Table, Chair, Bear: A Book in Many Languages

Like the Words for Everyday series reviewed above, this book focuses on naming familiar objects--the difference here being that each object is identified in 13 languages. Each spread introduces an item likely to be found in a child's room (e.g., window, clock, lamp); there's an English-language header and a column listing 12 translations. Phonetic spellings accompany each word to help with pronunciation. The penultimate spread depicts ``my room'' (the illustration includes all of the items pictured earlier), with the last page inviting ``please come in.'' According to an author's note, the languages--which range from the familiar (French and Spanish) to the more exotic (Portuguese, Cambodian, Navajo)--were selected because ``most... are being spoken by more and more children, many of them new to the United States.'' While the idea of introducing children to the nation's linguistic potpourri has merit, the simplistic presentation falls short of the goal. The book also suffers from bland visuals: single objects are rendered in flat colors against an overabundance of white space, and the few more complicated illustrations (e.g., groupings of toys, pictures, books) lack energy. Ages 2-7. (Mar.)