Каква прекрасна дума

by Nicola Edwards, Luisa Uribe (Illustrator), Никола Едуардс

‌Искало ли ви се е да имаше конкретна дума, с която да опишете човека, задаващ прекалено много въпроси? Или такава за неловкото чувство, когато срещнете познат, чието име сте забравили?

Този сборник с непреводими думи от цял свят подчертава красотата на различните езици, а красивите илюстрации и интересните факти описват допълнително всяка дума, както и културата, към която принадлежи тя.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Language, Childrens, Words, Reference, Linguistics

64 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 2018

About the author

Nicola Edwards was raised by the seaside in beautiful Brighton. She loves reading, dancing, rhyming and turquoise things. She now lives with her husband in East London and spends her days writing and editing children’s books.

Reviews

[Hilary]

This is such a lovely book, beautiful illustrations and so fascinating. I love words, their meanings and origins, so I was very excited to come across this, in the children's section of the library. This is a collection of untranslatable words from around the world, with some connected facts thrown in.

For example Gluggavedur is an Icelandic word for weather that looks beautiful when you're inside, but too cold to go out in. Pochemuchka, a Russian word for a child that asks 'why?' a lot, and Talaka which is Belarusian, meaning helping someone in their house or field without expecting payment other than a shared meal at the end of the day.

I would have liked a bit more information about each word, maybe some details of the origin. The only other downside was the text was very small, otherwise an interesting read.

[Maria Yankulova]

“Каква прекрасна дума” на издателство Дакелче се оказа една чудесна изненада. С дъщеря ми прекарахме 2 забавни следобеда четейки непреводими думи и много се смяхме.

Бих казала, че изданието е за деца 7+ и определено не е за самостоятелно четене, а за време, което може да прекарате с детето като научавате нови факти за различните държави и се отдадете на красотата на различните езици.

Ако нямате деца, но обичате красиви илюстрации и колекционерски книги, определено си струва да се сдобиете с тази.

Моите любими думи, без да съм ги класирала са:

Глюкаведур - исландски 🇮🇸
Когато времето изглежда прекрасно отвътре, но се оказва твърде студено, щом излезеш навън.

Поронкусема - фински 🇫🇮🇮🇹
Разстоянието, което може да измине северният елен, преди да му се доходи до тоалетна.

Абиоко - италиански 🇮🇹
Да ти се доспи след обилно хапване

[Eva B.]

I've always found language fascinating, despite (or maybe in spite of) the fact that I very much struggle to learn any languages in addition to English. I've always been fond of the little untranslatable words posts that pop up in my Pinterest feed and this was like a whole book of them! Very informative and with cute illustrations.

[Cheryl]

Young me would have been even more unsatisfied than adult me. At the very least, I want to know how to use the word in a sentence. Give me some sample dialogue... how does one actually use "I have 'jugaad' " in conversation or writing? Is it something beyond "I am thrifty and resourceful?"

A map would be a nice touch. I've heard of Belarus, of course, but darned if I remember where it is w/out looking it up. Otoh, a map would have revealed the very European focus, and the complete lack of words from Oceania (Australia etc.)

Further resources, bibliography, are critical. The author didn't just happen to know all these... what are her sources? If they're from not other published matter, a note saying something like "I interviewed all the people in my city who liked to talk about their homeland's language" or whatever would've been helpful.

At least it has a pronunciation guide, which it admits is for general guidance only (and so that is why, I suppose, it is at the end instead of incorporated).

It's just a taste of what it could have, and should have, been. Too bad.

[Емилия]

Страхотни издание!

[Alison Rose]

I had gotten this book in a grab bag of merch samples from work, and had glanced at the cover at the time and thought "That looks cute" then stuck it in the back of my TBR cart. I needed something quick and easy today (because reasons) and decided to pick this up. All of the words are in the cover art, but I didn't really look at that, just the subtitle, and I thought, "That would be neat if they had Koyaanisqatsi in here."

THEY HAVE KOYAANISQATSI!!

If you're unfamiliar, the term itself is a Hopi word which translates roughly to "life out of balance" or as the book puts it, "Nature that is out of balance or a way of life that is so crazy it cannot continue long-term". But it's also a fucking amazing film. It's impossible to describe, and even watching that trailer is probably gonna make you go "……………………..what" about 500 times. But trust me, it is an incredible viewing experience. It's actually the first part of a trilogy, though I've not seen the other two. But now that I've been reminded of it, I kinda want to seek them out.

Okay, okay, other than my cult film ramblings, I really enjoyed this. I love that some languages have words for those things you're always wishing there was a word for. Typically, we assume it'll be the Germans since they seem to love coming up with incredibly specific words, and there is one German word in here, but many other languages too. A few of my favorite new-to-me words:

Gluggavedur: From Icelandic, weather that looks beautiful while you're inside, but is much too cold when you step outside.
Poronkusema: From Finnish, the distance a reindeer can walk before needing to use the bathroom.
Jugaad: From Hindi, the ability to get by without lots of resources, and find new and creative ways of solving a problem.
Nakama: From Japanese, friends who are like family.
Nam Jai: From Thai, a spirit of selfless generosity and kindness; a willingness to make sacrifices for friends and extend hospitality to strangers.

The artwork is also really lovely and did well to give a sense of the real-life meanings of the words being described. I do wish that the descriptions included conversational examples, and that the pronunciation had been on the individual pages, rather than as an appendix at the back of the book. But I did appreciate that they explain the limits of writing out phonetic pronunciation in English for some of the words, particularly those front tonal languages.

A fun and educational little book, which should definitely give you some party trivia options. Also, go watch Koyaanisqatsi!

[Emilia]

Каква прекрасна книга!

[Kiera Beddes]

This adorable little word book was a wonderful find from a random Little Free Library that I came across in one of our explorations. 30 different difficult to translate words from around the world with fun tidbits about the mother culture.

[Bistra Ivanova]

Абсолютен разкош - толкова красива, умна и добринка книжка. Пътуване по света и разбиране на света. Намерена в тази фантастичната книжарничка в Бергамо - https://www.google.com/maps/place/Lib...

[Tami Valcheva]

Изненадващо и обогатяващо, но със сигурност думата на идиш “шлима” в българския вариант спокойно може за се преведе като карък

[Sarah]

This is such a charming and intriguing book, which introduces the reader to some fantastic words from many different languages that do not have a direct translation. Every word is associated with a stunning, colourful illustration which appeals to both children and adults alike, and there are also three fascinating facts which relate to the culture, language or idea represented by the word. Moreover, there is a pronunciation guide at the end of the book which gives a rough idea of how each word should be uttered, although, as the author states, explaining pronunciation in writing can be difficult, because it cannot explain pitch and tone. Nevertheless, this is a brilliant introduction to words from different languages which would appeal to logophiles and polyglots of all ages.

[Connie D]

What a wonderful, charming, whimsical book! Also a great introduction to cultures around the world.

Because of the time of year, maybe my favorite word was "Gluggavedur" from Iceland: weather that looks beautiful while you're inside, but is much too cold when you step outside.

[Elisabeth]

Beautiful illustrations accompany a variety of words from all over the world, with each entry providing some background information on the word as well as about the country and people it originates with.

[David]

4.75
This book is so clever! It is filled with beautiful artwork, amazing cultural anecdotes and interesting facts. It is great for all ages too!

[Yoanna Mladenova]

Вълшебна книга!

[Amanda]

3.5 A wonderful collection of words with charming illustrations, but I wish that the fun facts on each page had more to do with the words themselves instead of the country of origin because most seemed quite random.

[sajida]

I always love learning other languages, other cultures and beautiful words. So this book is totally perfect for my soul.

And the illustrations too, they're amazing and some of them feels magical. 🥰

[калинка]

i love books like this aaaaaah! <3

the trivia connected to the language or culture was so good too. i thought it was going to be a more linguistic or semantic approach to the words, but the trivia was super fun and interesting. although dark at times, it was still good. hope a lot of kids (and adults) get this beautiful book and develop a love for reading and languages :)

[Glenda]

A lovely “dictionary” of words no translatable into English and their culture and origins. I see this as a welcome addition to classroom libraries and a way to find some fun writing prompts. “Kalpa,” for example, us Sanskrit and refers to “an unimaginably long period of time.”

*I won my copy from Kane Miller during the TWT SOL story challenge.

[sonataiscool]

Beautifully illustrated and fascinating book about words and culture around the world.

[Jill]

~4 stars~
Had to read it for work but I loved it!

[Sunday]

The author introduces English speaking readers to unfamiliar words (mostly in other languages) that are not easily translated into one word in English. The Hopi word “koyaanisqatsi” which means “out of balance" is an example. Each two page layout introduces a word, its meaning and then provides additional information (sometimes about the word and sometimes about the culture of the group that uses that word).

Charming and broadens readers’ horizons. In a 3-5th grade classroom, you could read snippets from to your students and then leave in the classroom library to be grabbed up by curious kids. The kind of book partners could read together and laugh and "ooo" and "oh, yeah" about. Would be a lot of fun to use as a mentor text in writing workshop or just an experience in thinking outside the box. What do we not have an "easy" word for? For example, there's a French word "retrouvailles" which means "the happiness of being reunited with someone after a long time apart." Right??? Lots of potential for some engaging, critical thinking.

This would make a great gift, too.

California Reading Association's 2018 Eureka Silver Honor for Excellence in Nonfiction

[Ms. Arca]

If you love words, you’ll love this one. The perfect holiday gift for that nerdy ish person you adore.

There is art that accompanies each word and a fantastic array of languages are represented .. most importantly, the words are totally relatable! This provides just the right amount of info about the place the language is connected to and what the word means in the language. All ages-friendly, which I think is perfect.

Lovely way to feel those humanity connection feelsies while learning along the way. 5 stars because I’m not sure how I would do this type of book better? Maybe have buttons that let you hear the words being spoken;).

[Bethany]

I thought this book was marvelous—heart-warming, intriguing, funny, and an amazing peek into the wide world.

My Hindi-speaking coworker immediately thumbed through to find an entry that made her pull a face. “I don’t recognize this word. What’s the meaning?? Oh ... I guess ... the spelling is wrong. The meaning is a little different, too.”

So now I’m hesitant to love it quite so much. Is it still a wonderful, heart-warming book if it relies on the reader not seeing the mistakes, fudges, or artistic flourishes?

[Cheryl]

This is such a lovely book with charming illustrations. It’s about different words around the world that have no translation into other languages. I’m looking forward to sharing this book - ideally a different word daily - with the kids. Would make a nice coffee table gift to a child, educator or adult even. I felt bad giving it just three stars because I really enjoyed reading the book but I would have liked to have seen more information and origin of the words. The text was also very small.

[Becky B]

A survey of words from around the world that convey thoughts that often just don't translate into one single word in any other language. Each spread shares one word with a related illustration and then about three paragraphs of text that talk about the word, the culture the language comes from, or something about the country where the language is spoken.

I always find these books fun as you get introduced to amazing words from all over the world. I want to add a couple of these into my family's vocabulary. This book does a fantastic job of picking words from a vast array of languages, including some pretty obscure ones and more familiar ones. There is a pronunciation guide in the back of the book but it comes with a warning that many of the languages are tonal so just a written pronunciation guide may not be enough to know how to say the word correctly. I'd never seen a book make this very wise warning before. If the book has one flaw it is that the further text on each page is not very equal. On same pages the extra text is quite relevant to the word, and then on other pages it feels like the author just needed to fill the space so she picked a random topic to talk about. That part could have been better. It isn't bad, just very random and sometimes interrupted the flow of the book. I liked the cozy art style of the book. This is a fun read for just about any age reader who likes random facts and linguistics.

[September]

I was immediately drawn to this book because of its title and subtitle: “A collection of untranslatable words from around the world.” How interesting! And as a bonus, the illustrations on each page are gorgeous. I enjoyed them as much as the words themselves! Two things keep me from giving this book 5 stars, however. 1) The information given on the page to the right of each word doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the word itself. Sometimes it’s just facts about the country where the word originated. Still interesting, but feels a little disjointed when you are expecting insight into the new word. Also, there were a couple of pages with strong overtones of environmentalist agenda, and some with strange mythological stories. 2) The font on the facing pages is tiny! I think the designer of the book was going for an aesthetic of ample white space, but the incredibly small, thin-lettered font is very difficult to read. That was a major drawback for me. Future editions of this book could benefit from a larger font for readability. Overall, though, I loved the concept of this book and thought it was a very original idea brought to life beautifully with the detailed, colorful illustrations.

[Ivy Onami]

This is such a delightful little book. It’s a quick read and a lovely one to have, especially for anyone who loves languages and discovering unique words. The illustrations are stunning and do a fantastic job of trying to visually represent the meanings of these untranslatable words—they’re honestly my favorite part of the book.

That said, I did feel a bit let down by the text descriptions that followed each word. Some felt disconnected from the word itself, focusing more on random facts about the country the word came from rather than explaining the word’s deeper meaning or origin. I also wish the pronunciation guides were included on the same page as the words instead of being tucked away in an appendix at the end. It would’ve made the reading experience more seamless and engaging.

Despite these minor frustrations, this is such a lovely book, and I’d definitely recommend it for both adults and children. I’d love to see a second version of this that dives even deeper—there are so many more fascinating words out there to explore. For now, though, this one makes for a beautiful and thoughtful addition to any bookshelf.

[Marsha]

Did you know there’s a word for that irritating prank of tapping someone on the shoulder opposite from so they turn in the wrong direction? Or the word for making something that’s supposed to be an improvement but only makes things worse? (*cough* Trump! *cough*) How about a word for the drowsiness you experience after eating a big meal?

This book gives a list of these words and so many more. I recognized a few of them but others were completely new. They’re all are accompanied with definitions, colorful pictures, notes of origins and unrelated information about the word but fascinating detail about the part of the world in which they’re used. Italians protested a McDonald’s opening by offering “better” food outside their doors. Swedes are fiercely protective about their land and keep over 69% of it as forests. The chill weather of Iceland has caused it produce more writers and readers per capita than anywhere else in the world. Woohoo!

This is supposed to be a children’s book. But I think adults will appreciate its globe-trotting information as well.

[Karen]

This is, basically, a meme with extra feels (in the nicest possible way).

The weird and wonderful quirks of language is a great topic to introduce to children and is sure to start lots of discussions. This book shows a collection of words from different countries, that are "untranslatable" - that is, one word representing a whole phrase or sentence. The author has enriched the topic, as well as introduced positive messages about diversity, by including tidbits about the various countries and cultures associated with the words.

This book is beautifully designed and produced, with thick pages and retro pastel illustrations (these remind me of my vintage copy of "Come Over to My House", a Dr Seuss book written under another pseudonym, that also introduces children to other countries and cultures). It's sure to appeal to school-aged kids as they become fascinated by facts and trivia.



Particularly appealing to school-aged children (