Max's Words, by Kate Banks

Pictures by Boris Kulikov.

Max decides to collect words: small words, bigger words, words that make him feel good, things to eat, favorite colors, and words he doesn’t know. Unlike his brothers’ stamp and coin collections, his words can form thoughts and once he has a story started, his brothers want to join in the fun. Words that appear cut out of newspapers and magazines take shapes on the pages: pancakes, crocodiles, alligators, and iguanas and build into stories. It will be hard not to give students scissors and magazines and let them find their own words and stories.

Grades 1-4