Colossal Words for Kids by Colette Miller is a delightful collection to improve the vocabulary of eager young minds. Each word is defined using rhyme, and is accompanied by charming artwork, to help lock in the definition. The poetry reminded me a great deal of Shel Silverstein. Not gonna lie, all I can ever think of in relation to ‘acquiesce’ is Barbossa’s quote in Pirates of the Caribbean – “I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request. Means no.”

Some words include: discombobulated, fettle, non sequitur, and scintillating. I do wish pronunciation guides had been provided for each word. Some- like hyperbole- can be easy to guess wrong with the pronunciation, and as this is a book of words and definitions, wouldn't be out of place.

Perfect for classroom learning or for the budding wordsmiths in your life.

***Many thanks to Netgalley & Quarto Publishing/ Frances Lincoln for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was a cute way of spreading the meanings of big words. I believe kids would find this entertaining.

What an excellent way to teach kids about definitions of words that they hear regularly but don't know what they mean. It is a great and fun resource to have in classrooms and libraries for your 3rd-6th graders.

Looking for an amazing gift for your favorite little word artists? Look no further, because you can‘t go wrong with this cleverly designed vocabulary booster!

The other night I came across ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕝 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕂𝕚𝕕𝕤 by Colette Hiller and Tor Freeman published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books in 2024 at netgalley.com and was so fascinated by the positive energy it brings into language learning that I couldn‘t help but order the hard copy to add to our dictionary collection.

ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕝 𝕎𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕂𝕚𝕕𝕤 however -unlike classic dictionaries- reveals the words’ meanings in an entertaining way, using rhyme and lots of wordplay to help students to easily memorize and correctly use difficult words in order to boost their range of vocabulary.

Kerfuffle? Discombobulated? Precarious? Ostentatious? All of these and 71 other colossal words in this collection are defined according to the book‘s motto “Defined in rhyme to stick in the mind“. These hugely enjoyable poems are meant to be read aloud demonstrate how much fun and joy can be had with education and language as such! What a delightful children‘s book!

We love the fun, colorful drawings as well as the word art that come with every single educational poem, especially the one with the words MEANDER (genius!), SCINTILLATING (beautiful!) and OSTENTATIOUS (hilarious!).

The way humor and logic work together with rhyme on the 64 pages of this fabulous book in order to help make bigger words accessible is simply genius and is sure to have a tremendously positive impact on the reader‘s range of expression!

Recommended for 7-to-12-year-olds, but really a great addition to any language enthusiast’s bookshelf, no matter how old they are. I find it also very useful in upper-intermediate and advanced ESL / EFL settings to add a bit of fun to vocabulary work. The “words in this book […] were selected from vocabulary lists intended for older children, so that younger children can challenge themselves and discover a wealth of great new words!“

Needless to say, I am more than glad to have discovered this outstanding book and highly recommend it to anyone, who wants to help students to discover the magic of words as well as to anyone who wants to rekindle their enthusiasm for language!

Creative. Educational. Delightful.

This is a very nice book for teaching big words to kids. As an EFL educator I will use this with teenagers, but still think that the illustrations and the way the words are presented will appeal to them. I love how they use rhymes to make the explanations more memorable. Furthermore, the beatifully drawn images help the more visually inclined learners. Some words have little boxes that give either more explanations or additional information, which is also nice. A great book that I will definitely use in class.

A great read! Either you are a parent or an English teacher/educator, with English as a first or second language, this book is a good source of practice. It helps children - primary to middle-grad level - to improve their vocabulary while learning the words in their direct context. I loved the happy match between illustrations and text, which may encourage children to study by themselves as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and Frances Lincoln Children's Books for the ARC of this!

This was a very fun collection of new vocabulary for my kids (8 and 11). It used poems to help build understanding of definition and usage of each word, with interesting illustrations to go along.

Not sure why this says I didn't download this book- I did and was able to read it with my son! We had a blast especially when he tried to pronounce everything first before I read the words. I love kid's poetry books, and this is a great addition to the genre!

Quite an engaging long-words-for-short-people book, that bulks up our understanding of them all through a verse from our compiler, and quite often a quote from a highly school-approved author. Some of these will be much appreciated by certain teachers – 'alliteration' and 'hyperbole', for two, are bound to come up at some point in English, but others screaming for their place in the curriculum ('sustainable' leapt out) are absent. There is little rhyme nor reason, then, but this isn't designed to be strictly on the educational side of the Venn diagram, it and its full-colour artwork are here for fun too. And so we get quirky words like 'discombobulate' (one of those words that implies an obvious opposite that is practically never used), 'kerfuffle' and 'querulous'.

The benefits of this is that the hard miles have been put into the rhymes, therefore we see the words in action, and of course get to nail their pronunciation if they're part of a couplet or quatrain. I mean, not all the poems are classics, but they're all decent enough for these purposes. The bigger issue is if this does or does not make gaining such word knowledge seem like fun – as a sustainable hobby, perhaps. To me, it just about felt like it did, and with little to report as a caveat this is a four-star winner.

COLOSSAL WORDS FOR KIDS is a fantastic book that both children and adults can enjoy. My 5th grader loves learning new words and has been working on learning about adjectives, onomatopoeia, etc. this school year and this was such a great guide for him. The illustrations along with the catchy poems are absolutely wonderful. While expanding his vocabulary, my son was drawn to the colors in the illustration and it the combination of poetry and the colors made him eager to read - and learn - more. This is a book that is a must have for ELA teachers and librarians to have on hand. I also highly recommend it to all my homeschool mom friends :)

As educators or parents we have to consistently try and find new words to use when explaining or writing. This book takes the reader through an alphabetical collection of words that the readers have probably not come across yet. There are 75 new words to learn, each with a rhyming poem explanation. The poems themselves are hilarious, and the illustrations are equally as brilliant.
Huge amount of teaching points in this book such as creative writing. Great for classrooms and libraries, perfect for a read aloud story.
Perfect for children age 7+

COLOSSAL WORDS FOR KIDS (written by Collete Hiller, illustrated by Tor Freeman, published by Frances Lincoln Children’s Books) is a riveting collection of scintillating words that will surely turn the most nondescript conversation or written composition into an indisputably effervescent one! 😅 (Yes, those adjectives are all in this book. I tried my best!) 7 to 12 year-olds (and even older!) will have so much fun learning about the 75 words in this book as each word is explained in short, rhyming and hilarious poems, accompanied by equally hilarious illustrations. There were definitely a few I have never heard before myself (do you know what “histure”, “querulous”, “fettle” or “soporific” mean??)! Teaching opportunities with this book are plentiful, and will fit wonderfully into structured literacy lessons: phonological awareness (rhyming and multi-syllabic words), phonemic awareness, fluency, and of course, vocabulary.

This is super and should be a must-have for anyone who loves and is curious about words. Being told through the form of short rhymes, this is an easy read which could be read in one or dipped in and out of. I can already think of some children (and adults) who will devour this and then try out their new vocabulary. I love the fantastic illustrations which perfectly compliment the chosen words.
I can't wait to buy my own copy of this.

We don’t want to be ‘Ambiguous’ so this review is written with ‘Brevity’ and we will try not to ‘Deviate’ from our point. If you ever feel ‘Discombobulated’ when searching for the meaning of a tricky word then this book is for you. It’s not ‘Ostentatious’ to be ‘Replete’ with ‘Scintillating’ vocabulary and we can guarantee that you will love to expand yours using this fabulous text.

Each of these wonderful words are accompanied by a catchy, clever rhyme to clarify their meaning, put them into context and ensure that they stick in the minds of our little book worms, who can put them to great use in their creative writing. The humorous poems are perfectly paired with fantastic cartoon style illustrations designed to further engage our memories and entertain us.

Perfect for children age 7+

Thank you to NetGalley and FLC/Quarto for sending this eBook for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

I want Colossal Words for Kids for every English Language Arts (ELA) lesson I've taught in the past and every Orton-Gillingham tutorial I'll facilitate in the future.

This book is phenomenal. The inclusion of several ELA-specific words—including adjective, onomatopoeia, and synonymous—make this an instant classroom-ready resource, but the best thing about this book is that it's just plain fun! The poems used to define each term are short (see: brevity) and well-metered, perfect for reading aloud, which the author rightly recommends in the introductory pages.

What's more, each poem/definition is enhanced with an illustration—a perfect aid for dyslexic learners and struggling readers—and many include a fun quote from literature or history.

This book belongs in libraries, classrooms, homeschools, and tutoring kits everywhere. And while the target ages are 7-to-12-year-olds, it would also make a prefect resource and vocabulary journal template for older learners.

I work with students who benefit from seeing difficult words in a variety of settings, so I’m always on the lookout for these sort of books. The book was fun and engaging! It was a great way to support kids/students with higher level vocabulary. The only thing I’d want added is some sort of pronunciation guide for the words.

What an absolutely fantastic and clever book! This would make a great gift for any child and I’ll be looking to buy it for my daughter when she is a little older. The illustrations and colours are great, I love that it is a resource to help expand vocabulary and make children interested in it. The rhythm is catchy and it’s great how rhyme is used to define the words in a memorable way, even giving clear examples (for example using alliterative words to define alliteration.

Amazing book for kids to dip in and out of, contains some fabulous words, some a bit more mundane but presented in a fun way with each word being a useful poem in its own right. Brilliant resource for expanding kids vocabulary in a fun way.

What a brilliant resource for teaching your child some large and complex words in a fun and colourful way,

On each page you are provided with a word. The author has then used it in an engaging rhyme which will make it very memorable and hopefully easier for your child to remember.

Even as an adult I felt I learned a lot of new words. Think this is a very useful learning tool.

We LOVE this book. Me and my 5 year old learned so much and really annoyed all of the funny poems! Each day we try to remember another word and go and find something related to it. I would recommend it to anyone young and old, who want to expand their vocabulary and have a giggle at the same time.