Word of the Week/How to Raise a Dinosaur

It's time for our Word of the Week feature here at LitLad. Here's how it works: Every Sunday the boys and I read a book from which they pick their favorite-sounding unfamiliar word. They each write the word that night and we try to use it in conversation as much as we can throughout the week. According to The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, "the only words children learn having heard them only once are the words you wish you had never said in front of them."

This week's word is perplexing, an adjective that means "confusing, puzzling."

And we're reading How to Raise a Dinosaur, in which a boy helping us pick out a pet says, "Picking the perfect pet can be perpetually perplexing. There are so many choices!"


















How to Raise a Dinosaur
Author/illustrator: Natasha Wing/Pablo Bernasconi
Publisher: Running Press Kids (October 2010)
Source: Public library

Narrated by a young boy who is quite knowledgeable about all the usual kinds of pets – dogs, cats, horses, lizards ... and dinosaurs? – How to Raise a Dinosaur tells you everything you need to know to buy the right dinosaur and make a happy home for it. With lots of flaps to lift, the frightened expressions of passersby, and the humorous take on the similarities to raising a dog, this was an entertaining read for both boys and received more than a few laughs.

Find it: Amazon, IndieBound