Friday, 25 February 2011

Kalimagier

Etymology may not be your cup of tea but as a former translator living in a foreign country, it's something that's of interest to me, and something that I like to talk about with my children. Kalimagier, co-published by Les Editions Ricochet in France and Lazhari Labter Editions in Algeria, is  a perfect way of introducing children to the evolution of languages. 

Qahoua - Café

My children are bilingual (French / English) - two languages, two cultures - I believe this enriches their lives. I'm tempted to say that the whole family is trilingual because we've also invented our own "dialect", a mish-mash of both languages, "franglais".

 Al-Roubaâ - Arobase

Kalimagier presents one hundred words in French and Arabic, clearly showing from which language the word originates as well as giving help on pronunciation. Quoton becomes Coton, Zarafa - Girafe, Canapé - Kanabi...

Rouement - Roulma

Of course I wouldn't be telling you about this beautiful book if you had to have a perfect grasp of French or Arabic. Kalimagier is a picture book, superbly illustrated by Marie Mahler, whose work I've mentioned before. The colours are splendid and every page is a delight, frameable in fact! It's most certainly worth the 17 Euros I spent at Christmas!

 Amir al-Bahr - Amiral

This a lovely book for children and adults alike. It's clear, intelligent and richly illustrated. We all love it and I think it deserves greater recognition - hopefully it will make its way onto your bookshelves ?!
Kalimagier by Lazhari Labter, Nadia Roman and Marie Mahler

Available here, here and other good bookstores (K&C maybe?)


10 comments:

  1. These are fabulous! What a wonderful dream world!

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  2. Nothing beats incredible illustrations to teach children.. these are gorgeous. Ah, we speak franglais à la maison too! We would definitely understand each other should we ever meet. : )

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  3. this looks like the most gorgeous book, a must have in fact! xo

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  4. magnifique, les illustrations sont très belles ...

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  5. j'aime beaucoup la dernière illustration. merci

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  6. At last I have the chance to catch up with what everyone has been doing the last few days, I love these illustrations! xx

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  7. I need to get one as well! Thx for sharing! :D

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  8. Those are so beautiful! Especially, the fish.

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