Review Detail

Words by Christoph Niemann is the ultimate children’s book. Not only is it beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to the eye, each page provides many different discoveries.

At first glance, I knew that this book was different from other children’s books. As I flipped through the pages, I noticed that every page had the same format. A photo depicting an action, place, or thing, followed by the name of it on the bottom. Most of the pages were white, with the drawing being in black, but occasionally there was a pop of color from the magenta or turquoise colored pages.

While this is most definitely a children’s book, there is something so beautiful and simple about it that makes me want to keep it on my coffee table for my guests to look at. I’m almost positive they would find it as interesting as the children I read this to, have.

I have now read this book to several children and am always fascinated to see how it opens up their imaginations. We can create different games to play with the words, by covering the words, or create stories based off them. Each time we open this book, a new mini adventure awaits them.

I found this book to be a bit challenging, in the best ways, for children. It allows them to ask questions on the words they don’t know or understand properly, and it allows them to truly learn the meaning of them. Not many younger kids know the meaning of “woebegone” or “effervescent”, but I can proudly say that because of this book, the kids I care for, do.

Final thoughts?

I feel very lucky to have been given the chance to read this book. It is absolutely wonderful, and every kid who I’ve brought this book to has enjoyed it immensely. Surprisingly, the other day I was recommended a new Netflix series, called Abstract, and the first episode featured Christoph Niemann himself! After watching it I was able to have an even greater appreciation for this book, especially knowing the amount of work and time go into making it.