Ve lo que dices / See What You Say
by Nancy María Grande Tabor
"You say, 'Esté lloviendo a cántaros.' (It is raining by jugs.)
I say, 'It is raining cats and dogs.' (Estén lloviendo gatos y perros.)
You say, 'Eches magaritas a los puercos.' (Throw daisies to the pigs.)
I say, 'Cast pearls before swine.' (Eches perlas a los cerdos.)
In this entertaining, bilingual exploration of language, children are introduced to a second language and get a glimpse of another culture. Ve lo que dices/See What You Say explores the ways two different cultures view their own languages through familiar idioms. Somethimes the words we use have a different meaning from what we say. For instance, if a person becomes hasty and does things out of order, in English we say he has put the cart before the horse. In Spanish he is starting to build the house at the roof. Although they mean the same thing, the literal sense of these phrases is quite different. In Ve lo que dices/See What You Say, these contrasting expressions become charming and vivid vignettes.
Nancy María Grande Tabor's signature cut paper illustrations are remarkable in their three-dimensional quality and light-hearted presentation of some very off-the-wall phrases. Children and adults alike will have a great time guessing what idiom each illustration represents.
1-57091-376-5 $6.95 pb
This zesty look at idioms sheds light on turns of phrase in both languages. Brightly colored, kinetic cut-paper pictures illustrate each version of the sayings. the Spanish text, which includes examples from many dialects, is located at the top of the page. Accurate English translations are at the bottom. The whole makes for an explanation of idioms that is as much visual as verbal and would provide a good bilingual follow-up to English language works such as Fred gwynne's A Little Pigeon Toad (1990) or Marvin Terban's In a Pickle and Other Funny Idioms (Clarion, 1983). A Web site allows the Internet savvy to access an expanded list of idioms. This book is a great starting place for understanding figures of speech that cross language barriers.
(School Library Journal, April 2000)
Este pequeño libro es ideal para los niños. Sus páginas son fuertes, con colores muy brillantes que atraen la vista del niño. Tiene diferentes imágenes que puedes mirar de diferente manera. También hay más de una manera para expresar lo que quieres decir. A veces el verdadero significado de lo que dices es completamente diferente de las palabras que utilazas. Cuando esto sucede, las paplabras se llaman un modismo. En español cuando quieres decir que alguien es improtante dices que es "un pez gordo." Si lo dices en inglés lo llamas "big wheel" o rueda grande. Cuando no quieres empeorar algo dices en español "no eches leña al fuego." Si lo dices en inglés es "don't add fuel to the flames" o no añadas combustible a las llamas. Cuando se trata de idiomas nada es "blanco y negro" como dirías en español o "Black and white" como dirías en inglés. Compara unas cuantas frases usadas en el libro en ambos idiomas y observa la diferencia al hablar. Aún cuando hablas español hay diferentes palabras usadas en diferentes países que significan lo mismo. La autora Nancy María Grande Tabor ha escrito varios libros para niños en ambos idiomas.
(El Hispano News, April 7, 2000)
spanish children's book, bilingual book, idioms, , childrens picture book, children's picture book, young readers picture book, Kathy Wildman, Whatdidyoubringme?, whatdidyoubringme, what did you bring me
