Friday, July 9, 2010

Book Review: Journey Through Islamic Arts

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Book Review: Journey Through Islamic Arts
Author: Na'ima bint Robert 
Illustrator: Diana Mayo 
Tamil Translator: Siva Pillai
Publisher: Mantra Books 2005


This is a spectacularly beautiful book. The storyline follows a girl who travels through the history of Islamic art through her dream. The illustrations by Diana Mayo are stunning.  The story is simple, but elegant.


The English is in prose, but it is very lyrical and poetic in style. At this point in my Tamil,  I really can't comment on how lyrical or elegant the Tamil translation is.


The fact that this is a bilingual edition, with Tamil and English side-by-side, makes it easy to quickly verify the meaning of new vocabulary.  The book is rated by the publisher for ages 6+ and really should appeal to people of all ages.  The only problem with the book is that the illustrations are so good, that I often find myself not reading at all, but just admiring the artwork in front of me!


You can purchase the book in the US from Language Lizard and in the UK from the publisher.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Index of Book Reviews

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This is a holding spot in anticipation of my current book orders. When it is ready: Click the link to go to the full page review for each book.

The sections below are Tamil Instructional Books (Dictionaries, Grammars etc.), Books in Tamil (including Tamil-English editions), Related Indian/Tamil interest books (Histories, ethnographies, literature)

Tamil Instructional Books (Dictionaries, Grammars etc.)
Tamil for Beginners by Kausalya Hart
Colloquial Tamil by Asher
A Grammar of Spoken Tamil by Howard Schiffman

Books in Tamil (including Tamil-English editions) 
Karadi Tales Tamil-English Bilingual editions:
  • Fish Friends Three/Moondru Meen Nanbargal
  • The Foolish Crow/Muttal Kaagam
  • The Fox And The Squirrel/Anilum Kullanariyum 
  • The Talking Cave/Pesum Guhai
The Children of Lir
The Dragon's Tears
Deepak's Diwali
Journey Through Islamic Arts
Isis and Osiris

Related Indian/Tamil interest books (Histories, ethnographies, literature)