participate. (Even bullies can be good spellers.) Standing up to Jake is the one thing words can’t seem to help Stacey do.
Stacey studies ferociously for the spelling bee. During the competition, she spelled words correctly until only she and Jake were left, and then … she did not win. Jake took first prize. Stacey graciously congratulates Jake, but he makes fun of the mistake that left her in second place. Finally, she is able to muster words to her defense. She tells him, “Well, I misspelled my word, but I do know how to be courteous. You should try it.”
Stacey believes that she failed, but her mother reminds her that losing would equal failure only if she stops trying. Stacey remembers one of her favorite words: PERSEVERANCE. She resolves to keep learning new words and also find ways to speak up.
An author’s note gives more information about Stacey’s experience with spelling bees, including the fact that, after four more close calls, she won in the sixth grade. She also devotes a page to Stacey’s Notebook of Extraordinary Words, and she has added tips on remembering the correct spelling of some of them.
Kitt Thomas’s illustrations show Stacey as an endearing child. They conclude with a scene of Stacey looking optimistically toward the future, where she sees herself standing at podiums and speaking confidently to crowds of people.
While there’s no scientific evidence that being a good speller leads to success in life, there is certainly evidence that perseverance is connected to success. While the storyline in Stacey’s Extraordinary Words is about a spelling bee, the underlying message for young readers is that you should never give up just because you failed the first time you tried.
You can learn more about Stacey Abrams here. More information about Kitt Thomas is available here.
As much as I care about correct spelling, I have to confess that I can never remember if it’s “millenium” or “millennium” or “milennium.” That makes me a little nervous about writing a blog post on the importance of correct spelling. I’ve run a spell-check on this post multiple times, and I’ve proofread it carefully, but I’m always open to learning, so feel free to tell me if I’ve misspelled any words.