My Little Book of Chinese Words
Children's Literature
Think Chinese writing is
incomprehensible? My Little Book of Chinese Words will change
that misconception by showing how Chinese characters mimic the forms of
the objects or actions they represent. Artist Catherine Louis and
calligrapher Shi Bo create an illuminating picture book with double page
spreads that show a painting of an object or action, its modern and
ancient Chinese character, the English translation, and the
pronunciation of the word in Chinese. As I lingered on every page, I was
struck by how well Chinese characters resembled their words—from the
character for large forest (sen) which resembles a group of three trees,
to crawling (chong) that resembles a slithering snake. Louis' paintings
bridge the link between object and word in a visually appealing way
that will interest children. More than a dictionary, My Little Book
of Chinese Words helps eliminate the anxiety of learning a foreign
language by showing how easily words and characters can be grasped
through their visual aspects. Reviewer: Michael Jung
About the Author
In her life and in her work, China has had an enormous influence on
Catherine Louis. Although she lives in Switzerland, a small piece of her
heart has moved far away to the land of the dragon. Louis is also the
author and illustrator of Liu and the Bird, published by North-South
Books.
