Bonsoir Lune / Goodnight Moon (French Edition) by Margaret Wise Brown
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Book Reviews of Bonsoir Lune / Goodnight Moon (French Edition)
Book Review: A classic book, great to help your children hear more French
Summary: 4 Stars
I'm using the Flip Flop French workbook with my children and I am constantly trying to find good supplemental french story books to aid them with learning the French language. They liked this book in English, so I thought it was a good start. And it was they really liked listening to it in French as much as they did in English.Book Review: It's a classic - fun to have it in French
Summary: 4 Stars
This is such an American classic - always fun to give the French version to my French friends having kids. And in my experience the book becomes a favorite of the French kids too. This version is paperback, and was smaller than I expected. That's fine though - I just appreciate having a place from which to order it.Book Review: Note that this is a paperback!
Summary: 4 Stars
I didn't notice that this book was a paperback and was expecting a board book similiar to the English version sold in stores. Board books are much more durable, of course. I also agree that there is a color match issue as mentioned by someone else. Otherwise, I'm happy to have the story in French.Book Review: Goodnight Moon in French
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great nighttime story book. We use the English version for our kids and I bought the French version of this book to help me work on my French while reading the story to them.Book Review: Good for teaching French, but not as magical as the original
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is a near-literal translation of the original "Good Night Moon," including copies of the original pictures. Because my 18-month-old loves the original English version, and because I'm trying to teach him French, I ordered "Bonsoir Lune" so that he could associate the French words with the pictures and story that he already knows in English. For that purpose, it works fine.
I was, however, disappointed with the color and quality of the pictures in this version. First, the colors do not match the original very well; for instance, the red shades from the original look hot pink in the French version. This is not purely an aesthetic complaint: it can be confusing to your child when you're reading about a "ballon rouge" - a red balloon - that's actually pink. Moreover, the pictures in the French version appear to be nothing more than color photocopies of the originals. They're far less clear and sharp than the originals, particularly toward the end when the room scene gets darker and darker.
In addition, much of the poetry and rhythm of the English version is lost in the French. The rhyming couplets in the English (such as "Goodnight bears, goodnight chairs") are translated faithfully, but as a result they don't have the same rhyme or rhythm ("Bonsoir oursons, bonsoir les chaises"). Translators often have to decide whether to translate as literally as possible or to translate more freely in order to retain the overall sound and impression, and in this case the translators went with the former route. So, if your primary interest is in using the French version as a companion piece to the English version in order to teach your little one French, then the literalness of the translation is a good thing. However, if you're expecting the translation to capture the same soothing rhyme patterns as the original, you'll be disappointed. (I found only one exception to the literalness of the translation - the final phrase "Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere" is translated as "Bonsoir les etoiles, bonsoir l'air, bonsoir les bruits de la terre" - which isn't quite literal but does preserve a bit of the poetry).
Finally, I should point out that this version is *completely* in French - no English "subtitles" or French pronunciation guides - so it's probably best for those who know French fairly well or who know the English version by heart.