Britannica’s Word of the Day
Patrick & Renee Kelly, Sue Macy, illustrated by Josy Bloggs, Emily Cox, James Gibbs, Liz Kay
Britannica Books

If you want to become a word pundit or turn your child into a logophile, then this book should definitely be on your shelves, or better still, near at hand every day. It features a veritable menagerie of animals large and small, each amusingly portrayed and ready and waiting to introduce the word of the day, over 366 days. So in a single year it’s possible to boost your vocabulary by a sufficient amount to impress your family and friends and have fun so doing. Each word has been carefully chosen by the Britannica team and every one is certainly worth having in your vocabulary.

Along with the word of the day is a pronunciation guide, a definition, what part of speech it is, a sentence incorporating the selected word, and some trivia about its usage or etymology.

Each month concludes with a delightfully daft ‘story of the month’ that includes all the new vocabulary learned.

Be prepared to be surprised and delighted: what a great way to learn and to acquire some trivial information too. Did you know for instance that Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards ‘defenestrated a TV during a stay in Hollywood in 1972; or that ‘chartreuse’ is named after a green drink created by a 16th century alchemist who claimed those who drank it would have long and healthy lives. And I’m pretty sure I have ‘pareidolia’ – the tendency to see a meaningful image in a random visual pattern –

though I wasn’t familiar with the word until I came upon it in this book.