The Park Bench [Paperback]

Fumiko Takeshita (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1989 | Age Level: 3 and up

All through the sunny day the white bench in the park provides pleasure for the many people who come by, from the old man taking a walk to the children playing in the park.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K If Manet had turned to picture books, he might have produced The Park Bench. Suzuki's pictures, done in charcoal line and watercolors, are beautiful to behold, now misty, now hazy, the rich pastel colors contrasting vividly with judicious use of primary colors. The whole course of a day is subtly depicted; readers can actually tell the approximate time of day from the illustrations, so skillful is Suzuki's use of lighting. The bilingual text, however is another matter. The Japanese text is completely in hiragana, presumably so that a Japanese child could read its limpid simplicity with ease. The translation itself is literal in the extreme. In Japanese, it sounds onamatapoetic; in English, bald and boring. The story concerns the occurrences in the day of the life of a park bench, not the most thrilling plot line with which to start. The English translation is perfectly accurate, yet, like the reverse side of a brocade, fails utterly to convey the charm of the original. John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"If Manet had turned to picture books, he might have produced The Park Bench. Suzuki's pictures, done in charcoal line and watercolors, are beautiful to behold, now misty, now hazy, the rich pastel colors contrasting vividly with judicious use of primary colors. The whole course of a day is subtly depicted; readers can actually tell the approximate time of day from the illustrations, so skillful is Suzuki's lighting." --School Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Paperback: 33 pages
• Publisher: Kane/Miller Book Pub (March 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0916291219
• ISBN-13: 978-0916291211
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 9.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,548,123 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, October 4, 2005

By 

CA Smith "reading mother" (Barre, Vermont) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Park Bench (School & Library Binding)

My daughter and I love this book. The illustrations are gorgeous, and the text charming (I disagree with the reviewer's opinion that the translation is over-literal). One thing I particularly like is that although the illustrations and setting are clearly Japanese, they do not draw on stereotypes or excessively well-known icons of Japan. As a student of Japanese, I enjoy the fact that the Japanese language portion is written in kana. People who do not read kana, however, might prefer a book in which the Japanese is phonetically spelled out in roman letters.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Son Loves This Book, April 17, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Park Bench (Paperback)

A beautiful book. Great drawings, and the story is written in Japanese and English.

My son is 1 going to be 2 soon and we enjoy reading this book together. He talks about the book sometimes during the day, specially when we walk in the park. He says "grandpa in the tree." I know he is talking about this book ...

5.0 out of 5 stars entaining, December 20, 2008

By 

Okaasan "wild reviewer" (spokane, wa) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Park Bench (Paperback)

I originally bought this book for my daughter when she was in grade school. We loved it as the story was also written in hiragana (Japanese) which is our nationality. The book was lost when she moved out and I recently purchased it again for her as she really missed it. She loves reading it in Japanese as it keeps her in practice. A great book all the way around.