Can You Greet the Whole Wide World?: 12 Common Phrases in 12 Different Languages »

Illustrator Denis Roche says, "It's fun choosing what colors to use. I think this book has shmone different shades of blue in it. I usually paint for nueve hours a day and then get tired and sleep for shi hours." Roche has written and illustrated numerous books. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island with her family.

You can begin the day by saying, “Good morning!” Or you could say, “Guten morgen,” or “buon giorno,” too. They all mean “good morning” in different languages!

In this book you can learn how to say “thank you” and “please” in Chinese and “no” in French, and “yes” in Zulu.

Twelve common phrases, twelve very different languages (German, Hebrew, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Hindi, Chinese, Zulu, Japanese, Italian, French, and Portuguese), and one very fun book!

Children's Literature

Ciao! Let us share a day at school and home with a friendly cat and his cheerful bunch of international pals. Using second person narration, the reader becomes the cat and is immediately drawn into the action, as twelve common phrases are introduced in twelve different languages. Brightly colored front endpapers greet the reader ("Ola" and "Privet" and "Konnichiwa") and the final endpapers say goodbye ("Adios" and "Auf Weidersehen" and "Ma'a Salama"). In between, we learn how to say "please" and "thank you" in Spanish and Zulu and Hindi. We follow the cat through a visit to the library, lunch at the school cafeteria, a game at recess, and home at the end of the day. Each page is organized the same way, with text on one side and energetic drawings on the other. Additionally, each word is spelled phonetically to make pronunciation easier for the reader. A map of the world is included, with dots to show where each of these languages is currently spoken. A good selection for schools with an international population or for use by classes in English as a Second Language, Evans has created an entertaining way to learn the basics of new languages. Das Ende!