The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus

Author/illustrator team Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet, who have also collaborated on such titles as A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams and A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin, turn in this picture-book biography to the subject of Peter Mark Roget, and the groundbreaking thesaurus that he created. A list-maker from a young age, Roget was also a doctor, teacher and scientist, and was already a well-known figure in the intellectual circles of nineteenth-century London, when he published his first thesaurus in 1852. This was a work that would become immensely influential, not just in the English-speaking world, but across the globe...

I enjoyed The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus quite a bit, show more appreciating both the informative text from Bryant and the somewhat frenetic mixed media illustrations from Sweet, who was awarded a Caldecott Honor for her work here. As a word lover, I have a weakness for conceptual art that makes use of text - think Joseph Kosuth and those influenced by him - so I enjoyed Sweet's use of a diverse range of words and quotations in her artwork. I found it quite appropriate, moreover, given the subject matter at hand. I also greatly appreciated the back matter here, which presents a timeline including both events from Roget's life and important scientific and historic developments, as well as notes from the author and illustrator, a list of sources and a list for further reading. Recommended to young word lovers, and to picture-book readers seeking engaging biographies. show less

This tour de force biography is worthy of the Caldecott and should be a contender for the Sibert and Orbis Pictus Awards for nonfiction. Every aspect of the biography of Peter Mark Roget, creator of Roget's Thesaurus is ingenious as the text takes on thesaurus-like qualities: "Born beginning, baby, infant, tadpole"....tracing in a list of words..."prime of life, maturity, to wind up, draw to an end, close died." His father's death, when Peter was quite young, affected him keenly. At eight, he began writing his own book, but his book was a book of lists: Latin words, weather words, garden words. At 19, he graduated from medical school and became a doctor but he continued to write his lists. In 1852, he published his "thesaurus, a word show more meaning "treasure house' in Greek.

Added to the now growing collection of biographies by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet, this one is a winner. show less

This is the kind of book I would've loved as a kid. Heck, it's the kind of book I love now. There are so many details to examine and it's such an intriguingly spare telling of a man's life and work. It makes me want to know more about Roget. It makes me want to go read the thesaurus! Once again, brilliantly done by the dynamic duo Bryant and Sweet. I was also a big fan of last year's [b:A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin|13642600|A Splash of Red The Life and Art of Horace Pippin|Jennifer Fisher Bryant|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344370650s/13642600.jpg|19257840] and here they've done and equally remarkable job. Bravo! Hooray! Encore!

In the biography for young readers The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, author Jen Bryant and illustrator Melissa Sweet tell the story of Peter Mark Roget, who was born in 1779 and died in 1869. Beginning from his young childhood in Switzerland, Bryant follows Roget through his teenage years in London, medical school in Scotland, his marriage, and finally the publication of his thesaurus. With an interesting mishmash of collage art, The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus tells an interesting tale about a young man who liked lists.

Bryant's text showcases her love of the subject. On one page, Roget expresses his dismay with his lacking vocabulary. A large thought bubble has "fine" written in, with glad, cheerful, well, good, very show more well, dandy, and more crowding the thought bubble to the side. Her text frequently takes on the format of Roget's beloved lists, with one page having one word per line on a scroll of paper.

Sweet's artistic style combines math textbook pages, anatomy diagrams, antique flowers, and text headlines in a riotous, sometimes chaotic style. The first text the reader encounters is a quote by J.M. Barrie, done in ransom-note style mishmash of font, accompanied by a timeline of the subject's life. While certainly visually interesting, Sweet's style can sometimes be overwhelming. Each page is packed with things to look at, which means that there are constantly new things to discover on additional readings, but can make it challenging for the reader to determine what is part of the "story" and which is artistic accompaniment.

Separate illustrations are simple, but effective. In one scene, Roget stares at the reader, a black cloud floating over his head and his mouth an annoyed line. Another has Roget walking at a beautiful garden populated by colorful flowers, a bird with a bright red breast, and simple lines depicting the village in the background.

The book manages to be educational - with timelines, dates, and quotes woven into the main text - and graceful, as when Bryant writes that Roget's sister is "a small pink blossom against a wall of black" (p. 4). The end of the book presents rich secondary material, including a list of principle events, an author's note, a bibliography, further reading, sources, and even a picture of a page from Roget's real book. The amount of detail and research going into the creation of the book is evident and adds a richness to the book apparent on every page.

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus is a brilliant (smart, clever, scintillating, sparkling...) look into an overlooked innovator who wrote one of the most widely consulted reference books ever published. show less

A compelling picture book biography of a man compelled to keep lists to impose order on a disorderly world. It's the sort of introduction that whets your appetite to learn more.

A wonderful look at the man behind the Thesaurus.

Peter Roget has a wonderful quote that I think best sums up this wonderful children's picture book - "The use of language is not confined to its being the medium through which we communicate our ideas to one another:...[it functions] as an instrument of thought; not being merely its vehicle, but giving it wings for flight.

I think both the author and illustrator have given this story proper wings, fascinating and wonderful.

This unassuming picture book biography represents some of the best book design that I've ever seen. From the endpapers forward, this slim volume is simply captivating. Every aspect, from the hyper-detailed collage-style illustrations full of word lists to the further reading bibliography near the book's close recommend The Right Word for recognition as an outstanding work of non-fiction for young readers.