Best Word Book Ever facts for kids
Cover of the 1963 edition of the book.
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| Author | Richard Scarry |
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| Illustrator | Richard Scarry |
| Cover artist | Richard Scarry |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Golden Press |
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Publication date
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1963 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 91 (1st edition) |
Best Word Book Ever is a super popular children's book by Richard Scarry. It first came out in 1963. Before this, Scarry had been drawing for kids' books since 1950. But this book was special because it was the first one he both wrote and drew himself!
This book also kicked off Scarry's famous "Best Ever" series. The first edition had over 1,400 pictures, each with a label. It sold more than seven million copies in just 12 years! The book is made to be fun while helping kids learn new words and numbers. Each pair of pages covers a different topic, from sports to houses, showing examples from all over the world. There isn't much text on the pages. Often, the text asks the reader to find things in the pictures, making it interactive. All the characters are animal characters who act like humans. You'll see lots of cats, bears, rabbits, and mice, plus many other animals too. Richard Scarry first drew the art for the book, then painted it in. This was his usual way of working by then.
When the Book Was Published
The Best Word Book Ever first came out in the United States in 1963. A year later, in 1964, a British version was published by Paul Hamlyn. It was printed again in 1965.
Since then, the book has been printed many times. It has also been updated and changed a bit over the years. The book has been translated into many different languages. There's even a special version that's in both English and Spanish. You can also find it in Ukrainian.
Other Books Like This One
After the huge success of Best Word Book Ever, Richard Scarry created many more children's books. They all had a similar style. They featured the same kind of animal characters and had lots of pictures with less text. Some even had similar names!
These books include Best First Book Ever and Best Little Word Book Ever. His very last book was called Richard Scarry's Biggest Word Book Ever. Some of the "Best Ever" books were even turned into videos. There was also a TV show called "The Busy World of Richard Scarry." This show aired on Showtime from 1994 to 1997.
Different English Editions
Over the years, Best Word Book Ever has been published by different companies. Here are some of the English versions:
- Publisher: Golden Press, 1963, 91 pages, Hardcover (ASIN B000J07UG8)
- Publisher: Western Publishing Company, Inc., October 1963, Hardcover (ISBN: 0307655105)
- Publisher: Paul Hamlyn, 1964, 91 pages, Hardcover, British version
- Publisher: Golden Press, 1980, 72 pages, Hardcover, (ISBN: 9780307155108, ISBN: 0-307-15510-2)
- Publisher: Golden Books, 1999, 72 pages, Hardcover, Large format (ISBN: 9780307155108)
- Publisher: Random House Children's Books (with Giant Little Golden Book), September 1999, Hardcover (ISBN: 0-307-15510-2)
- Publisher: Luna Rising, September 2004, 64 pages, Hardcover, (Bilingual, English-Spanish) (ISBN: 9780873588737)
