Writing Children's Dictionaries: A Personal Adventure

ABSTRACT:Juvenile lexicography is a field in itself and deserves more attention than it has received over the years. This paper considers this important branch of lexicography through the lens of personal experience, that is, over thirty years in the publishing of English-language general dictionaries in Canada and the United States, with a significant portion of those years given over to dictionaries for children. My formal connection to the art and craft of lexicography (to borrow Sidney Landau's book title) ended over fifteen years ago. However, though methodology in all lexicography has continued to change in notable ways, the essence of the discipline has not changed and continues to draw my attention and contemplation.