Let’s Word Play!
Play and Challenge Your Child
In her foreword to Ralph Fletcher’s Pyrotechnics on the Page: Playful Craft that Sparks Writing, Katie Wood Ray writes:
“... good writers must know how to play - with words, ideas, sound, meaning.”
We couldn’t agree more! Play is essential to developing word consciousness and fostering a love of words.
While word play is a way for writers to draw attention to their writing, especially for the sake of entertainment, it can also be powerful. According to researchers at Cal State Sacramento, ads that use rhetorical techniques are 166% more likely to persuade readers than ads that don’t!
Idioms pose a special challenge for young children and English language learners as their meaning does not match the literal meaning of the words. This, of course, impacts comprehension.
Word Play with Books
There are several picture books that focus on word play. Read a few and let the JOY begin!
There’s a Frog in My Throat: 440 Animal Sayings a Little bird Told Me by Loreen Leedy & Pat Street
Hornswoggled! A Wacky Words Whodunit by Josh Crute
Word Play by Ivan Brunetti
Top Dog and Other Doggone Delightful Expressions by Carli Davidson
Betty’s Burgled Bakery: An Alliterative Adventure by Travis Nichols
Ann and Nan are Anagrams: A Mixed-up Word Dilemma by Mark Shulman & Adam McCauley
