This book appeared to have an interesting premise teaching children about hurtful language, but in its own efforts to avoid such language just ended up totally confusing in both message and intent.

Visually, I like this book. The black and white graphics are eye-catching, and the design is good. The story, though....it means well, but I don't think the message is conveyed well. Eventually it's explained that an "X word" is a bad, angry, hurtful word, but this might not come across clearly to younger readers, especially as this is not a term that is in the vernacular, unlike another example in the book. "Nosh on some nifty N words" is a suggested alternative for using an X word, but I think we all know of an N word that is bad, angry, and hurtful, don't we? I feel this was a poor choice of letters to use, especially as the entire alphabet isn't used in the book- A, H, T, and U are not called out, couldn't one of those have been substituted? So, the thought is nice, the execution not so much.

#PleaseDontSayAnXWord #NetGalley

When I read the title of this book, I was intrigued to try to figure out what an X-word would be, though I had a pretty good idea. And I was intrigued by the premise of it being an anti-bullying book.

When I started it, I loved the contrast of the black and white pictures. And it started out fun. But then abruptly in the middle, the tone completely changed and I got confused. I didn't really feel the anti-bullying message. I didn't quite understand how X-words were being defined, especially when being compared to other words beginning with other letters. And if I am not totally understanding it, I am not sure that children will get it, either.

Overall, I feel like it was a great idea that fell short and could be reworked and maybe come across better. I gave it 2.5 stars.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for fulfilling my review request. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found this book a bit sanctimonious. And I don't really see the point of it. An older kid doesn't need a picture book to tell them not to swear. And a younger kid won't get the point. It's too subtle.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I feel like I would have been really confused by it if I hadn't read the description. The theme of anti-bullying didn't really come across to me. I liked the black and white graphics, but overall this book just didn't do it for me.

While I didn't completely understand the purpose of this book, I did think that it was written really cute where it avoided the letter x.

An interesting book which I wasn’t expecting. This book explores to topic of swearing in a lighthearted way and could lead to further discussion about other ways of dealing with anger and frustration other than swearing.

This is a cute book, but I don't feel like it was anything particularly special. The high contrast style design was kind of cool. I appreciate the use of uncommon and higher level vocabulary being introduced to 8 to 12-year-olds, which is the intended audience. I do, however, feel like I’ve seen lots of books that have done very similar things. Also, it seems that the author is using the phrase "X word" to mean bad word or harmful word, which I’ve never heard used. Since there is the letter X, which is often a particularly hard letter to learn for kids, I think including the idea of not using hurtful words as an afterthought at the end of the book was at the expense of valuable educational material, which at this age you always want to see. I think the author could have found a more creative way to teach the letter X as well as get their kindness message across if that was their goal. I also do understand what the intent was by using the letter in the title. I think it will be a fun book for kids to read with parents.

*In exchange for an honest review, I received an e-copy courtesy of Gyroscope Books and NetGalley.com.

I'm sorry but I didn't really get this book. I can 100% back the message trying to be conveyed about anti-bulling, but.. I just don't understand the execution at all.

Unfortunately I didn't like the book at all. As a picture book, it is a bit disappointing to have large alphabetics printed with one sentence each, stating some non-sense, and eventually it is still hard to get what's an X Word means. The expectation for this book is way different and letting down for what one really gets.

This book will be a wonderful teaching method to teach kids not to use words to bully. It is a subject that needs to be addressed, and I think that using a book will be very helpful.

Maybe I missed the point. I suppose that could be the reason for the weird distaste I felt when I finished this children’s book.

The black and white only coloring was surprisingly good (I tend to think of books for this age range as being overly colorful in an attempt to keep attention and promote engagement, but the black and white actually lended quite well to those purposes as well). The overall format, with all of its alliterations was also good, though only because it does, towards the end acknowledge that the alphabet is all out of order. Without that detail I fear I would have been even more critical of the book.

My issue is with the premise of not using X-words. While they are often difficult to think of, our language is full of useful words that begin with X. The book describes them as nasty and mean words... and while I *think* it was attempting to say that one should not use the mean words we hear that society has gotten into the habit of saying only by a letter because they are so horribly offensive (I’m honestly struggling to even write an example, because even in that case the words do, in fact, offend), but there really is something missing to get a reader to that point. Granted, chances are good that either a parent or perhaps a daycare/kindergarten teacher would be reading through the book with children first and it can open the way for conversations to broach this... but I feel like there are better ways to accomplish this task.

I really liked the idea of this book. I liked the black and white design and the short sentences for each letter. I can imagine creating our own sentences like this in class but I'm not sure I really get the whole x thing. At first I wondered if it was to be read as a cross (so 'don't say a cross word') especially as the blurb talks about other things that the x can represent but 'an' throughout suggests not. I just wasn't really sure what an x word was. The first words starting with or containing an x sound that come to my mind (and I suspect that of the children I work with) are all quite nice (xylophone, exciting, expert) so I found the message (If there is one) a bit confusing.

When you read this out loud with your young child companion, you have to pronounce the Z as 'zee'. There's a point in my stating that, which you'll see when you find the actual pun that closes this book, and which is at the heart of it. It's a paean to having a vocab, asking us to use more words than we might think we know, beginning with each and every letter of the alphabet – except, of course, for the repeated instruction that makes up the title. Now I'm seeing negative reviews for this amongst the first responders on netgalley, but I think the message is clear. It is a slightly strange little read, and the whole thing is kind of hampered by English using two subtly different indefinite articles, but for me the book was a success.

This book really misses the mark. Look, I love wordplay. Especially when it's done so cleverly in kids' books that it's accessible to young readers as well as older ones. But the concept here is so high that it's going to have a hangover later. What we have here is an alphabet book that's trying to be literary and cute. It doesn't work.

The problem is that X words are never defined, other than that they're the words we use to hurt others. Unfortunately, the rest of the book talks about F words, N words, and S words as "fancy", "nifty", and "silly" (respectively). When you approach a child and say the phrase "F word", what do you think their first thought is going to be? (Hint: probably not "fluffy", "ferocious", or "finagle".) When you attach "word" to a letter of the alphabet, it brings with it a certain connotation (usually negative). The whole premise of the book is based around this (i.e., "X words"), so I don't understand why the author thought that implying that the N word is "nifty" would go over very well.

The book goes on to instruct kids in how to speak to each other:

"You know these [X] words...

BAD words.
ANGRY words.
HURTFUL words.

Words YOU shouldn't say.

So the next time you're about to say an X word,
stop and think
(I mean, how'd you like it if someone called you an X word?).

Instead, say
a silly word,
a fancy word..."

Did this book seriously just encourage children to use the S and F words?

Seriously. That's F-worded up.

A really sweet alphabet book that introduces letters and new words whilst also encouraging children to consider their choice of words and the impact they may have. A great choice for parents of conscientious children.

I like the concept and the black and white simple story, but I just didn’t get it. The kids didn’t get it. We have never heard of this x word before so it was confusing and uncomfortable when we thought it would be fun and silly.
I just don’t think this book is for us.