Summary: This book guides the reader through the life Noah Webster, from his life as a studious farmer boy to participation in the U.S. army to his work as a teacher and lawyer to his legacy as an American lexicographer to his contributions to the U.S. government. The author includes information about Webster's contributions to education, the creation and unification of the United States, lexicography, and American literature.

This textually rich picture-book biography of the immensely influential Noah Webster - author, educator, reformer, Patriot soldier, and lexicographer extraordinaire - is chock-full of fascinating information and historical details. I'm ashamed to say that I knew very little about Webster, whose 1828 dictionary (which would go on to become the The Merriam-Webster Dictionary) was the first truly comprehensive dictionary of American English, and was considered a marvel of its time, by lexicographers from many nations (including England). His time as student and soldier, his campaigns for better public education, and his role in producing the first children's primers that centered on American history and geography (children had hitherto learned from primers that used English place-names and events), were all also unknown to me.

Informative and engaging, Noah Webster: Weaver of Words is a fabulous book about a fascinating figure in American history and letters (thanks for alerting me to this one, Krista!), one who deserves to be better known! The accompanying oil artwork has a distinctly folkloric quality to it, one that suits the broad-minded, democratic spirit of its subject matter. If you've ever wondered (or if you haven't) why Americans spell certain words differently than their Anglophone cousins the world over - Webster believed that English lexicographers deliberately kept more abstruse spelling conventions, and left out certain kinds of vocabulary (words that 'common' people might use) in order to pander to the upper classes, and keep literacy as the domain of the privileged - then this book will clarify the matter. Highly recommended to young readers with an interest in American history, educational reform, and the English used in America. ( )

My dorky confession is that I love my dictionary, but I had never before thought about the person(s) behind that giant red book or the fact that English had to be established as a "federal language." This book paints an interesting picture of life around the time of the Revolutionary War - you don't often think about the hardships that must have presented for the people, even the families that could afford to send their boys to Yale. It is amazing to read about Webster's opinions about good education for all, and I was amazed at how many things this book taught me - every page was filled with information I never considered/knew before - this man had his hand in just about every aspect of life (education, public health, politics, literature, agriculture, etc.)! (And I love the end-pages of Webster's writings!)

A book about the life of Noah Webster and his love of learning and of words.

Noah Webster, Weaver of Words is a non fiction picture book. Noah Webster was best known for his writing. He also did many of other “wonderful” things. In the late 1780’s, Noah Webster was a teacher. He ran his school and wanted to improve the education in America. Noah was America’s first best selling author. The first schools were the common schools, followed by the dame schools. The dame schools were only taught by female teachers. Noah attended Yale in 1774. His father had to put his house up for mortgage so that Noah could go to college. Noah graduated from Yale as a teacher and a lawyer. Noah also taught himself many different languages, including French, German, Italian, and Spanish. Noah wanted to improve America’s education in all kinds of positive ways. Noah wanted “reform”.
There are several teaching connections that could go along with this book. I have previously learned about the common schools and dame schools, that would be a great history lesson for children. The children could actually see what schools use to be like and how much they have changed. Another teaching connection could be a history lesson on Noah Webster. You could also teach about the disease “Yellow Fever.” A teacher could have their students make out a time line of all the important events that occurred during Noah’s Life. I think this book is a great resource for 5th grade and up.
I enjoyed reading this book. It taught me a few things that I didn’t know. I also found it very interesting that Noah Webster taught his self all those different languages. This is by far my favorite non fiction book that we have read this semester. It was also an easy read which helped me understand the Revolutionary war and all the crisis that occurred. ( )