Customer Reviews

Al Hirbaa Al Haira: The Mixed-Up Chameleon

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very cute book that describes a chameleon that finds she can take on the traits of other animals rather than just colors, then realizes she is made perfectly for eating flies and changes back to a chameleon. The arabic in this translation seems to be from the Levant (probably Lebanese)and I'd give it 5 stars but I was too spoiled by The Very Hungry Catepillar (sp?)

I am a big fan of Eric Carle's books. My daughter received this book as a present from my sister, when we went back to Egypt.

Because I had a difficult time finding good Arabic books for my daughter, I always try to describe both good and bad things, with stress on the bad (just, cause I had specific needs in the books I get)

- This book is to teach children about the animals of the Zoo.
- It is really awesome that this book is written with ALL the diacritical marks (tashkeel), which makes it an awesome book for kids who are learning to read and write.
- It is rather Lebanese oriented Arabic (like most books in the market), so the animals have Lebanese names; I'd have preferred Egyptian names of animals. Not such a big problem, when reading to your child, cause it is an easy alteration.
- It also teaches children that one needs to love oenself as is, because we are just great the way we are. The Chameleon wanted to be all the different aspects of different animals, but in the end being a chameleon is what got him to eat the fly.
- Lastly, I do not think that this book is for 0-3, not in English, nor in Arabic. It is more 3+ or older.