The American Heritage Student Dictionary Hardcover – January 1, 2012

I looked through this dictionary when I received it as I'm giving it to my 10 year old grandson for Christmas. He's going to a private Christian school due to the poor, woke public schools here, and I found the definitions complete, easy to understand and factual. Lots and lots of descriptions with pictures and graphs. I highly recommend this for parents of children who need an excellent reference tool that their child can use from 5th to 12th grade.

I've been convinced of American Heritage superiority since my junior year in high school. It was then that Dr. Whitman, my English professor, required that we all purchase the same and were required to use it - not only as an accompaniment to our reading of Shakespeare, but for our various `language assignments' as well. Since my ten year old 4th grader was having a heck of a time working with my mid 80's college addition of my American Heritage, I conceded it was time to get her a dictionary which she could proudly call her own, read aloud to me w/out assistance and, per Dr. Whitman's' instructions, highlight and date each word she looks up.I was thrilled to find this middle school addition of the American Heritage. Although the instructions call for 6th grade and above, I felt confident that my 4th grader could benefit from this level vs. the more elementary version... As to the content; I am impressed! First, most every page contains color pictures. When my 4th grader looks up words, she most always seems to find a picture (and hence a definition) which captures her interest, and therefore, reads that entry as well!Second, numerous entries contain the word origin - this is why Dr. Whitman insisted that we use the American Heritage, it's replication of the Oxford English Dictionary which explains where the word came from. I always review this info w/ my 4th Grader - a I believe that its essential info in order to be able to conquer the English language - determination of the root words - which allows your vocabulary to grow (or at least allows you to fake it, as you can get the `idea' of what someone is saying when they start using words you don't really understand).Third, there wonderful grammar rules in the front of the book; no doubt that I need these - I only hope my 4th Graders Grammar will grow far beyond my limited abilities. Lastly, as noted through the reviews, the various things you normally find in the appendix, such as the Table of Elements, are found right there in the middle of the Dictionary. I have no doubt that I'm more excited a/b this Dictionary than my 4th Grader, that said, I know that it will serve her well for a long time. In addition, as I've told her, I know that she'll enjoy looking back on all the words that she's looked up - just as I still smile when I reach for my old blue dictionary and think how long its been...

My eight-year-old granddaughter loves this book. I purchased this for my eight-year-old granddaughter to help her writing sentences. She loves looking up words.

This is a great dictionary for my elementary school kids and I believe it will last them well into their high school years. It has all the benefits of a regular dictionary (i.e definitions, pronunciations, etc) plus it adds a bit of "coolness" to learning and looking up their vocabulary words. I have 4 kids ranging from 3 to 10 so this will last me a long time. It takes away the "boring" attitude they have had about researching their vocab words. When I took it out of the box all of my children and even my husband liked the book. The font isn't too small or too big (as I had been reading about other dictionaries/editions). I would definitely recommend.

Great layout, well illustrated for information and interest. My second grader is using it for her homework which involves looking up definitions of spelling/vocab words. This was much more student-friendly than the large classic Webster's edition, easier to find an understandable definition that a second-grader could read. Most (all?)of her words have had an example sentence that helps understand how the word might be used in context. My only suggestion...our old dictionary had those thumb-cut-out tab sorts of things that let you easily thumb to a particular letter quickly...no such help here, and it can be painfully slow for her to find where a particular letter starts. We actually used the post-it mini tabs to make our own landmarks to turn to.Overall a great choice and I am sure it will be suitable through junior high and beyond.

This is a fine dictionary for young learners. Our copy was mismanufactured, and I discovered the problem too late to return.

I purchased this particular dictionary after checking it out at Barnes & Noble. It was exactly what I wanted for our homeschool. I like the font, and the colored pictures. It is very detailed, but still contains easy to read definitions. I like it better than many of the other dictionaries that I have looked through. My oldest has been using it for awhile now and he thinks it is much easier to maneuver through than the others we have used in the past.I definitely recommend this for any homeschool with elementary-middle school level students. The same for just to have in your home for students period.

a sturdy dictionary for kids in middle school. there are many entries with pictures and words used in sentences to help students better understand the meaning. It also has word root and usage for some words

I've been looking for a more helpful dictionary that include less common and archaic English words. Believe it or not, it's hard to find such a dictionary. I tried 3 different dictionaries, failed to find what "pale" means as a noun, except in this one!!! Not all dictionaries are the same.

llego muy a tiempo para el inicio de clases y en muy buen estado, me ahorre bastante,Gracias!

This dictionary is well laid out and quite comprehensive -- it will fulfill the needs of children from fourth grade through high school. The pictures at the margins are an added attraction; they invite the students to page through the dictionary and learn (fairly random) things as they browse.

Es justo lo que necesitaba pero hay muy poca variedad en libros y diccionarios de lengua Americana o no puedes comprarlos solo añadir a la lista de deseosy hay varios colegios americanos en España

Perfecto el libro