I know I already posted today, but I have to post again, because I just finished reviewing an advance copy of Dr. Noe's
Tres Mures Caeci. It makes me laugh very hard, both because it is cute and because Dr. Noe wrote it. :) He also sent a press kit with 10 Tres Mures Caeci bookmarks and a press release. The FAQ especially makes me laugh:
Why did you write this book?"It started with a desire to read basic Latin to my own children at bedtime. My 4-year-old son Freddie is learning Latin..."
That is so Dr. Noe! Anyway, I reproduce my first draft review below:
Dr. David C. Noe, Assistant Professor of Classics at Patrick Henry College, originally wrote
Tres Mures Caeci (Three Blind Mice) because he wanted to read Latin to his young children, and because books like
Cattus Petasatus (The Cat in the Hat) and
Winnie Ille Pu (self-explanatory) were far too complicated for young children. So he created this slender hardbound volume to chronicle the brief adventure of Mures Infelix, Miser, and Contentus (Unhappy Mouse, Miserable Mouse, and Content Mouse). Subtitled
A Moral “Tail,” the book provides a humorous and original look at the classic nursery rhyme. While Unhappy Mouse and Miserable Mouse give in to despair because of their disabilities and allow the mean farmer’s wife to capture them and “caudam titillat” (tickle their tails), Content Mouse happily makes use of the resources still available to him – his legs – and scampers away. The story caused me many a delighted chuckle as I read it through, and I promptly had to take the book and translate it to every other member of my family. It would easily stand up to repeated reading, as the author intended.
One reason I am so happy to see
Tres Mures Caeci is that there are so few original stories available only in Latin for children. The reason for this, of course, is that those students who actually do learn Latin do not typically begin until at least age twelve. This is completely wrong, because most language capabilities are formed by that age. Early exposure to Latin could greatly assist with later comprehension. Why learn Latin at all? The reasons are numerous. Much of ancient and medieval history, literature, and philosophy was written by Latin-speakers. Modern Romance languages share common Latinate roots, so knowledge of Latin makes familiarity with other modern languages – including English – much easier. And those long medical and scientific words make perfect sense once one understands the Latin components from which the words are formed.
So
Tres Mures Caeci can help form an early love of Latin. It can also assist Latin students and teachers of all ages. A glossary in the back contains all the vocabulary words used, which the author’s website declares were “drawn from the most popular classical authors like Caesar, Cicero, Ovid and Vergil.” The two last pages of the book display an English translation of the story, and the accompanying website (
www.tresmurescaeci.com) gives audio files of the Latin so that the parent or teacher can be sure he is reading it out loud properly. I should also mention the little “in” jokes in the colorful illustrations, such as the portrait of Cicero on the mice’s wall, which especially appeal to a Latin geek such as myself. A single note of caution: The farmer’s wife is portrayed as just plain mean because she wants to catch the mice, and it is never considered that she might have a valid reason for doing so. She tracks them down, knife in hand. The combination of illustrations and Latin, however, combine to make a feeling that is wry, rather than scary.
Sarah PrideDr. Noe wants comments from my mom, though, so I have to make sure to get my mom to add a bit at the end. Sometimes I love my job!