Max's Words
BookEarly ChildhoodElementaryJournalist

Max's Words

Kate Banks

Why we picked it

Max snips words from magazines and discovers that rearranging them can build whole worlds, turning vocabulary play into a creative storytelling adventure.

Our review

Max snips words from magazines and discovers that rearranging them can build whole worlds. The narrative doubles as a playful vocabulary lesson, inviting children to hunt for “favorite words” at home. Lively collage illustrations capture the cut-and-paste creativity young writers love. Perfect for classroom word jars or family story nights.

About this book

From the product listing

Bright, bold pictures incorporating clever wordplay accompany this highly original tale from Kate Banks and illustrator Boris Kulikov about a younger brother's ingenuity.

Max's brothers have grand collections that everyone makes a big fuss over. Benjamin collects stamps and Karl collects coins, and neither one will share with their little brother. So Max decides to start a collection of his own. He's going to collect words. He starts with small words that he cuts out of newspapers and magazines, but soon his collection has spilled out into the hall.

All the while, his brothers are watching. Benjamin brags that he has one thousand stamps. Karl is just a few coins short of five hundred. But a thousand stamps is really just a bunch of stamps, and a lot of coins is only a heap of money. A pile of words, however, can make a story.

Max's Words is a Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.


Resource details

Resource type
Book
Age ranges
Early Childhood, Elementary
Careers
Journalist
Good for kids who are
Artistic, Investigative
Based on its careers · What is RIASEC?
Author
Kate Banks