The Word Collector by Sonja Wimmer

The Word Collector by Sonja Wimmer

Copyright 2011

Cuento de Luz - Children's (ages 5 and up)

32 pages

Reason for reading: I was asked if I'd be willing to review some children's books by a rep for Cuento de Luz (their books are translations) and I love children's books, so I said "yes". The Word Collector is my favorite.

Publisher's description (because they said it better than I can):

Luna is passionate about words. She loves their light and becomes tickled with laughter from them. But one day she realizes that, little by little, the beautiful, gorgeous and fun words are disappearing from the world--so she decides it's time to act. A poetic tale about the magic of words, this delightful story invites readers of all ages to enjoy the power that positive words can have.

What I loved about The Word Collector:

The Word Collector is a book that lovers of words can relate to, regardless of age.

Luna collected words just like other people collected stamps:

funny words, that tickle your palate when you say them,

words so beautiful that they make you cry,

friendly words that embrace your soul.

The illustrations are wildly lovely:

The only thing I disliked about the book is not really a big deal. Sometimes the words are written in such a way that you have to turn your head or follow the words in waves to read them:

Notice that the word "put" is turned on its side in this spread (hope you can enlarge these photos). This one weakness is offset by the fact that the entire text is written on the final two pages, so if you're unsure which direction the words go, you can always check. The words on these two pages, according to the final two pages, are on pages 20 & 21 and say the following:

She put all of the words she had in a big suitcase, and set off with them on a journey.

There's little enough text that it'll eventually become second nature to read the words to a child, even if you find that you need to flip to the back to make sure you've got them right, at first; and, children are less bothered by uniquely-designed wording than adults, so I have a feeling that for little ones, the way the words are placed on the page will actually make the book more interesting rather than confusing.

Recommendation:

A very enjoyable story for lovers of words with beautiful illustrations and an uplifting theme. Recommended for any and all who love words. But, you'll especially want to share it with children. I even love the endpapers.

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