Look! What Do You See?

Look! What Do You See? presents an art book combining visual puzzles with poetry. Chinese artist Xu Bing created a system of pictographs that transform English letters into symbol-based art. The book invites readers to decode poems written in Xu Bing's "Square Word Calligraphy" writing system, which makes English text appear like Chinese characters. Each page features a poem by significant American writers and thinkers, rendered in this unique artistic script. The work stands as both an interactive puzzle book and a meditation on written language itself. Through its merging of Eastern and Western approaches to written communication, the book explores how meaning can transcend traditional boundaries between writing systems and cultures.

Readers appreciate the book's unique approach to teaching pattern recognition through Chinese characters and English words. Parents report their children enjoy decoding the puzzles and learning about Chinese calligraphy. Several reviewers noted the book works well for both English and Chinese language learners. Common criticisms mention the puzzles become repetitive and some sequences feel too challenging for the listed age range (4-8 years). A few readers found the font style hard to decipher. "Great for developing visual literacy skills but requires adult guidance," noted one parent reviewer. Ratings: Goodreads: 3.7/5 (41 ratings) Amazon: 4.3/5 (19 ratings) Sample review counts: 5 stars: 12 4 stars: 4 3 stars: 2 2 stars: 1 1 star: 0 *Note: Limited review data available online for this title compared to other children's books.

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🔷 Author Xu Bing created a unique writing system called "Square Word Calligraphy" that makes English words look like Chinese characters while remaining readable to English speakers 🔷 Each poem in the book was written by a different contemporary artist, designer, or musician, including Philip Glass and Shirin Neshat 🔷 The book teaches readers to decode messages through pattern recognition, similar to how children learn to read traditional writing systems 🔷 Xu Bing spent over 20 years developing and refining his Square Word Calligraphy system before publishing this book 🔷 The author received a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship in 1999 for his groundbreaking work in contemporary Chinese art and calligraphy