Scholastic children's dictionary

Gr 3-6-Scholastic is sticking to the formula it unrolled for the 2010 edition-mainly using photographs instead of drawings for illustrations and including modern vernacular, such as "chat room," and "mosh pit." Many of the pages in the 2013 edition are identical to those in the previous work. Entries are in neat, clearly defined columns and a large, easy-to-read font. Entry words appear in red and definitions are in black. The photographs are of remarkably fine resolution, possessing an almost 3-D quality and lifelike colors. This edition still has a 10-page thesaurus, grammar and idioms guides, a table of acronyms, a list of U.S. presidents, U.S. and world maps, and a table of world flags. Gone are the charts for the Braille and ASL alphabets, however. The few additions to this edition consist mainly of more word histories (users can now find the stories behind "grim," "molt," "relent," and "rummage"), and there are a few more photographs. Still in place is the use of phonetic pronunciation guides instead of the more academic use of symbols as guides. All in all, this is an attractive, modern reference, but unless your 2010 copy is in tatters, there is no need to invest in it.-Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Libraries, NC (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.