All over the world, people express their love for their children through endearments, such as sweetie pie or peanut. A child might be called little angel, angelito, in Spanish or precious, bao bei, in Chinese or my sweet little moon, mera chanda, in Hindu. Little Treasures offers a wealth of endearments in fourteen languages to share with your own beloved poppet and petit chou.
- ISBN: 9780547428628
- Author: Ogburn, Jacqueline K.
- Illustrator: Raschka, Chris
- Published: 2011 , Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
- Themes: Childhood, Children, Language, Love
- Descriptors: Early Years (ages 2-6), International, Picture Book
- No. of pages: 96
Prisca:
Little Treasures: Endearments from Around the World is such an interesting book. I guess I hadn’t thought about what names parents/adults in other countries might call young children. While the American names Jacqueline Ogburn mentions (honey, pumpkin, sunshine, baby-cakes) are familiar to me, some of the other names are very different. For example, a name for children in Russia is “little paw”, in France is “my flea”, and in Chile is “little fatty”. I’d be interested in knowing if there are cultural contexts for those names or if it’s an issue related to translation that those are the names in English. I wish I had more background in that – it’s something for me to investigate!
Marie:
I also was very intrigued by Little Treasures! I particularly liked how each nationality/language that is introduced begins with the frame of how speakers of that language “love their children very much.” I also like how such a wide variety (14) of countries and languages are represented in the text, including languages that use different alphabetic systems. What a great view into language diversity for young (and not so young) readers. Although I enjoyed this book, I am puzzled a bit by the illustrations. Chris Raschka is known for his fun, vibrant, bold illustrations, but I find the text and the illustrations to not fully connect for me as a reader. I’m not sure if it’s the color choices, the amount of art effects on the page, or the style of the art itself. I find myself feeling a bit distracted by the illustrations. What do you think, Prisca?
Prisca:
I agree, Marie. When I read the book I have a sense of “information overload”. It feels to me like there is too much information on each page. That might be because I consider it a book more aimed at younger children than older, though. I can’t help but wonder what the book would be like if it was physically larger and maybe laid out differently. When I try to imagine that, I think my response to the layout would be more positive.
Marie:
I think that’s an excellent point Prisca about how maybe a different orientation in the book might have allowed the layout to feel less busy and cramped. I think I’m realizing how much I value the use of purposeful white space in picture books. That being said, I know it will still be a book I pull out when I’m featuring various mentor texts; I could see students exploring some similar aspect of language across cultures.