Child's Dictionary

[Sazhoopz]

My son is 4 and about to start Reception in September. He is constantly asking me what words mean and sometimes I struggle to describe the words & thought a dictionary might be good for him.

Can anyone recommend one?

www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-English-Dictionary-Schools-Dictionaries/dp/0192756990/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1470139784&sr=8-6&keywords=school+dictionary

This one is good. It isn't a picture one but the definitions are written in a child-friendly way that my 5 year old can understand. The problem with junior dictionaries or picture dictionaries is that many of the words he asks about aren't in there which is very frustrating! This one is just the right mix of comprehensive and child-friendly.

I agree, we also have it, together with the Thesaurus.

My ds has them too.
He also has electronic version as well, and it's very easy for child to use compared to normal book type ones. It comes with thesaurus and encyclopedia in one, which is even more handy.

The Dictionary mentioned above is really aimed at children 11 to 16.

One that is more accessible for very young children, and that he can start to use on his own once he knows a few letters, is the Oxford Phonics Spelling Dictionary. It introduces letters in the same order they will start to to learn them in school - s, a, t, p, i, n : www.letters-and-sounds.com/phase-2.html

See also my review in MN Book Reviews, under my name and Phonics.

Thanks all will take a look at both

Can your son read? If not, I'd tend to agree with Ferguson, but perhaps you need an adult dictionary and thesaurus for your own reference, to help you to answer his questions.

With my DD (just finished reception) I avoided the 'first' dictionaries as she was already reading quite well, and went for a 'primary' dictionary, but, like sarah DD is finding that the words she wants to look up aren't in it, so we end up getting out the full adult Oxford dictionary! We also use the adult thesaurus which is useful as it can be easier for a child to understand the meaning if they can see similar words (of course we talk about the slight differences).

I'm going to take a look at the school dictionary if it is a good 'middle ground' for DD - thanks to those that recommended it.