Where do words come from? How do they come to be? Who says a pen has to be called a pen and what would happen if we suddenly decided to call it something else?
Andrew Clements’ absorbing novel Frindle (Simon and Schuster pound;9.99) is a thought-provoking, irreverent and funny exploration of the origins of words.
Nick Allen is a sharp, lateral-thinking 10-year-old, full of mischief, admired by his peers for his ability to distract teachers with off-beat and gloriously time-wasting questions.
But when he tries to stop Mrs Granger from giving out a dictionary exercise by asking the seemingly innocent question “Where do all these words come from?”, he kick-starts a battle of wits which leads to Nick adopting a new word for his pen - “frindle” - with far-reaching consequences.
This story, which Clements writes with great clarity and incisive humour, would make an excellent basis for word games with upper primary children.
