Communication is the essence of relationships. It allows people to not only explain their needs but helps them connect with others throughout their community.
This month’s Naperville Public Library’s digital display highlights how the different ways we communicate add dynamics and vibrant diversity to everyday life.
The language of food, for example, can draw people of different cultures together across the dinner table. The invention of the internet has allowed people to connect across the globe while languages such as Morse code, nautical signs and Braille for the blind provides a connection without a single spoken word.
The use of body language can vary dramatically across cultures, and yet a simple smile can bridge that gap instantaneously. Learning about various forms of language, spoken or unspoken, unlocks a whole new world, as people seek to better understand themselves and those around them. At its foundation, communication binds people together to create the unique and complex experience called life.
To learn more, check out the library’s “Cultural Differences in Communication” digital display through Aug. 31.
Here are some suggestions of books to check out that explore the importance of and various way to communicate. For the full list of recommendations, go to www.naperville-lib.org/culturalcomm.
ADULTS
“News of the World” by Paulette Jiles
In the aftermath of the Civil War, an aging itinerant news reader agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people in this multilayered novel of historical fiction that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor and trust. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes and refuses to act “civilized.” Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land.
“Babel” by Gaston Dorren
The celebrated author of “Lingo” presents a whistle-stop tour of the world’s 20 most-spoken languages, exploring the history, geography, linguistics and cultures that have been shaped by languages and their customs. Among many other things, “Babel” will teach you why modern Turks can’t read books that are a mere 75 years old, what it means in practice for Russian and English to be relatives, and how Japanese developed separate dialects for men and women. Witty, fascinating and utterly compelling, “Babel” will change the way you look at and listen to the world and how it speaks.
“The Hundred-Foot Journey” by Richard C. Morais
This endearing and vibrant adventure through French and Indian cuisine is a testament to the cross-cultural power of food. “The Hundred-Foot Journey” is about how the hundred-foot distance between a new Indian kitchen and a traditional French one can represent the gulf between different cultures and desires. A testament to the inevitability of destiny, this is a fable for the ages—charming, endearing and compulsively readable.
TEENS
“The Stars at Oktober Bend” by Glenda Millard
Something inside Alice is broken: she remembers words but struggles to speak them. Still, Alice knows words are for sharing, so she pins them to posters in tucked-away places. Manny is sixteen, with a scar from shoulder to elbow. In a new land with new people, he spends time exploring on foot and carries a poem in his pocket. When Manny and Alice meet, their relationship brings the beginning of love and healing.
“The Silence Between Us” by Alison Gervais
Maya has reservations about transferring to a hearing school after studying in a school for the deaf for years, but grows closer to Beau Watson, the student body president, who starts learning sign language to communicate with her.
“Half-Brother” by Kenneth Oppel
In 1973, when a renowned Canadian behavioral psychologist pursues his latest research project–an experiment to determine whether chimpanzees can acquire advanced language skills–he brings home a baby chimp named Zan and asks his thirteen-year-old son to treat Zan like a little brother.
CHILDREN
“Lost in Translation” by Ella Frances Sanders
This book brings to life more than 50 words that don’t have direct English translations with charming illustrations of their tender, poignant, and humorous definitions. Often these words provide insight into the cultures they come from, such as the Brazilian Portuguese word for running your fingers through a lover’s hair, the Italian word for being moved to tears by a story, or the Swedish word for a third cup of coffee.
“Out of My Mind” by Sharon Draper
Considered by many to be mentally challenged, a brilliant, impatient fifth grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.
Ashlee Conour is the marketing specialist at Naperville Public Library.
