Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids

Where do words come from?—Teaching kids ages 9 to 12 vocabulary through word origins

The English language is made up of words from different places, events, and periods of time. Each of those words has an exciting story to tell us about where, when, how, and why they came about. Once Upon a Word is packed with easy-to-understand definitions and awesome word origin stories. With this dictionary for kids, you can understand the history and meaning of English words, improve your vocabulary and spelling, and learn to play with language.

Explore how weird words like gnome, fun words like zombie, and common words like caterpillar came to exist. Discover why some words sound funnier than others (like cackle, sizzle, and twang) and why some groups of words start with the same few letters (like hydrate, hydrogen, and fire hydrant). In this dictionary for kids, there's a whole world of English words to uncover!

This unique dictionary for kids includes:

Roots & branches • —Learn about the building blocks that make up words, called roots • , prefixes • , and suffixes • . Kid-friendly definitions • —Look up definitions designed for your reading level in this dictionary for kids. Word tidbits • —Find out where your favorite food words got their start, from bacon • to marshmallow • , spaghetti • , yogurt • , and beyond.

See how the English language evolved with this colorful dictionary for kids.

© 2025 Callisto Kids (Ebook): 9781646112609

Release date

Ebook: June 17, 2025