The Viking First Picture Dictionary

The word ``dictionary,'' applied to this book, is misleading. Readers do not have the freedom to look up the spelling or meaning of a particular word. Instead, this is a browser's compendium of common objects, arranged alphabetically. As with genuine dictionaries, there are large and small sections (20 entries for S , two for X ). Beginning readers will find labeled items on every page, sometimes ambiguously presented. Under I , there are only five objects, three of them with ``ice'' comprising part or all of the word``ice'' (a tray of ice cubes), ``iceberg'' (a lump of ice of indeterminate size, floating in a blue sea, which happens to resemble ``island,'' a patch of green also adrift in blue) and ice-cream. A few words are downright confusing: the verb ``zip'' with a picture of a zipper; and ``jug'' with a picture of a measuring cup. The idea of a dictionary for children is a most welcome one, but it hasn't been fulfilled in this offering. Ages 2-6. (August)