Lost in Lexicon: An Adventure in Words and Numbers

by Pendred Noyce, Joan Charles (Illustrator)

When Aunt Adelaide sends thirteen-year-old cousins Ivan and Daphne on a treasure hunt in the rain, they never expect to stumble into a whole new world--an enchanting land where words and numbers run wild. They are surprised again when the first people they meet beg them to find Lexicon's missing children, who have wandered off, bewitched by lights in the sky. Trekking between villages in search of clues, the cousins encounter a plague of punctuation, a curious creature, a fog of forgetting, the Mistress of Metaphor, a panel of poets, and the illogical mathematicians of Irrationality. But when a careless Mathemystical reflects them across the border into the ominous Land of Night, their peril deepens. Kidnapped, imprisoned, and mesmerized--with time running out--will Daphne and Ivan find a way to solve the mystery of lights in the sky and restore the lost children of Lexicon to their homes?

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Mathematics, Mystery, Adventure, Childrens, Middle Grade

360 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Pendred (Penny) Noyce is a doctor, educator, and mother of five. She is the author of twelve books for children and young adults and one text for educators. Her children's novles are brainy and fun, mixing math or science with playful language and adventure. Three of her books have won prestigious Outstanding Science Trade Books awards from the National Science Teachers Association and the Childrens Book Council.

Reviews

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

One Sentence Review: Has some strong elements and would perhaps be more impressive if the villains' villainy were clearer and the entire enterprise didn't feel like a mix of A Wrinkle in Time and The Phantom Tollbooth.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. Written with a basis similar to "The Phantom Tollbooth," but with more of a almost science fiction flair. Great read for an slightly advanced 5th grader or 6th grade and up. Intertwines wonderful algebra and sentence structure in a land of wonder and confusion. The characters Ivan and Daphne are superbly real and their intent and journey is honest and enrapturing. Look for it in October 2010!!

[Brady Meier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost in Lexicon

It’s the middle of summer and Ivan and Daphne are bored. I guess being stuck at your aunt’s house that doesn’t have any electronics in it with your cousin is pretty boring; until our aunt sends you on a super awesome scavenger hunt in another dimension of course. In this first book of a series of two comes many challenges for Ivan and Daphne such as math problems, a plague of punctuation, a falling mountain, and most of all lost children. Will Ivan and Daphne fulfill the prophecy?

This book's setting is in the present making it easier for you to picture the setting and the characters. The book is fantasy (what I mean is it has different dimensions) so the characters go to different dimensions but the author used stuff from our world and kept it in the other world so you could picture some stuff in this one world that the author is describing. This helped you understand the story better.

I think that most people would like this book because of the action and adventure in it. I liked it because I like action and adventure. I also liked it because it had lots of mathematics and poetry and language arts. I think most people would like it because the author made the mathematics and other elements work well with the action and adventure. I understand that other people might not like it because some people don't like to learn stuff in books but I think that it was a good book for me and probably others.

This book overall wasn't the greatest of books but it was the best compared to other learning, action, and adventure books. Even though this book wasn't the best in the category of action and adventure but I still enjoyed it. I hope you read this book and like it the same as I did.

[Library Maven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noyce has created a delightful pair of characters who, bored with the lack of entertainment at their Aunt's house on a rainy day, explore a barn and find themselves in a magical world where the balance of language and numbers has become unhinged. Ivan and Daphne are set on a mission to find Lexicon's lost children who have been lured away by dancing lights in the sky. Along the way the survive a plague of punctuation, the fog of forgetting, feuding parts of speech, a panel of poets and illogical mathematicians in the town of Irrationality. This delightful story offers readers ample opportunities to solve the word and number puzzles along the way. I look forward to additional tales in the series. Recommended for grades 4 - 7.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jacob and Ellie both asked to start reading this book. Added it to our morning time..krb 10/20/16

We haven't been reading this book since Thanksgiving. Not sure if we will come back to it or not..krb 12/30/16

No one has asked for this book and I'm not into it either. Will have to come back to it another time..krb 1/23/17

[Josiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lost in Lexicon is a compelling read, filled with imaginative approaches to cleverly taught education subjects such as poetry, punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, coordinates, irrational numbers, and so much more! The underlying moral of the adventure is that it is better to learn than to live a life of ease.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminiscent of "The Phantom Tollbooth".

[Adison Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great! I loved how Lexicon was placed on a graph, and even when things made no sense they still made sense... if that makes sense.

[Ceci Cipullo · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh I LOVEDDDDD this book in elementary school

[Jack Carl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! I loved how the characters rebelled in origin ( which is the main place in Lexicon) and helped all three of them unite everybody. I love how Ivan is courageous and helps Sam with his arm.His sister Daphne is always being nice to her cousin who is super snobby and means but then warms up to Daphne and Ivan and as the book advances she starts helping Daphne and Ivan. I recommend this book to pretty much everybody! I like when they travel around Lexicon and try to help everyone. This book is the second book to the lost in lexicon series. I would say 9 to 10 year olds would like this book and its predecessor.

[ACS Book-finder · Rating 4 out of 5]

About the book: When thirteen-year-old cousins Ivan and Daphne go on a treasure hunt in the rain one summer day, they never expect to stumble into a whole new world where words and numbers run wild.

After the cousins outwit a plague of punctuation, grateful villagers beg them to find Lexicon’s missing children, who have been enticed away by dancing lights in the sky. Trekking between villages in search of clues, the cousins encounter a talking thesaurus, a fog of forgetting, the Mistress of Metaphor, a panel of poets, feuding parts of speech, and the illogical mathematicians of Irrationality. When a careless Mathemystical reflects them across the border into the ominous Land of Night, their peril deepens. Kidnapped, imprisoned, and mesmerized—with time running out—will Ivan and Daphne find a way to solve the mystery of the lights in the sky and restore the lost children of Lexicon to their homes? http://www.lostinlexicon.com

Review: A fun book to read. It's target age is 9-12 year olds; however, older "kids" will certainly enjoy this book as well. Ivan & Daphne are cousins spending the summer at their Aunt Adelaide's farm. Aunt Adelaide forbids Ivan and Daphne to have any "tech" gadgets while visiting. They have played every card game, board game and read all the books Aunt Adelaide has to offer. Quickly becoming bored, Ivan and Daphne begin to argue and fight. Tired of their arguing, Aunt Adelaide sends them out to the barn with a riddle. Ivan and Daphne discover another world full of adventure -- a world full of grammar and riddles.

In this day when tech gadgets and internet seemed to have replaced the printed word, this book reminds us of how much fun reading can be. For those readers who just have to have their computer time, there is a nice website of words games: www.lostinlexicon.com.

Although the book is a little lengthy, it is definitely worth the read. (rev. P.Howard)

DISCLOSURE: A complimentary copy of Lost in Lexicon was given in exchange for our honest review from Scarletta Publishing on behalf of the author.

[K.L. Bernard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do your kids long for a good book they can sink their teeth in? ���Lost in Lexicon��� is perfect for readers who love a challenge.

Ivan and Daphne are spending a summer with Aunt Adelaide, a former librarian who casually leaves books lying around in various places to get the kids reading. The kids, however, had planned to have an ongoing monopoly game, hiking, climbing trees and rope swinging. Unfortunately, some rainy days got in the way. Aunt Adelaide sends the kids out to the barn on a treasure hunt using words and numbers.

On their hunt, Daphne and Ivan start on a word adventure that will have them traveling from one land to another. Not only will they travel from one land to another, encountering one mystery after another. In addition to all of that, they have to find their way back home.

This book invites kids to learn more about punctuation and grammar. Intertwined puzzles in reading is unique and fun for the reader.

[Marsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you have an aptitude for the written language and numerical equations, this book is for you. Even if not, it’s a whimsical look into another world, one ruled by peculiar laws and even more peculiar people. Here, being lost in a fog can quite literally cost you your memory and a walking thesaurus can be a cute llama-like creature instead of a tiresome boor. Much like The Phantom Tollbooth and Ella Minnow Pea, this is a romp through a world of wordplay that’s fun and erudite at the same time. Its message about children seeking adventure through play and problem-solving instead of video games can be heavy-handed at times but such moments don’t detract from the fun-filled, fairy tale nature of this novel.
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[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from First Reads. I'm looking forward to a quick read through now that it's arrived. I intend to give a preliminary rating after this. Then I'll give the book to my nephew and give his feedback later.

After reading a little, I can't judge the story fairly yet(so far, so good) but I do think the illustrations are lovely.

3.5 Stars for me. I'll add more detail later but a short assessment is: good story, beautiful drawings, suitable for tweens(and older) with good math skills, an enjoyment of language, and appreciation for a good quest.

Update: My nephew(age 9) has now finished the book and he really liked it. He'd rate it four stars.

[Dennis]

"Lost in Lexicon" is a great book! It is about the adventures of two cousins Daphne and Ivan. Aunt Adelaide gave them two clues that lead them to the world of Lexicon. There are four lands: Land of Night, Land of Morning, Land Beneath the Sea and Land of Winter. Daphne and Ivan traveled across these lands and helped each village with something by solving riddles. They helped with the plague of punctuation, fixed the tile machine, saved Sammy, passed the Chasm bridge. My favorite part is when they were selling poems to the manager of the meter yard. I think I learned a lot about math and words. Some things were complicated, such as the compass problems or imaginary numbers.

[Terry]

I loved this book … anything that encourages kids to unplug is great! The adventure and characters are fun, with plenty of metaphor and symbolism in place names, character traits, and places. The puzzles are just clever enough to make it fun, but in no way frustrating for someone who hasn’t had the subject in school (e.g., Algebra).

Pros: Fun characters - like a Pet Thesaurus (llama) - and two typical teenagers engage kids in this action-packed adventure.

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but found it a bit confusing. Ivan and Daphne are teenage cousins spending the summer with their great-aunt. She sends the cousins on an adventure after they complain of being bored. This adventure sends them into Lexicon, where they solve word and math puzzles to help rescue lost children.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nik's math department chair gave this to him as a good-bye present last year (the chair was leaving the school) so we had it lying around. The concept is clever and I did enjoy it although the end felt a little forced. As in, not the best literature ever but a fun read, particularly if you have a kid who doesn't see how math could ever be of use in real life (albeit, a fictional real life!)

[Sheila Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inspired by The Phantom Tollbooth, but original enough to be different. Fun adventures, but too didactic in places. See my full review

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first started this book, I was expecting something along the line of "The Phantom Tollbooth". It was similar but got more complicated, mathematical, and diabolical towards the end. I did enjoy it but think I still prefer "The Phantom Tollbooth".

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot! I look forward to reading the next title in the series. I'm not sure why Goodreads has two editions that seem disconnected, so I'm putting my rating and comments on both. My 11 yr old liked it too.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot! I look forward to reading the next title in the series. I'm not sure why Goodreads has two editions that seem disconnected, so I'm putting my rating and comments on both. My 11 yr old liked it too.

[Mr. E E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. It is inthe same realm as phantom tollbooth with the imaginary worlds of language and math. It was a good adventure and I like the way sheincorpated both math and language concepts into the story.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was clever and moved quickly. I loved that the adventure moved forward through math and English, but it never seemed too forced. My 11-year-old and 7-year-old both loved it as a read-aloud; they grasped what they could and let the rest go on by without any problem.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that it was an interesting concept, but I wish that there was more actual puzzles to figure out. I also though that it was a very easy read for some of the advanced concepts it talked about.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clever book! Fun to read, even as an adult. Loved that the characters had to use their wits to solve the mysteries, and that lots of different kinds of puzzles were involved.

[Amy Pallant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this with my son. It was interesting how she brought math and language arts into the plot.

[Robin]

I get an email excerpt from "Book Daily..." I read the excerpt from this one and though it would be a fun read for my granddaughter who is 10. The story sounds fun.

[Bailey]

Fun and clever premise, but I didn't finish it. To me it seemed like a YA book that really needed a YA audience.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as curriculum related as I had hoped, but good. I will probably look into having the author visit next school year.