Wally the Wordworm by Clifton Fadiman

A slim children's book by the well-known bookman Clifton Fadiman, first published in 1964. Fadiman wrote it because he hated children's books that limited their vocabulary to words supposedly suitable for children. He found words fun--they opened up new worlds, new meanings, and new feelings, things which should be encouraged in children. Thus the tale of Wally the Wordworm, an explorer who eats his way through odd words in a dictionary. It's a clever and amusing contrast to the many modern books of a less ambitious nature.