Vocabulary Cartoons, SAT Word Power

I just found out a book called, Vocabulary Cartoons, SAT Word Power. It sells for $12.95 and can be purchased through the publisher’s website http://www.vocabularycartoons.com/index.php or through Amazon.com.
According to the publisher, Vocabulary Cartoons boost verbal standardized test scores and students learn 72% more words with 90% retention.  These books use mnemonics, a nifty devise that aids in the memorization process. The vocabulary words are linked with a word that you would know by association and they also each have a silly cartoon drawing so you really see the picture in your head.
Here is a sampling of 243 words in the books.

abstruse
abut
abyss
accolade
adjunct
affidavit
affinity
aftermath
aggrandize
ajar
alienate
alleviate
allure
aloof
also-ran
altercation
alternative
ambiance
amenable
amplify
antecedent
anterior
appalling
aptitude
archaic
arduous
artisan
askew
aspire
assuage
astute
asunder
atrophy
atypical
austere
badger
ballistics
balm
beget
beleaguer
bereaved
beset
bizarre
blather
bleak
bludgeon
bucolic
bulwark
cache
cacophony
cajole
callous
callow
candor
capacious
castigate
catapult
catharsis
caucus
cerebral
certify
chasm
chattel
chide
chronic
circa
citadel
claimant
cloister
commodious
comprise
congenial
connoisseur
consensus
coterie
countenance
coup
couture
cower
cranny
craven
creditor
criterion
cubism
curtail
curvilinear
damper
dauntless
dearth
debacle
debase
decree
deduce
defame
deft
demagogue
demonic
demur
denounce
desiccate
dilemma
disparage
dispel
disperse
dissolution
divine
docile
doldrums
domain
dormant
draconian
dromedary
dulcet
duress
edifice
efface
egalitarian
elapse
elfin
embellish
embody
emit
emulate
endure
engulf
enrage
enrapture
ensemble
entice
entomb
entomology (etymology)
entreat
erudite
euphonious
evade
evoke
exhume
expunge
facilitate
fathom
fawn
feign
fester
fetish
fickle
fjord
fleece
forage
forbear
forsake
fortuitous
fraught
gamin
gazebo
generalize
giddy
gird
girth
gloat
glutton
gossamer
grandiloquent
grandiose
guile
guise
harangue
harrowing
herbicide
histrionic
hoard
hovel
husbandry
idiosyncrasy
impede
incite
incongruous
infamy
insouciant
intervene
inveigle
irascible
joust
karma
laconic
lament
languish
lassitude
laudable
lax
legacy
lesion
lethargy
lexicon
lieu
loiter
maim
marauder
marshal
martyr
masticate
melancholy
menagerie
migratory
milieu
mirage
misanthropy
misnomer
mode
mores
muse
muster
myriad
nepotism
noisome
noxious
oblique
obtuse
opportune
optimum
orthodox
ostracize
oust
paradox
paranoia
parry
partition
penitent
periphery
permeate
perverse
petulant
philanthropy
phobia
photogenic
pied
pillage
pique
plight
porcine
potentate
precarious
procrastinate
proficient
propulsive
prowess
quandary
queue
quirk
quixotic
ramification
relinquish
reminisce
remorse
resurgent
revere
rivet
roster
rudimentary
scapegoat
scrutinize
segregate
serpentine
somber
sonorous
spur
spurn
stupefy
sundry
supplant
surfeit
tether
torque
trenchant
truculent
truncate
tyro
ubiquitous
umbrage
unbridled 
volition
wane
wither
wrest
yore

H/T: Curriculum Choice

Build a Stronger Vocabulary with Two Excellent Word Roots Programs

I know the study of root words (Latin and Greek) can be very useful in helping students increase their vocabulary levels, spelling proficiency and reading comprehension. I found a great review of two series over at Bending the Twigs. Here is the info - ever so slightly edited.

Caesar's English 1  by Michael Clay Thompson and Myriam B. Thompson is an excellent book - one that is engaging and intellectually challenging at the same time.
There is one drawback and that is that CE does not really have that much in the way of practice exercises.
To compliment the word study you can supplement with the Red Hot Root Words workbook from Prufrock Press.

Links: Ceasar's English and Red Hot Root Words series.

Note that virtually all of the roots covered in RHRW1 are repeated in RHRW2. The main difference between the two books is that in Vol. 1, each exercise covers only 1-2 roots vs. 3-4 in Vol. 2.

An option would be to skip the first RHRW book and just purchase the second.

Fellow homeschooler and blogger, Crimson Wife, composed a list of which lessons in CE1 and CE2 correlate with which practice exercises in RHRW2.

Of the 101 roots covered in the two CE volumes, 45 are also in RHRW2.
There are 125 additional roots in RHRW2 not covered in the CE series.

Therefore, a student who completes all 3 books will have learned a grand total of 226 roots. There are 20 chapters in each of the CE volumes (the odd ones cover roots) and 54 lessons in RHRW2.
Here are the correlations:

Caesar's English 1/Red Hot Root Words 2
Chapter 1- lesson 12, lesson 1, lesson 15, lesson 3, lesson 2
Chapter 3- lesson 14, lesson 17, lesson 9
Chapter 5- lesson 5, lesson 3
Chapter 7- lesson 27, lesson 33, lesson 20, lesson 39
Chapter 9- lesson 37
Chapter 11- lesson 31, lesson 6, lesson 8
Chapter 13- lesson 33
Chapter 15- lesson 23
Chapter 17- lesson 28, lesson 36, lesson 13
Chapter 19- lesson 27, lesson 11, lesson 16

Caesar's English 2/Red Hot Root Words 2
Chapter 1- lesson 9, lesson 6
Chapter 3- lesson 26, lesson 22, lesson 43
Chapter 5- lesson 2, lesson 11
Chapter 7- lesson 41
Chapter 9- lesson 27, lesson 36
Chapter 11- lesson 30, lesson 1, lesson 39
Chapter 13- lesson 6
Chapter 15- n/a
Chapter 17- lesson 7, lesson 37
Chapter 19- lesson 24, lesson 34