“This book provides everything you want to know about vocabulary for young children—as well as everything you didn’t know you wanted to know. I can’t think of anything about vocabulary acquisition, instruction, and assessment that is not included. A hallmark of the book is the suggestions the authors offer about how teachers can incorporate vocabulary development in typical primary-grades reading and writing instruction.”

—Isabel L. Beck, PhD, University of Pittsburgh (Emerita)


“Silverman and Hartranft makes it easy to understand the importance of vocabulary development in young students. Their in-depth explanations of several research-based strategies will help build students’ vocabularies, while real-life examples make each of the strategies easily applicable in daily teaching practices. As an early childhood educator, I recommend this book to anyone seeking to deepen their knowledge of vocabulary development and enhance their instruction.”

—Lisa Manna, kindergarten teacher, Port Towns Elementary School, Prince George’s County, Maryland


“I love this book—it is the right book at the right time! The centrality of language to literacy success is now widely recognized, but this is the first book for aspiring early childhood teachers that discusses language and reading in a way that builds conceptual understanding while providing research-based guidance for practice. It is already on the reading list for my course.”

—David K. Dickinson, EdD, Margaret Cowan Chair of Education and Associate Dean for Research, Peabody College of Education, Vanderbilt University


“The best time to help children bolster their vocabularies—particularly children who enter school with vocabularies weaker than those of their peers—is as soon as possible. In this solidly researched and well-crafted book, Silverman and Hartranft focus their considerable expertise on vocabulary instruction for children in PreK-2. Among the many strengths of the book are its focus on both breadth and depth, its myriad classroom examples, and its strong research base.”

—Michael F. Graves, PhD, University of Minnesota (Emeritus)