AnnickPress

See into the past and discover how English evolved from more than 350 languages.

15-year-old Jill Boswell and her 13-year-old brother, Alex, are sent to summer camp in a bizarre badlands region—the only place in the world where words are fossilized in rock. Armed with water bottles, spades and backpacks, the campers hike from ridge to ridge in search of their ancient quarry. While Alex loves the thrill of the hunt, Jill is sulky and bored. The budding word hounds soon realize they are on an amazing journey of discovery.

Traveling through the mountains of fossilized words, from ancient Greece (television, demon, gorilla, catastrophe) to Spain (mosquito, ten-gallon, burrito), from the language of the Goths (heathen, home, haunt) to Dutch (booze, dock, pickle, cookie), they find that even current words like “podcast” and “gossip” originated hundreds of years ago!

Illustrations by Kathryn Adams capture the fun of the word expedition and celebrate the joy of language sleuthing.

Reviews:

“A lively read ... that teachers might incorporate into language classes.”
—National Post, 22/10/09

“Mark Abley brilliantly combines his talents ...”
—Quill & Quire, 12/09

“This informative text provides a wealth of information ... Highly recommended.”
—Resource Links, 12/09

“... an ideal book for educators and parents looking to inspire readers to see our very old language in a very new way.”
—Canadian Bookseller, 12/09

“The information in the book is varied and interesting. [Abley’s] word selection has contemporary relevance ...”
—CM Magazine, 11/09

“… a gentle introduction that would appeal to readers …
—VOYA, 02/10

“This fun book, with hip illustrations … will encourage children to see language as a window into past and present cultures.”
—Montreal Review of Books, 04/10