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WALLY THE WORDWORM
Young Wally the Wordworm has a voracious appetite for words. But growing bored with those he finds in the tabloids, he discovers a deliciously fat tome called the Dictionary. His joy is expressed in a rollicking text with full-color drawings.
55 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1964
87 people want to read
About the author
Clifton Fadiman
223 books37 followersClifton Paul "Kip" Fadiman was an American intellectual, author, editor, radio and television personality.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 5, 2019
Found this at a library sale & thought it looked like a fun book to read to my kids. Great wordplay & fun illustrations, so much so I might keep it for myself!
2019 addendum: Just reread with my 6 year old. She giggled & enjoyed the book almost as much as I did introducing her to syzygy & other words within. Tempted to let her take it to school but it’s both more complicated & longer than most 1st grade attention spans
2019 addendum: Just reread with my 6 year old. She giggled & enjoyed the book almost as much as I did introducing her to syzygy & other words within. Tempted to let her take it to school but it’s both more complicated & longer than most 1st grade attention spans
June 8, 2022
I was recently asked to name the earliest book I fell in love with, and I suspect it is this magnificent gem about a worm who eats words with relish, reveling in their expressiveness, their provenance.
I still remember the illustrations where Wally eats "eft" and "sesquipedalian", and I loved back then how the author did not shy away from introducing his young readers to exotic vocabulary. It felt like a marvelous secret in kindergarten, rolling those strange, powerful words inside my own mouth. I probably pronounced them all wrong. Such is the reader's curse.
So yeah, my first favorite book. I ran across our well-worn copy at my childhood home many years back, and shared it with my kids. I'd like to think they got as much joy reading it as I did. My daughter still remembers it as "that worm book." Fondly, maybe?
Now that I think about it, Wally came really close to turning me into a writer.
He still might.
I still remember the illustrations where Wally eats "eft" and "sesquipedalian", and I loved back then how the author did not shy away from introducing his young readers to exotic vocabulary. It felt like a marvelous secret in kindergarten, rolling those strange, powerful words inside my own mouth. I probably pronounced them all wrong. Such is the reader's curse.
So yeah, my first favorite book. I ran across our well-worn copy at my childhood home many years back, and shared it with my kids. I'd like to think they got as much joy reading it as I did. My daughter still remembers it as "that worm book." Fondly, maybe?
Now that I think about it, Wally came really close to turning me into a writer.
He still might.
November 5, 2021
I was aware of Clifton Fadiman and I adore his daughter's work but I had never heard of this children's book until I received an obscure book catalog (Godine) and ordered it from them. It is delightful and I am so glad to know that it is back in print. I wish I had found it years ago when my children were young but now I can read it to grand babies! I agree with Mr. Fadiman's belief that children do not need to be given books that are dumbed down, they need meat! Everyone should check out sweet Wally's antics once he locates the dictionary.
February 26, 2020
Another book I wanted to like more than I actually did. I love the idea that authors shouldn't shy away from using big words, because the big words help a child want to learn them. But I prefer the big words to be used in the service of the story, not just left dangling there as enticement to look them up in a dictionary or on the Internet. A few of the words are used correctly, a few more are explained with the text or the illustrations, but many are just thrown in there because they are weird or interesting. They are left hanging out there with no real purpose.
The other thing is that the words don't come in any particular order. They jump around all through the dictionary and it makes no story sense why one word appears where it does and the next one follows. They are neither linked in sequence nor in a reasonable story line.
I like idea. I like the illustrations. I think the book could have been better.
The other thing is that the words don't come in any particular order. They jump around all through the dictionary and it makes no story sense why one word appears where it does and the next one follows. They are neither linked in sequence nor in a reasonable story line.
I like idea. I like the illustrations. I think the book could have been better.
January 31, 2020
A very clever, funny children's book! I would have loved it as a kid. I still do! Every word lover should read this book. It even taught me a few new words!
May 9, 2014
I read this book when I was a very, very small girl. It changed my life forever, and I'm not kidding. This book and its author, Clifton Fadiman, are in large measure responsible for the major joys of my life as a writer and translator.
March 21, 2018
I recently read Anne Fadiman's The Wine Lover's Daughter. Fadiman writes about herself and her father, Clifton Fadiman.
Clifton loved his wine and the lavish lifestyle he provided for his family through his radio shows, literary journalism, and various other jobs he had. At the root of his life are WORDS. Even to his dying breath Clifton loved words.
When Anne was a child, her father made up stories about Wally the Wordworm. Eventually those stories became a charming children's book called Wally the Wordworm. In this story hungry Wally goes into a dictionary and eats all manner of Words. He enjoyed Sesquipedalian and Palindromes, but did not much care for Paradichlorobenzene.
Wally was always looking for words he did not know because he knew that if he ate new, challenging, words, he would grow. Eating words that were small or simple or that he already knew, might take the edge off of his hunger, but they would not help him grow. So, he explored the dictionary looking for the best words to eat.
The illustrations by Lisa Atherton are dazzling and make the story come alive.
Sadly, this book is no longer in print. Perhaps there will be a renewed interest in this kind of a clever children's book and it will be republished?
Clifton loved his wine and the lavish lifestyle he provided for his family through his radio shows, literary journalism, and various other jobs he had. At the root of his life are WORDS. Even to his dying breath Clifton loved words.
When Anne was a child, her father made up stories about Wally the Wordworm. Eventually those stories became a charming children's book called Wally the Wordworm. In this story hungry Wally goes into a dictionary and eats all manner of Words. He enjoyed Sesquipedalian and Palindromes, but did not much care for Paradichlorobenzene.
Wally was always looking for words he did not know because he knew that if he ate new, challenging, words, he would grow. Eating words that were small or simple or that he already knew, might take the edge off of his hunger, but they would not help him grow. So, he explored the dictionary looking for the best words to eat.
The illustrations by Lisa Atherton are dazzling and make the story come alive.
Sadly, this book is no longer in print. Perhaps there will be a renewed interest in this kind of a clever children's book and it will be republished?
January 8, 2023
Delightful, creative!
“Wally the Wordworm not only liked to eat words, he liked to meet them greet them and repeat them.”
From the Afterword: “My father, by contrast, believed that children had a far greater appetite for difficulty than was commonly assumed; that they should read over their heads and beyond their years; and that children’s literature should therefore not be dumbed down but smarted up. In one of his essays, he wrote that children “like the slight atmosphere of mystery distilled by a really bang-up polysyllable.” In another, he wrote, “There is only one way to enlarge a rubber band and that is to stretch it.”
“Wally the Wordworm not only liked to eat words, he liked to meet them greet them and repeat them.”
From the Afterword: “My father, by contrast, believed that children had a far greater appetite for difficulty than was commonly assumed; that they should read over their heads and beyond their years; and that children’s literature should therefore not be dumbed down but smarted up. In one of his essays, he wrote that children “like the slight atmosphere of mystery distilled by a really bang-up polysyllable.” In another, he wrote, “There is only one way to enlarge a rubber band and that is to stretch it.”
December 4, 2022
I wish I had encountered this book as a child, because I was a kid that LOVED wordplay. This book is a word lover's playground. Wally the Wordworm eats his way through a dictionary, discovering words that are palindromes, words that make new words when turned upside down, and words that are simply fun to say (and eat).
I love that the book is not afraid of words that will be hard for children, and the adventurous ones will relish learning what they mean (like syzygy and ptarmigan). I'm not sure if this is out of print, but if it is, it needs a re-release.
I love that the book is not afraid of words that will be hard for children, and the adventurous ones will relish learning what they mean (like syzygy and ptarmigan). I'm not sure if this is out of print, but if it is, it needs a re-release.
September 11, 2015
I love this book! Wally the Wordworm was tired of old words "that kept repeating themselves. They were good enough for a stupid worm, for a slow worm, for a worm who didn't care about real nourishment. But not good enough for Wally." So he "slithered and slathered And wiggled and waggled his way into" a dictionary and discovered - with glee! - all sorts of "New Words, BIG words...Words that s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d with sound and meaning...Words with strange faces that just look interesting". Words like syzygy, pyx, somersault, auk, chimera, gingerly, skerry, and so many more.
Everything about this book is a delight. The text, the illustrations, Wally's adorable little expressions. I've read it a bazillion times and I still enjoy poring over every tiny detail.
Some of the words are defined in the text but most are only referenced in the illustrations, encouraging readers to keep an actual dictionary on hand. There are several words that I learned as a child thanks to this book including roc, kale, and sesquipedalian. And this time I learned a new one: zymurgy!
Everything about this book is a delight. The text, the illustrations, Wally's adorable little expressions. I've read it a bazillion times and I still enjoy poring over every tiny detail.
Some of the words are defined in the text but most are only referenced in the illustrations, encouraging readers to keep an actual dictionary on hand. There are several words that I learned as a child thanks to this book including roc, kale, and sesquipedalian. And this time I learned a new one: zymurgy!
December 6, 2020
Such a fun book with so many new words to include in your and your child's vocabulary. I read about this book after a short story Anne Fadiman (Clifton Fadiman's daughter) wrote a short story about words in her book Ex Libris. Was worth the wait at the library. And I just bought a few copies to give as gifts because I think children need to be exposed to all these wonderful words (not just Wally!).
April 14, 2013
A book worm who tires of the usual words for children--"the cat who is sitting on the mat" explores the dictionary--and other sources for "delicious" words, fun words, exciting words, long and short words. The illustrations help with words that might not be obvious--all in all it's a delightful read!
December 27, 2012
Brilliant.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews