Staff Review: "The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus" by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet

There are people in the world that I don't know I'm thankful for until I read about them. Such is the case with Peter Roget, the creator of the thesaurus. Until I read Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet's beautiful book "The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus," I didn't realize what a debt I owe to this man for his life and work.

Peter Roget was born in 1779 and always loved making lists. He kept a book of word lists through college, becoming a doctor, and being a general renaissance man. One day he decided to publish his book of similar words, categorized by meaning, and that is why you can use a thesaurus every time you need to look for the right word.

Jen Bryant tells the story delightfully, and Melissa Sweet's illustrations are so spot on that this biography is a work of art. The text is often laid out in list format, and Sweet incorporates mixed-media lists in many of the pictures. It all harmonizes into a respectful, lovely whole, leaving the reader with the sense of having read a great story, not of having read a boring biography. For ages seven and up. Click on the link about to request a copy today.

--Andrea W., Headquarters