Children's Illustrated Dictionary (DK First Reference)

I am a registered dog therapist along with my dog, Pepper. We are also registered in the READ program (Reading Education Assisted Dogs) This is a fairly new concept of Elementary Schools bringing Dogs in to assist the slow learners in the Kindergarden thru Fourth Grade. The teacher chooses the books for the students on a level with their reading. They read to the dog for about 15-20 minutes with the dog asking questions. Re: what does the word mean. We then pull your book and the dog and youth find the word and explain it to the dog. There is no threat to the child when reading to the dog, No laughing, giggling, etc. With time (six weeks) is the length of the program, most of the children are reading on several levels higher then when they started. The book is excellent with pictures in color and a easy guide for the child. It is not about the adult, it is about the child and relating to the dog . Awesome.

We had bought 3 dictionaries for our family (one for our 1st grader, one that's suitable for 3rd grade through middle school, and finally one for high school and college. This one I have to say has exceeded my expectations. It is easy for my 7 year old brother to use and makes him very excited about words. He likes to use the next dictionary up as well to show off to his older brother how easy it is to use, but he still loves this one. He'll sit there for an hour and just explore the words and definitions inside along with the beautiful pictures. I highly recommend this dictionary for younger students. My brother is 7 and in 1st grade and this is absolutely wonderful for a child who is still learning how to go from the phonetic spellings to the actual correct spelling, it also helps to make it less stressful with the colorful layout and beautiful pictures. This will help your child to get a jump start on being smart when it comes to using resources such as dictionaries in order to look up spellings and definitions. A great buy!

I just opened the package and checked out this book and HAD to write a review for other parents out there! Usually when I shop, I do a lot of research before coming to a decision to purchase. Several times, my 6-year old has asked me the meaning of a word. I would either tell her in my own words, or look it up in an adult dictionary to refine my response to her. This book is great. First, it's a hard cover book, which is durable. The pictures are very vivid and will capture your child's attention. The descritpions are short, concise and in simple langauge for young readers. Finally, some words are put into sentences and antonyms are used, which are called "opposite" in the book. Don't research. Just buy the book. It is well worth it and will keep your child reading the book long after they looked up a word.

nice dictionary. there are lots of pictures to really help kids understand the words. unfortunately, it does not define all words that my 7 yr old comes up with. We've had this for ~2 weeks and my son has already tried to look up 3 words that were not in there. I still think it is a good introduction for teaching kids how to use a dictionary.

I bought this for my 1st grade daughter because each week she has spelling homework where she needs to look up definitions to different words. I'm not sure why I never thought of getting her a dictionary sooner because she's constantly asking me to define things for her and I often find myself stumped. Her: "Mommy what are academics?" Me: "Ummm, well it's kind of like... hmm..." I'm sure a lot of parents out there know where I'm coming from. It's like we can define something in adult terms no problem, but how do we put it so that a child can understand? Buy them the Children's Illustrated Dictionary! The pictures are perfect and the definitions are very easy to understand. Sometimes I catch her just sitting in her room flipping through it. Sure, not every word you can think of will be listed, but really how in depth do you need an elementary student to get? Highly recommend!

I agree with reviews that a lot of words are missing. Believe it or not kindergarteners start to read combination of simple words like “mutt” which you won’t find in this dictionary. But the illustrations are great and the dictionary is very appealing to my “not-so-interested- in-homework” son. When he reads a new word, he asks me to read the definition from this dictionary. He likes to help me find the word by alphabetic order and loves to look at the illustration. I would recommend this dictionary to any kindergartener’s parents as an engaging introduction to the concept of seeking definitions.

As a parent, I've really come to trust DK publications and, as usual, they've published another excellent reference. This dictionary is ideal as a child's first dictionary. The illustrations make it fun and the definitions are short and to the point. My six-year-old loves to just flip through it picking out words along the way. She also doesn't mind my saying "well, why don't you get your dictionary and we'll look it up." I would definately recommend to others.

Great for young kids who are visual learners. The definitions are more adult level vocabulary. The pictures help with word association. DK Publishing makes a quality book.