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ISBN-10: 0374382409
ISBN-13: 978-0374382407
40 Pages Hardcover $17.99
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| Right from an early age, Noah Webster was an odd fellow: he liked to talk big, and he loved learning. Noah went to school for many years and even became a teacher, but he had no use for British textbooks. Noah knew that American children came from many different countries and didn’t speak like British children…or even like each other. Noah thought America needed its own national language, and he knew he was just the man to create it. He started with a speller and a small dictionary, and he road around on a horse, selling his books by hand. Many folks found Noah and his ideas completely annoying, but his speller became a bestseller. Then Noah moved on to a bigger project: creating a complete and comprehensive dictionary of American English. He thought the book would take him five years to finish. It took twenty, but today his dictionary is the second-most-printed book in the English language. Noah, the odd fellow, became an American hero. |
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| *Illustrated by Boris Kulikov |
Available November 2015
from Maragret Ferguson Books,
Farrar, Straus & Giroux |
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Order W is For Webster
now at Amazon.com |
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| Reviews: |
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School Library Journal, Starred Review (July 2015)
Fern’s writing is clear and direct…Together, the text and visuals clear emphasize Webster’s unique qualities…) |
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Kirkus Reviews (November 2015)
“A fascinating look at the determination and vision that led one man to create an essential resource.” |
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Booklist (November 2015)
“Fern presents Webster’s undertaking in an accessible and welcoming way.” |
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2016 Orbis Pictus Recommended Book
Thanks to the National Council of Teachers of English! You can view the entire list here. |
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Winter 2015-2016 Indie Next List Selection
Recommendations for kids from independent booksellers. Here’s the entire list.
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2016 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
This annual list is selected by the National Council for the Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council. The full list can be viewed here. |
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Favorite Links:
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Want to explore more about Noah, his world, and his words?
Check out these these awesome websites:
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 Noah’s home http://noahwebsterhouse.org/ The website of the Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society is stuffed with fascinating information about Noah and his time, including photos of Noah’s childhood home, a timeline of Noah’s life, and more.Noah’s Words http://www.1828.mshaffer.com/ This website contains a searchable version of Noah’s original 1828 dictionary. Noah’s Draft There are several images available online of Noah’s painstaking, handwritten draft of some of his dictionary entries. This one is from the Yale University Manuscripts & Digital Images Database.
Noah’s hair https://www.amherst.edu/library/archives/exhibitions/webster This Amherst College exhibit in honor of the 250th anniversary of Noah’s birth contains a wealth of information and images that place Noah in his historical context. I especially love the image of a lock of hair that Noah sent to his future wife, the ‘lovely Becca,’ while he was courting her. Noah wrote to the lovely Becca, “Without you the world is all alike to me; and with you any part will be agreeable. As a pledge of my sincerity, accept a lock of hair, and keep it no longer than I deserve to be remembered…” Noah deserves to be remembered forever! |
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