Book Review - Other-Wordly: Words Both Strange and Lovely from Around the World by Yee-Lum Mak

Other-Wordly:
Words Both Strange and Lovely from Around the World

by Yee Lum Mak

illustrated by Kelsey Garrity-Riley

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Book, Art, Gift Book
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Length: 64 pages
Published: October 11, 2016
Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

My Goodreads Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Official Book Summary:

"Discover words to surprise, delight, and enamor. Learn terms for the sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees, for dancing awkwardly but with relish, and for the look shared by two people who each wish the other would speak first. Other-Wordly is an irresistible gift for lovers of words and those lost for words alike."

Quote:

"Komorebi (noun, Japanese) the sunlight that filters through the leaves of the trees"

Excerpt:

"Gökotta (noun, n, Swedish) lit. "dawn picnic to hear the first birdsong"; the act of rising in the early morning to watch the birds or to go outside to appreciate nature"

My Book Review:

This gift book is absolutely lovely.

 

Other-Wordly: Words Both Strange and Lovely from Around the World is a beautifully illustrated walk through seventy unique words from over a dozen languages. Written by Yee-Lum Mak and illustrated by Kelsey Garrity-Riley, the gouache, collage, and ink pictures are so nice to look at and each word is so perfect to describe a feeling, experience, place, or person in a way that you never knew existed before. It was such a pleasure to slowly leaf through its pages and not only enjoy the images but the emotion of each foreign word or phrase.

 

This book would be a lovely present to a loved one and would also make for an enjoyable additional to a stack of gift books on coffee table, perfect for flipping through in its entirety or just picking up here and there to soak in a new page or two.

 

I received mine as a gift and it’s so cute. I loved soaking in its pages and I imagine I’ll turn to it again and again.

 

It’s both calming and thoughtful.