Rating: *** 3 stars

Sadat Turhan, illustrated by Sally Hagin, Bengali translation by Dorbesh Choudhury, English/Bengali
Milet Mini Picture Dictionary.
Milet, 2004.

You immediately want to pick this book up. The cover grabs attention, the size and look of the book invite handling. It is superbly illustrated in warm, bright colours, each page showing familiar objects under headings such as house, fruit, body, animals, play, numbers, colours and so on. I particularly like the balance of pictures and text on each spread - not overcrowded as picture dictionaries can sometimes be, but just right for the size of the pictures and text to sit well on the page. The result is a clear and accessible dual language text for young readers to enjoy. Much of the appeal comes from Hagin's lovely drawings - immediately recognisable as whatever they depict. The only photograph is one of a little girl running and it's used to label parts of the body; it's clearly and cleverly done, the photograph being superimposed onto a simple illustrated background. This beautifully produced board book is a lovely addition to help reinforce and build vocabulary and is one that will withstand lots of handling by young readers. (Also available in English only and in Albanian, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu and Vietnamese dual language editions.)

Urmi Chana