Chinese Word for Horse

by John Lewis

This book tells the simple story of a farmer and his work. The farmer captures a wild horse to assist him.

The story uniquely uses Chinese symbols as characters. The horse is actually illustrated as the Chinese word for horse with incredible calligraphy by Peter Rigby. It demonstrates how representational many Chinese words are.

Overall, John Lewis' book is exceptional, beautifully presented, well-told and is a basic primer in reading the Chinese language.

Paperback

First published June 1, 1978

About the author

John Lewis, CNN's first correspondent in Asia, is an Emmy-winning former journalist. He spent three decades living and working in countries throughout the region, including North Korea. Lewis is a graduate of Tokyo's Sophia University (Jochi Daigaku) and holds a Ph.D. He currently resides in Honolulu with his wife Reiko and their two cats Noi and Sora.

Reviews

[Margaret Shepherd]

If I had to choose 2 books about calligraphy in the whole world, this would be one of them. It opens up a new way to read Chinese characters, for those of us who are not at all fluent! It got me interested in Chinese. I've "read" it a dozen times, and it never gets old. Your child will like this and so will your grandmother. Enjoy!

[Jim Erekson]

I had already seen Long Is a Dragon: Chinese Writing for Children, but Lewis' book engaged me by demonstrating concepts of logographic writing in a story, rather than in an informational text. A lot of fun to look at!