A history of the world told through the prism of language; from Shakespeare to Anne Frank; Martin Luther King to Greta Thunberg. A History of Words for Children explores the uniquely human ability to transfer thoughts from one brain to another using words. Written in a lively narrative style; the book presents a history of the world and human development through the prism of language; introducing readers to the civilisations; inventions and wordsmiths who have shaped the way we communicate. Divided into themed chapters; the book explores what words are and how humans communicate using spoken language and sign; the development of written scripts and writing implements; including paper; the history of manuscripts and printed books; including worldwide bestsellers and famous libraries; the process of learning another language; dialects and accents and the way language can reflect our identity; the power of words to calm; inspire; rally crowds and rule nations; graffiti's role in spreading messages; codes and invented languages; the patterns of poetry; the future of words; including emojis; and languages facing extinction.