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Samuel Jennings Vinson is a life-long explorer of all things creative. Whether it be in visual arts through his work in pediatric healthcare design, fine art curation or writing and doodling, the one constant is his drive to positively contribute to the world of young minds.
“We can’t just write for kids. We owe it to them to write to the person they will become.”
Reviewed by Joe Wisinski for Readers' Favorite
Samuel Jennings Vinson's The Hippopotamus Thesaurus: A Hefty Menagerie of Delectable Words teaches young readers the definitions of some uncommon words. Vinson’s goal is to help children around age 6 understand the fullness of the English language. Vinson believes that children of that age can both comprehend and enjoy elaborate words and concepts. The book includes more than 100 watercolor illustrations, all hand-drawn by the author. There is also a glossary of about 140 words, including all the ones defined in the book and many more. Vinson included the glossary in the hope that his readers would further explore the language. In addition to the book, Vinson provides an online resource for educators that can be used by teachers from kindergarten through 12th grade. This is Volume 1 of a series.
I enjoyed reading The Hippopotamus Thesaurus by Samuel Jennings Vinson. I also learned a lot of words that I never knew before, including their pronunciations. Vinson’s book is fun, clever, fascinating to read, and definitely different. It’s a delightful way for anyone, not only children, to learn new words. Vinson chose words that are entertaining to read, especially out loud. The rhyming that Vinson often used in defining the words adds additional pleasure, as do his illustrations, which complement the words well. To use one of the words that Vinson defines, his book is “bodacious.” I recommend this book to those who are just learning to read, their parents, and grandparents, and elementary, middle school, and high school teachers.
