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5 opere 63 membri 1 recensione

Opere di Howard K. Suzuki

Etichette

Informazioni generali

Sesso
male

Utenti

Recensioni

The blurb says that the book is for ages 5-10, and that it 'allows a young child to focus on each word and picture and make the connection between them'. Er, no. Say you're 6--hell, say you're 48--and want to learn the Czech word illustrated by a man holding behind him a newspaper and wielding before him a pair of rather warped spectacles who's looking down at an open-mouthed child standing with outstretched hand. You might think that word is 'spectacles/glasses' or 'palm' or 'request' or even 'concealed', or that perhaps it's a trick entry because given the illustration it evokes not a word but 'this cardigan your mother knitted me is as wonky as that pullover she knitted you so stop kvetching'. You'd be wrong. The word is 'maly'--'small'. All too obvious now, isn't it?--Even better is the illustration of two very young boys simply standing next to each other: if you didn't recognise a depiction of the word 'ten brater'--'brother'--you're a silly billy.

And even better still is the weird array of artistic styles in the clip art, ranging from the approximately realistic through faux children's drawings and equally faux-casual magazine illustrations to (rather nice) drawings with a startling heavy-handed use of cloisonne. Moreover many ot the pictures seem to be taken from books published c. 1960 (though the dictionary's copyright is 1999) and call to mind 'Look, Dick. Spot runs.' and old b/w street photos of British schoolboys wearing neckties, shorts, and knee-socks.

Charmingly odd, quietly weird, and the perfect birthday present for a child who's been plaguing you asking what the Czech word for 'platypus' is.
… (altro)
1 vota
Segnalato
bluepiano | May 10, 2016 |

Statistiche

Opere
5
Utenti
63
Popolarità
#268,028
Recensioni
1
ISBN
6

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