Max's Words

Written by Kate Banks

Narrated by T.R. Knight

When his brothers won’t share their collections of stamps and coins, Max starts a collection of his own, made up of words. One word leads to another, and suddenly Max discovers he has a story worth telling – and sharing!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Weston Woods
• Release date: Jan 1, 2007
• ISBN: 9780545467476

Kate Banks

Kate Banks (1960 – 2024) wrote many books for children, among them Max’s Words, And If the Moon Could Talk, winner of the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, and The Night Worker, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award. She grew up in Maine, where she and her two sisters and brother spent a lot of time outdoors, and where Banks developed an early love of reading. Banks attended Wellesley College and received her master's in history at Columbia University. She lived in Rome for eight years and lived in the South of France with her husband and two sons, Peter Anton and Maximilian.

Reviews for Max's Words

[jaimie919 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Max wanted to collect something like his brothers but he did not know what. He came up with the idea to collect words. He began cutting out words from magazines and newspapers. His collection started getting bigger and bigger. When max put his words together he made sentences. Then he realized when he gets some more words he will be able to make a story! He began making his story and his brothers joined in. His brothers had so much fun making a story they asked to make another one. Max told them you have to trade me for some words. This a great book to show kids how important it is to pay attention to new words. Many words are what makes good writing.

[josedelaguila_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When his brothers won't share their stamp and coin collections, Max starts a rather unusual collection of his own: words clipped from magazines and newspapers, then creatively recombined into stories. With its deft interplay of words and pictures, this book celebrates the magic of language and-best of all-out-of-the-box thinking.

[booklady123 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book would work very well as a read aloud and to use in connection with a vocabulary lesson or writing sentences. (It would work well with a lesson on sharing, too.) Students will enjoy hearing the story read aloud and may even be inspired to create their own word collections. Kulikov's excellent illustrations are designed around the stories that Max creates with his word collection. This will allow young readers to find clues to help them with the harder words.In addition to showing how to create sentences using a variety of words, the story also illustrates the value of working together. In the beginning Max's brothers refuse to share their collections with him, but once they see how cool his word collection is that want words, too. Max agrees to share, if they share.This is a good edition to any elementary classroom or school library.Recommended for Pre-school to 3rd GradeMrs. Archer's Rating: 5 of 5!

[kelseydavison · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Max wants to be a collector like his brother, so he collects words! He cuts words from all texts and styles to start his collection. Soon his pile is so big and he realizes the worth of what a pile of words can do! This is a great read for all ages, but I believe early readers and writers would be inspired by Max.

[ghelmus · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a beautiful story in both concept and execution. The book follows a boy who wants to start a collection like his older brothers, so he chooses to collect words. He starts of small and the collection soon grows until he has thousands and thousands of words. Max then realizes he can connect these words in millions of different ways to make sentences and stories. Banks uses a variety of beautiful fonts for each word, making this an entertaining read. It also encourages a love for words and an excitement for expanding vocabulary. Max's fascination for words becomes contagious to his brothers, as it does for the reader.