Category: Japanese

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#ReadYourWorld How to Say I Love You in Five Languages

Right in time for  Multicultural Children’s Book Day (January 27, 2018) and also for Valentine’s Day, we are featuring the interactive board book How to Say I Love You in Five Languages by Kenard Pak.


Meet five children who speak different languages:  English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Mandarin. The text offers a greeting, a simple phrase, and “I love you” written in each language (accompanied with English translations). Press the buttons on the right side of the book to hear the children say their version of “I love you.”

Youngsters soak up languages, so it is important for them to be exposed early. Even if they don’t formally study the language, recognizing a few phrases will expand their vocabularies and grasp of grammar. Children also enjoy interactive books, which makes this a winning combination.

On a practical note, if you’ve had “speaking” books in the past, you know that the batteries can wear out quickly. If the battery is hidden within the book, there isn’t much you can do about it. The designers of this book took this into account. The battery pack is exposed in the back of the book, so you can change the battery. The designers also provided a tiny on-off switch on the battery pack, which you’ll need to make sure is “on” before you hand the book to a child.

How to Say I Love You in Five Languages is a delightful book to give as a gift for a young child. It is love in book form.

Public domain photo found on TrendHype

Note:  This book is offered for pre-order until its release February 14, 2018.

Age Range: 5 – 6 years
Board book: 10 pages
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions; Ill edition (February 14, 2018)
ISBN-10: 1786030810
ISBN-13: 978-1786030818

 

Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher for review purposes. I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at no extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.

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Ninja Mouse: Haiku

Quietly, stealthily Ninja Mouse: Haiku, written and illustrated by J. C. Thomas, creeps into your heart.

It isn’t easy to know what to expect when you see the cover of this book. The fierce mouse in the ninja garb and the comic book/graphic novel illustrations might lead the potential reader to believe this will be an action-packed story full of conflict and violence. Instead it is an almost silent journey of discovery, beautifully delivered entirely in haiku.

The illustrations in this book are inspiring. There’s something about dignity of the mouse, set against nature scenes, the dark versus light, and the splashes of color that are mesmerizing. Each two-page spread consists of the left-hand page divided into thirds, with the haiku text spread throughout. The right-hand page is a full scene with the Japanese text down the right side.

The book trailer gives a taste.

Author J.C. Thomas has a degree in International Relations and East Asia studies and he is currently an elementary school teacher. He is also a sixth-degree black belt in Taekwondo. This combination assures that the book is authentic, detailed, and useful for the classroom. There is a note about haiku in the back that explains how it differs in Japanese.

Ninja Mouse:  Haiku would be perfect for poetry month and to accompany a unit on haiku, especially for reluctant readers who might be drawn in by ninjas and comics. It would also be a wonderful accompaniment for a unit on Japan and East Asia studies.

Suggested related activity:

This book is so inspiring, it begs to be accompanied by an activity for children to create haiku and then illustrate it. For example, Scholastic has a haiku lesson plan. The Exploring Nature Educational Resource has a number of drawing lessons, like this one for a grasshopper.  Please feel free to leave other suggestions in the comments, if you choose.

Paperback: 40 pages
Publisher: SuperUltraGo! Press (October 16, 2014)
Language: English and Japanese
ISBN-10: 099132403X
ISBN-13: 978-0991324033

Disclosures:  This book was supplied by the author for review purposes. I am an affiliate with Amazon so I can provide you with cover images and links to more information about books and products. As you probably are aware, if you click through the highlighted title link and purchase a product, I will receive a very small commission, at not extra cost to you. Any proceeds help defray the costs of hosting and maintaining this website.