Here’s a fun stocking filler for Christmas from David Astle, the famous ‘word nerd’ master. He’s chosen 101 weird words that you may have heard of, like flibbertigibbet or razzmatazz, and others like pareidolia or haboob, which I’ve never heard of. They all have a story and some history attached to them. I particularly like shenanigans, a quirky word for prank-playing or mucking around, and believe it or not, it was the name of a champion racehorse in America in the 1960s. Another of my favourites is lackadaisical. David tells us it comes from the old word lackaday which was a shorter way of saying alas the day or ‘what a terrible day I’m having. Life feels such a chore.’

Our author also loves pulling words to pieces. After writing the word ambidextrous he explains the meaning, cuts the word in half (ambide / xtrous) and asks us to find the secret that is hiding. Can we see that this word is made up of 12 letters which are never repeated and has every vowel in the alphabet. But also the first half has six letters from the first half of the alphabet and the second half from the other half of the alphabet. This is David Astle at his best and the kids will love it.

As well as weird words, there are lots of funny pictures, puzzles and riddles. Plus, of course, the mystery of the three fake words just to trick you.

This is such a great book with loads of fun for the kids and the whole family.

Reviewed by Merle Morcom
Age Guide 8+