This week’s Brainstorm continues November’s focus on nonfiction with 3 books that look at language and linguistics, from inventing a new language, to decoding a dead language, to saving a dying language. Each one also explores how language impacts culture. Click on each title to see my full review and any content notes/trigger warnings.
King Sejong Invents an Alphabet by Carol Kim, ill. by Cindy Kang
A picture book biography of the Korean king responsible for developing the Korean alphabet, how he did it, and why he wanted to help make reading, writing, and learning accessible to all his subjects.
This book does a fabulous job connecting the ability to read with social justice and human rights issues.
Target Readers:
Picture Book Biography Fans, Korean Language Studiers/Speakers, Korean History Fans, Social Justice Reads Fans, Curious Readers, Nonfiction Fans, Lower Grade Readers
The Language of Angels: a Story about the Reinvention of Hebrew by Richard Michelson, ill. by Karla Gudeon
A picture book biography of Ben-Zion whose father in 1880s Jerusalem was on a campaign to make Hebrew a living language again after thousands of years of being stagnant and only used for prayers or scripture reading. Ben-Zion's father went to extreme measures to make sure he only heard and spoke Hebrew, and the book tells about that as well as how he and his father worked to create new Hebrew words for modern inventions.
Ben-Zion’s father sounds like a character and possibly a bit hard to live with, but he did have a lasting impact on Jewish culture.
Target Readers:
Picture Book Biography Fans, Jewish History Fans, Hebrew Language Studiers/Speakers, Curious Readers, Nonfiction Fans, Lower Grade Readers
The Riddle of the Labyrinth: the Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox
A biography of the three people who worked the most on decoding Linear B, an ancient writing found on tablets unearthed at Crete that pre-dated Greek in an unknown language. First there was the archaeologist, Arthur Evans who found the tablets in what he dubbed Midas' palace on Crete. Then there was the classical linguist professor, Alice Kober, who worked on it during her free time and came very close to cracking it before illness took her, and finally, the architect Michael Ventris, who also worked on it during his free time and finally broke the code.
This is a fascinating look at how hard it is to decode an unknown script for an unknown language and how the people who did manage to crack it open went about doing so.
Target Readers:
Code & Puzzle Lovers, Linguistics Fans, History Fans, Nonfiction Fans, Curious Readers, Adult Readers (though approachable to YA)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Polite and respectful comments are welcome.