PICTURE BOOK - The Very Inappropriate Word - Jim Tobin

Illustrated by Dave Coverly

© 2013, Christy Ottaviano Books/ Henry Holt & Co.

HC $16.99

32 pages

Goodreads rating: 4.07

My rating: 4

Endpapers: Lt. blue with special words (like QUEASY FISTICUFFS, FLUTTER, GNOME) written inside an oblong, simple drawing that exemplifies the word.

Illustrations:  Ink and watercolors - really fun pages and illustrations, another great example of lots of ways to create a page.
An excellent example of book-making.

1^st line: "Michael collected words,"

My comments: Word-lover alert - this is a great story for us!  The inappropriate word is written as[@#and then a couple of symbols I can't do on my computer, ending with !].  There are two main themes for this book.  First, how many people DO use inappropriate words, what INAPPROPRIATE means, and how we should react when we hear one.  Second, that there are some really great words in the English language that we can and should use (which, in the classroom, would initiate a conversation about great words). I just need to prepare for the moment (and it WILL arrive) when kids want to discuss what the inappropriate word actually is!

Goodreads:  Michael loves interesting words (hard words like ELASTIC, little words like VAST, and big words like SMITHEREENS) and is always on the lookout for words to collect. Then one day, he picks up a new word. A badword. An inappropriate word. At least, that’s what his friend says. But Michael kind of likes the word. He thinks he might try it out.