French for Cats: All the French Your Cat Will Ever Need - Henry Beard

French for Cats: All the French Your Cat Will Ever Need - Henry Beard > Reviews > Parlez-vous meow?

Non-Fiction - Language & Linguistics - French - ISBN: 067940676X more

Overall user rating French for Cats: All the French Your Cat Will Ever Need - Henry Beard 1 review | Write a review | Add product to list





Please wait ....
Rate this product:  
 
All French for Cats: All the French Your Cat Will Ever Need - Henry Beard reviews
Parlez-vous meow?


Author's product rating:   French for Cats: All the French Your Cat Will Ever Need - Henry Beard - rated by denella

Degree of Information Medium 
How interesting was the book? Interesting because I'm interested in that subject 
How useful was it? Pretty useful 
Would you read it again? Yes 
Value for money Good 

Advantages: A bit of fun for Francophile cat - lovers
Disadvantages: It probably won't help you pass a French exam

Recommend to potential buyers: yes 

Full review
Are you thinking of house-sitting in France next summer, and are worried that you won't be able to communicate with your hosts' cat? Then this is just the book for you. When the cat says meow, is it trying to say, "Here comes a fur ball," or "I did not break that vase"? All will be revealed in Henry Beard's mini bilingual book of catspeak. With English phrases given first followed by French translations in italics and accompanied by illuminating illustrations, each page gives us a rare insight into the inner workings of a feline brain.

We are first introduced to The Major Cat Parts (of the body), and these are followed by The Basic Cat Wardrobe consisting of a bell, flea and tick collar, and name tag.

When we proceed to the section on Cat Names, puss starts to voice his opinions quite firmly: "I will answer to Serafina, Caesar," etc., but "I will not answer to Fluffy, Kitty," and so on. What I Do Not Do seems arise from a confusion between canine and feline behaviour: we are informed that cats do not 'fetch', catch Frisbees, or guard houses. What's more "Je ne cours pas apres les voitures" ("I don't chase cars.")

After a picture of The Food Bowl, we are shown The Four Cat Food Groups: Dry Food, Canned Food, Natural Foods (The Mouse or The Big Ugly Bug), and of course Forbidden Foods (string, dried flowers, tinsel etc.) We then discover the French for "I want my food in my bowl now. I'm waiting." The Unpleasant Medicinal Additives are delineated, and the message is "Do not put additives in my food unless you are sure that I am dying."

The Litter box naturally follows on from here, and we must understand the feline requirement: "I need a little privacy." Who wouldn't, indeed? There may be misunderstandings of course over The Nap Place or The Cat Bath - Le Bain a Coups de Langue - and we mustn't forget that "I prefer to give myself my own bath." Then The Fur Ball has to be watched out for, as it sometimes comes without warning, unless we are familiar with the phrase "Je crois que je vais cracher une boule de poils."

We probably understand the importance of The Territory, but do we know the French for "I like to climb large trees in my territory"? The Cat Carrier, Le Porte-Chat, is one of the most feared objects, as puss explains "I do not like to leave my territory for any reason." especially for a visit to The Vet - "I do not want to be neutered" ("Je ne veux pas etre chatre.")

A section on The Cat Toys, where we are told "I do not wish to play with my cat toys" is followed by The Things That Are Not, Strictly Speaking, Cat Toys, But Which Nevertheless Have Great Play Value - a vase, a lamp, or a crystal candy dish. "Alas, they are not very durable" is translated as "C'est la vie".

The Hunt explains to us that "Sometimes I choose to play with my prey" but we might be asked "Ou voulez-vous que je mette ca?" (Where do you want me to put this?)
The Enemies of course include the dog, the mean child and the lawn mower, and we might hear "Je voudrais que la tondeuse du gazon ecrase le chat du voisin" ("I wish that the lawn mower would run over the neighbor's cat").

Finally we are told "When I meow, it means..." a whole host of things, from "I just put a mouse in the bureau drawer..." to "I feel an overpowering urge to run rapidly from room to room."

It's a tiny book with a hard cover and just a small amount of text on each of its ninety pages, rather like a children's book. There are charming watercolour sketches on every page, almost half in colour, the rest in black and white, from a double page aerial view of the territory and neighbouring cats' gardens to a tiny bell and a name tag.

Henry Beard is said to be 'a firm believer in the pesky but potentially highly profitable secondary school foreign language requirement'. Well, this is an American book, but I have to admit that the expressions given here don't relate particularly closely to our GCSE French syllabus. Nevertheless, they might provide a but of fun to a bored pupil, and the simplicity of the layout with so many illustrations might even appeal to a younger child and spark an interest in French. Other than that, it's for cat sitters in France, or of course for any cat-lover emigrating to France who will find some useful phrases here to use in the pet shop or at the vet. It could be a good stocking-filler for any cat-owner who has an interest in French.

Text by Henry de la Barbe
(Henry Beard)
and John Boswell
Illustrations by Gary Zamchick

Published by Villard Books
Available on Amazon Marketplace from £0.01 plus postage.

Other books by Henry Beard:

Latin for All Occasions
Latin for Even More Occasions
Miss Piggy's guide to Life
Sailing: A Sailor's Dictionary
Golfing: A Duffer's Dictionary
Fishing: An Angler's Dictionary
Skiing: A Skier's Dictionary

 

Write your own review




More details
How easy was it to read / get information from Very easy 

Evaluate this review
How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision?
Rating guidelines

   

Comments on this review
More options
All French for Cats: All the French Your Cat Will Ever Need - Henry Beard reviews

Products you might be interested in
Hugo: In Three Months: French CD CourseHugo: In Three Months: French CD Course

This product has not yet been reviewed. Rate it now

Buy now for only £ 25.00

Harrap's French Dictionary - Harrap'sHarrap's French Dictionary - Harrap's

Non-Fiction - Language & Linguistics - Dictionary, French - ISBN: 024560765X

 1 review

Buy now for only £ 45.50

Collins First Time French DictionaryCollins First Time French Dictionary

This product has not yet been reviewed. Rate it now

Buy now for only £ 5.99

Jolly Songs (Jolly Phonics) - Laurie FykeJolly Songs (Jolly Phonics) - Laurie Fyke

Non-Fiction - Language & Linguistics - ISBN: 1844140695

 1 review

Buy now for only £ 5.95

Larn Yersel' Geordie - Scott DobsonLarn Yersel' Geordie - Scott Dobson

Non-Fiction - Language & Linguistics - ISBN: 0900409576, 0946928010

 1 review

Buy now for only £ 3.00

Hugo: In Three Months: Spanish CD Course - Isabel CisnerosHugo: In Three Months: Spanish CD Course - Isabel Cisneros

Non-Fiction - Language & Linguistics - Spanish - ISBN: 075136990X

This product has not yet been reviewed. Rate it now

Buy now for only £ 18.99

French: Beginner (Collins Language Revolution) - Tony BuzanFrench: Beginner (Collins Language Revolution) - Tony Buzan

Non-Fiction - Language & Linguistics Books - ISBN: 0007255942

This product has not yet been reviewed. Rate it now

Buy now for only £ 12.99

French Dictionary (Collins GEM)French Dictionary (Collins GEM)

(+) Compact, Not just words but verb tables etc
(-) Fairly expensive really (I paid £4.50) but I think it's worth it.

 1 review

Buy now for only £ 4.50

French Vocabulary Builder - Anna Lise Gordon, Harriette LanzerFrench Vocabulary Builder - Anna Lise Gordon, Harriette Lanzer

Non-Fiction - Language & Linguistics - French - ISBN: 0199122075

This product has not yet been reviewed. Rate it now

Buy now for only £ 9.00




Are you the manufacturer / provider of French for Cats: All the French Your Cat Will Ever Need - Henry Beard? Click here