Every Word Tells a Story by Tom Read Wilson
As well as being a TV presenter, actor and singer, Tom Read Wilson is a devout logophile who hosts a regular podcast Tom Read Wilson has words with … and has been posting his Word of the Day videos since 2016. Here he introduces his book Every Word Tells a Story, a fascinating and entertaining exploration of the origins of some everyday words.
Why etymology? Why for children? These are two very legitimate questions. When I was knee-high to a grasshopper, the following happened. My English teacher father and I stumbled upon a shop window with an impressive display, and he said “What a festive window. Hmm…window…vindr augr, the wind’s eye, not glass that allows you to see the shop’s treasures, but the holes that allow the building to breathe…”. Every word he uttered contained a story. Oh! And there is the book’s title. The apple, I’m afraid, did not fall far from the tree. I hope what I offer in the book is a mere a trampoline (a lovely word!) into a thousand more lexical tales.
Every word in this book has a diverting or ticklesome story (in my immensely biased opinion) but does this help young readers in practical terms? I believe it does. My goddaughter and I wrestled with English during the lockdowns. She is dyslexic and finds spelling tricky. The narratives offered by the constituent parts of a word and the way in which they were woven together, not only cemented spelling but augmented vocabulary. It was an awesome discovery.
When our lovely publisher, Quarto, approached me because of my etymological nuggets on social media and asked if they might provide the framework for a children’s book, I automatically thought of those English lessons and of my father. I felt that a whistle-stop tour of the alphabet using lyrical poems to explore word origins could tickle and divert. Paired with the derivation-depictions offered by our magical illustrator, Ian Morris, I sincerely hope this becomes a staple in homes and school libraries.
How did I choose the words? Each letter of the alphabet has a ‘star word’ which has its own poem; designed to be diverting and lyrical but with all the derivation nuggets included on the same page. These ‘star words’ were chosen as representatives of nature, architecture, clothing and even ablutions (shampoo from the Hindi ‘champo’, to ‘massage’ your head, as opposed to the liquid you use when you do it) to find curious etymology in the familiar and occasionally vice versa. The reader also gets three bonus words for each letter of the alphabet. These are not presented as poems but as independent pithy word stories.
Why now? We are in the most liberal coining period since Shakespeare’s day. Children are fantastic word coiners. If they feel like their lexical sandbox comes complete with sand, bucket and spade, it is apt to make them bolder and more engaged with language. I hope this book provides that agency and a tremendous sense of play. My abiding dream is that these wordy wrestles keep readers of all ages stimulated and inspired long into the future.
Every Word Tells a Story by Tom Read, Wilson and illustrated by Ian Morris was published in October 2022 by words & pictures, The Quarto Group. ISBN 9780711277519