The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Tim Conrad

While I don’t think this was the best adaptation of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, it might encourage a younger reader to explore the classics.  The art is colorful and engaging but I found some of the drawings were not clear enough for my taste.

I just couldn’t connect to this story.  The characters never became real for me, I didn’t care if they lived or died.  I felt like I was reading a textbook.  Where was the development?  Where was the emotional connection?  Boy, I can so understand the need to attach to the characters. 

If you follow my blog, you know I read a lot of graphic novels.  So many of them have characters I connect with.  I can’t put my finger on why this particular tome just didn’t do it for me.  The Hunchback is a very sympathetic character but I couldn’t dig in.  I didn’t hate the villain and I didn’t like Esmeralda. 

A reluctant child might like this book but I won’t guarantee it.

False Friends Faux Amis Book Two by Ellie Malet Spradbery

Don’t let the title of this book mislead you. This is not a teen drama but a French conversational. It’s an interesting title but the information is quite solid. The book is broken into six sections – False Friends; French Expressions; Twins, Triplets, etc.; Lists, Miscellaneous; and English Expressions. False Friends focuses on words that sound the same in English and French except don’t necessarily mean the same thing. It’s an interesting look at the two languages because you get the feeling they should be the same. French Expressions covers some familiar phrases and some not so familiar. Twins, Triplets, etc. – French words that have more than one English meaning. List – series of words with a common theme such as insects, birds, and words associated with automobiles. Miscellaneous says learn to play cards in French but I didn’t get how the words were associated. English Expressions – just as it says, English expressions translated to French. This is not a book for a casual learner. This is designed for someone who wants to move deeper into the French language. There’s little pronunciation information for the words nor information on how to add them to sentences. I believe the author assumes the reader is already familiar with the language. I’ve had French in high school and college and I still found some of the words and phrases beyond my understanding but it was definitely fun to read through.