Andrew's Angry Words (North-South Paperback)

Rating:
Summary: Words can hurt or heal
Review: Few kids' books clearly show the consequences words can have when they are used as weapons. This book is one of them, and does it in style.

Even little kids understand the consequences here, because the ripple effect is illustrated so well. Andrew's older sister ran to answer the phone, tripping Andrew and spilling him and his toys in the process. He then spewed "the angriest bunch of words anyone has ever heard."

As soon as he said them, he wished he had not. But it was too late. Marion got on the phone with Ted, the baker's son, and yelled at him, who yelled out the window and into a room where a poet was working. The poet lost his rhyme, and screamed angry words at a motorcyclist passing by. And so on.

The words went to some fanciful places, including a dragon's breath, but kids get the message: Once spoken, ephemeral though words seem, they have a way of traveling.

The story ends on a happy note, the happiest part of which is that kids finish this book understanding the hurtful potential--and positive power--of words. Alyssa A. Lappen