The book is not exactly what I expected, but I enjoyed reading it all the same. Rather than a look at the history of expressions from around the world, though it does some of that, this is more of a series of ponders around the parables with interesting facts thrown into the mix.

The drawings are quirky, much like the text, in an attempt to translate each saying literally with an emphasis on the odd nature of the sayings. This is not a book to be taken seriously. It doesn’t come with a huge index of scholarly sources, and some of the comments are solely opinion.

It does introduce the reader to a wide variety of sayings and often emphasizes the underlying commonalities between people and language groups where similar sayings exist. On occasion, she even notes parables with seemingly universal characteristics as some element of the phrase repeats across many cultures.

The notes about Nigeria’s multiple languages, the intelligence of octopuses, and how cats are viewed in Japan are just some of the mentions that caught my eye. The tongue-in-cheek style of narrative that is nevertheless informative was perfectly suited for this task and made the introduction of odd facts mixed with pondering questions like the frequency of pigs in sayings and side notes about different humor styles more effective than I would have expected.

There’s breaking of the fourth wall and not a lot of consistency in content from one saying to the next, but if you can accept each image description as a separate essay or prose poem, this book will tickle your funny bone, challenge your thoughts, and offer interesting trivia to entertain you.

Read it to discover stray facts about languages, animals, and what have you. Or read it solely to chuckle, but there is much to enjoy between these pages.

P.S. I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.