Book Review: Old Norse For Modern Times by Ian Stuart Sharpe

Old Norse For Modern Times by Ian Stuart Sharpe is entertaining and informative. Never be lost for words again...with this book of lost words. Have you ever wanted to wield the silver tongue of Loki, or to hammer home your point like a Thundergod? Old Norse is the language of legends and the stuff of sagas, the inspiration for Tolkien and Marvel, for award-winning manga and epic videogames. It is the language of cleverly crafted kennings, blood-curdling curses, and pithy retorts to Ragnarök. Old Norse for Modern Times gives you the perfect phrase for every contemporary situation—from memorable movie quotes ("We’re going to need a bigger boat." Þurfa munu vér skip stærra) to battle-cries to yell on Discord ("Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" Sýnisk þér ek vera í skapi til leika?), from mead hall musings ("This drink, I like it! ANOTHER!" Líkar mér drykkr þessi! ANNAN!) to tried-and-tested pickup lines ("Nice tattoo!" Fagrt er húðflúrið"). With over 500 phrases inside (plus the chance to add your own!) it is the perfect guide for Vikings fans, whether they are re-enactors, role-players, or simply in love with Ragnar.

Old Norse For Modern Times is well researched, with explanations and footnotes for translation, spelling, and punctuation choices. I really enjoyed the idea behind the book ad the execution. The topics covered, the organization of them, and the phrases were all well done. I loved the nods to popular culture and the sense of humor that is woven through out the book. I chuckled more than once, and grinned more than I would care to admit as I read through this book. I now need to get a hold of the audio book copy of this- which the introduction promised me existed-  because I am horrible with languages but there are several of these phrases I want the ability to use. And frankly, if I am going to confuse people by speaking Old Norse, I am going to do it right- or as close to it as I can get. 

Book Review: Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids—Building Vocabulary Through Etymology, Definitions & Stories by Jess Zafarris

Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids—Building Vocabulary Through Etymology, Definitions & Stories by Jess Zafarris shows readers of all ages that the English language is made up of words from different places, events, and periods of time. Each of those words has an exciting story to tell us about where, when, how, and why they came about. It has easy-to-understand definitions and awesome word-origin stories, helping readers understand the history and meaning of English words, improve vocabulary and spelling, and learn to play with language. Explore how weird words like gnome, fun words like zombie, and common words like caterpillar came to exist. Discover why some words sound funnier than others (like cackle, sizzle, and twang) and why some groups of words start with the same few letters (like hydrate, hydrogen, and fire hydrant). 

Once Upon a Word is an accessible and entertaining resource for readers of all ages. I like that it uses the history of words, the building blocks of words, and how different languages have created and continue to change the English language. After the rundown on the building blocks and things that have shaped language starts the actually dictionary part of the book- explaining each word in detail. This is a great tool for gaining a better understanding of favorite or interesting words, but it is not the most entertaining part. I really enjoyed the two sections that follow, which explore food  and music related words. Since food and music are two of my favorite things I found this to be very interesting.  I think that this would be a good classroom or school library resource for middle grade readers and older. However, it might also be helpful to those approaching the high school horrors of standardized tests that seem to be very important to their adults. The understanding of the roots and building blocks of words that are laid out in the beginning of the book can help all readers with their vocabulary and the ability to guess the correct meaning of most words- especially in a multiple choice test. I thought that some of the color and formatting choices really broke up the text on the pages nicely, making the read book as a whole less intimidating to readers. 

Once Upon a Word is a well organized and written resources that will help its readers understand some of the building blocks and influences of the English language while offering some humor and interesting tidbits along the way.