my first picture dictionary

I must  have walked into that small Hiranandani shop in Mumbai at a time when they were still deciding what to do with their stock of used books, whether to start a library or sell them off. That can be the only reason why I could buy a fantastic book for a bargain and never found such bargains again.

The book I mention is  'my first picture dictionary', written by Colin Clark , illustrated by Vivienne Bray, and published by Brown Watson Ltd. What intrigued me in the first glance was :1. that it was printed in Czech Republic and 2. that the title had no capital letters!

(The recent editions however have a whole new cover with capital text like the one in this picture above)

It's a great book to browse through and read. Each entry under an alphabet is so well thought out. The author really must have thought like a child in compiling this book!

I have often browsed through picture dictionaries for children that take such a know it all approach-- this is this and that is that. But this one in particular focuses on keeping it simple and fun. At times, it takes a descriptive approach, for example: "machine: A machine is something that helps us to do work more easily. We clean clothes in a washing machine" to sometimes the usage of terms such as "magic: the man is doing magic tricks. It is difficult to understand how a magic trick works." to sometimes triggering a kid's imagination such as " blue: Blue is a colour. The sky is blue and so are these balloons"

I really like this book. its very colorful, well illustrated, and really meant for early readers and thinkers!