My First Mandarin Chinese Phrases

by Jill Kalz, Translations.com, Inc. (Translator), Daniele Fabbri (Illustrator)

Overview

Open the pages of this book and you’ll soon be speaking Mandarin Chinese! Colorful illustrations and simple labels make learning Mandarin Chinese fun. From the basics to cool phrases, this book will give you lots to talk about!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781404871557
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	01/01/2012
Series:	Speak Another Language! Series
Edition description:	Bilingual
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	NC460L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jill Kalz is the author of more than 70 children's books. Her picture book Farmer Cap (Picture Window Books) was a finalist for a 2008 Minnesota Book Award and the winner of the Readers' Choice Award and an AEP Distinguished Achievement Award. Jill also writes short stories and poetry for adults. She works as a children's book editor and lives in Minnesota with her charismatic dog, Tuckerbean.

Table of Contents

The basics — Feelings — Who are you? — Meals — Family — Dates and time — Months and seasons — Weather — School — Home — Hobbies — With friends — Numbers — Colors.

Editorial Reviews

Each book in this series has an instructional page explaining the format and basics about the mechanics of the language. The alphabet and pronunciations of the individual letters and letter combinations found within each language are also provided. Appealing two-page full-color cartoon layouts illustrate the use of the language in various situations such as School, Weather, and Home. The cartoons’ speech bubbles are filled with the foreign language phrase or word, the English translation, and phonetic pronunciation. Each volume concludes with numbers and colors. This series is straightforward, provides basic phrases and words, and because the books follow the same format, moving from one to another is easy and familiar. Websites through the publisher’s portal are not always easily navigated by young readers, even though they are on-topic. Recommended.

Library Media Connection

Gr 1–5—Organized into themes such as months and seasons, feelings, school, and meals, these spreads feature large, colorful digital illustrations, a handful of phrases, and some supplemental vocabulary words. Each phrase is presented in English, simplified Chinese characters, and pinyin transliteration. Lists of numbers and colors are appended and supplemental websites are included at the end. This simple layout is easy to read and understand, but glosses over some peculiarities of the language. While the book offers multiple words for grandfather, it does not tell readers that these words are not interchangeable, as one refers to a paternal grandfather, the other to a maternal grandfather. Frequent typos in the pinyin transliterations hinder the usability of the text, and some phrases skip important articles. Readers are better off with Catherine Bruzzone's Hide and Speak Chinese (Barron's 2010) or Judy Mahoney's Teach Me Everyday Chinese (Teach Me Tapes, 2008).—Jennifer Rothschild, Arlington County Public Libraries, VA

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