The Roots We Share

100 words to bring us together

Susie Dent, Harriet Hobday

$39.99

Hardback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

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English

Puffin
09 October 2025

Picture dictionaries (Children's&YA)

A follow-up title to the bestselling Roots of Happiness, this is a beautifully illustrated book from author, broadcaster and word expert, Susie Dent, highlighting 100 words and phrases from the English language and beyond that bring people together.

Susie Dent, bestselling author, broadcaster and word expert, is on a mission to find 100 words and phrases to bring people together.

There are times when the world feels more divided than ever. But it is important to remember the things that unite rather than divide us. Susie has searched far and wide to unearth words and phrases - old, new, and long-forgotten - that celebrate harmony, unity, and the universal languages that connect people across the world.

Whether you want to conjobble (chat with a friend over some food), to be goodwilly (kind, generous, and cheerful), to atone for a mistake (become 'at' 'one' with someone again) or simply head off on a coddiwomple (a journey with no destination), this joyous collection of words celebrates the things in life that bind us together, from friendship, love and peace, to community, music and even the stars. These are the roots we share.

By: Susie Dent
Illustrated by: Harriet Hobday
Imprint: Puffin
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 192mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 500g
ISBN: 9780241717820
ISBN 10: 0241717825
Pages: 128
Publication Date: 09 October 2025
Recommended Age: From 8 to 18 years
Audience: Children/juvenile , English as a second language
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Susie Dent (Author) Susie Dent is a writer and broadcaster on language. She recently celebrated 25 years as the resident word expert on C4's Countdown, and also appears on the show's comedy sister 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown. Susie comments regularly on TV and radio on words in the news. Susie answers notes and queries about words and phrases in weekly columns in the Radio Times and The Week Junior. She has written for the Independent on Sunday, the Telegraph, and the Times, and is the author of several books, including her latest, Dent's Modern Tribes. She is a spokesperson for Oxford University Press, and has been a judge on the Costa Book Awards and on the Academy Excellence Awards. Susie regularly delivers key-note speeches to both small companies and major corporations on language and communication. @susie_dent Harriet Hobday (Illustrator) Harriet Hobday is an extraordinary new talent, a recent graduate of the MA Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Currently based in Edinburgh, she was highly commended in the Macmillan Prize 2015 and runner-up for The Batsford Prize 2018.