W Is for Webster: Noah Webster and His American Dictionary

In a visually fantastical portrait of Noah Webster, Fern and Kulikov present him as an eccentric intellectual with flaming red hair and a tendency to irritate others with his “know-it-all ways.” In the wake of the Revolutionary War, Webster set out to “give America its own language,” creating a bestselling “speller” book before writing the dictionary for which he is best known. Kulikov’s florid paintings toy with dimension and size—in one scene, Webster sits atop a small planet, à la Saint-Exupéry’s Little Prince, while an open dictionary helps form an enormous W in a triumphal closing image. Ages 4–8. Author’s agency: Wernick & Pratt Agency. Illustrator’s agent: Wanda Nowak. (Nov.)