18th January Thesaurus Day

Thesaurus Day is held on 18th January because that is the birthdate of Peter Roget the creator of Roget's Thesaurus. He was born in 1779, was a consummate list-maker by 8 years old and went on to be a physician after leaving school and studying medicine at University of Edinburgh. He retired in 1840 and dedicated himself to compiling his dictionary of synonyms that he had begun in 1805. This dictionary was first published in 1852. It was called 'Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition’. It was republished and republished and became very well known and thought of and despite Roget's other achievements it is for this that he is most remembered.

Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet published a spectacular picture book biography of his life, titled The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus in 2014. It is the perfect way to learn about Roget and thesauruses. It also impresses upon readers the power of words and the joy of looking closely at them.

If you can't find this book and you want to look at synonyms through a fun read look for:
• Thesaurus Rex by Laya Steinberg and Debbie Harter

Ist October Deborah Hautzig (1956) World Vegetarian Day

Deborah Hautzig, an American author and the daughter of author Esther Hautzig (of The Endless Steppe fame), has written a large number of books. As well as novels she has written many stories which are part of the Step Into Reading series. Her most well known readers for the age group I teach belong to a series about Little Witch.

One might wonder why I would choose to highlight World Vegetarian Day, but as the mother of a daughter who is a vegetarian I feel obliged and in my time in the library I have had two vegetarian families who have asked about books. Among the aims of the day are that "it brings awareness to the ethical, environmental, health and humanitarian benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle." To be serious about promoting this aim I would feel as if I was on thin ice at school, but a book that you might read for yourself might be Ruby Roth's That's Why We Don't Eat Animals. In my library I have two fun vegetarian books that come complete with a great bendy toy...Herb the Vegetarian Dragon and Cooking With Herb. The first is a story about Herb, a fire-breathing dragon who has a vegetable garden and does not eat meat. The story by Jules Bass is hilarious and appeals whether you are vegetarian or not. The illustrations by Debbie Harter are extremely colourful with lots of orange and lime green and like all Barefoot Books an artistic feast. The second is a cookbook of vegetarian recipes.