The Circus of Words: Acrobatic Anagrams, Parading Palindromes, Wonderful Words on a Wire, and More Lively Letter Play

by Richard Lederer, Dave Morice (Illustrator)

Language skills will fly through the air with the greatest of ease as kids join in The Circus of Words. Children of all ages are delighted by anagrams, palindromes, acrostics, alliteration, riddles, and puns, yet few books on wordplay are addressed to middle-schoolers. This creative and challenging activity book shows kids how to juggle letters to become ringmasters of wordplay. “The Shrinking Spotlight” shows how larger words become smaller words when certain letters are removed. “Clown Cars” introduces the idea of words hiding within words, and “The Acro Bat” and “Silver Spoonerisms” show off letter clusters that change from one word to another. The whole bandwagon is here, enabling kids, who are natural language enthusiasts, to cavort through that endless entertainment, the English language.

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2001

About the author

Richard Lederer is the author of more than 35 books about language, history, and humor, including his best-selling Anguished English series and his current book, The Gift of Age. He has been profiled in magazines as diverse as The New Yorker, People, and the National Enquirer and frequently appears on radio as a commentator on language. He has been named International Punster of the Year and Toastmasters International's Golden Gavel winner.

He is the father of author and poet Katy Lederer and poker players Howard Lederer and Annie Duke.