Fun with Chinese Characters

Very accessable. Shows line by line how the character is drawn with a dozen or so examples of the character along with another forming words. There is also a cartoon showing how the character has changed over centuries or why the character is shaped the way it is. It's the perfect book for someone like me, trying to begin on their own.

This is a really fun book. I'm currently in my first year of chinese and really enjoy using this book outside of school. My teacher recommended it to me. It illustrates characters that normally seem difficult in a fun way. This isn't the best choice for someone who is not taking chinese in a class but independantly. It doesn't give much detail on how to use the words. It's just like an interactive dictionary. I absolutely love it.

This series is a great aid to memorizing characters. There is one character per page, and for each character there is an accompanying illustration, along with a selection of words and phrases that feature the character, the pin-yin pronunciation and the traditional character, if applicable. In addition, there is an illustration of the evolution of the character over time, from the most ancient form found on the tortoise shells, to the modern form. It is not a scholarly reference book, and is not organized as such. It is meant to be flipped through casually and enjoyed. This series has been in print since the 1970s, so the illustrations ARE somewhat dated, as one reviewer points out below. However, I found the slightly outdated style charming and interesting. Often the illustrations are of people in traditional costume, but there is no compelling reason to take offense! Most importantly, there is intelligent irony to be found in these illustrations, irony that is sensitive to women's history and other issues. So, if you take offense with depictions of Chinese people in traditional Chinese costume or of silk worms, lanterns, and other things particular to historical Chinese culture (fully within the scope of a book about etymologies), this book is not for you. I say, lighten up and enjoy this wonderful book!

A great way to get an introduction to the Chinese language. Chinese is a language that is over 5000 years old. It has literature dating back to the time of Homer. A major Singapore newspaper ran a daily column on Chinese characters. It was meant to help the non-Chinese grasp some of the basic characters in Chinese. For those who are interested in China, or for those who want to interest their children in Chinese, this book is an excellent way to stimulate their interest. Discuss a different character every day of the week. See how the character evolved, see how it is written. Have fun reading your friend's tattoo, or the Chinese menu in the restaurant.

This is a helpful book. My five year old and I have just about gone through it twice, and it has held her attention, though I should say that she is insanely into languages of all kinds. But the the book is well designed, showing the etymology from ancient forms to traditional forms to simplified forms. Each character gets a page, and the etymology and cartoons constitute the top half of the page. The cartoons are fun and -- usually -- help you remember. My only criticism is the cartoons: often, embarrassingly non-PC, making me wince a bit as my daughter absorbs the roles men and women are _supposed_ to have. Also, I think the cartoons, though always drawn well, are often a little too far out there to really help you remember the meaning of the character. The middle to bottom of the page shows the character in phrases, and the bottom shows the character in a sentence. The phrases and the sentence are well-chosen, vernacular, and contemporary. Overall, the book is excellent, and I'm trying to track down the next volume, because nothing I could find at the local bookstores comes close to being something a five-year-old would want to read!