Did you know that the words dirt and science have the same origin? They both derive from skei, which is several thousand years old, and meant ‘to separate’. With an exuberant sense of tendentious stories, Ragnhild Holmås tells that we Norwegians used the word to separate ourselves with excrement – we got words like shite, shit and scheisse. WITTY LADIES: Author Ragnhild Holmås and illustrator Henriette T. Osnes have clearly found the tone. Photo: Agnete Brun/Julie Pike Further south in Europe, on the other hand, the ancient Romans used the word to distinguish things in nature from one another, they were concerned with science and the word developed into scientia, science. In a few words (!) the author gives us a piquant mentality story, but just in case adds a warning not to tell the teacher that science class is actually shit. Inviting “The hair-raising secrets of the words. Absurd revelations from the spindly life of language” is an astonishing etymological dictionary for 10-12-year-olds. It is aimed directly at a young reader and uses adults in general, and a sullen and strict Aunt Vigdis in particular, as opposites and enemy images in the search for the wild stories to be discovered. HÅNDBOK IN BANNING: With a warning for the sensitive and for Norwegian teachers: In the middle of the book is a bonus book where things get hot. Photo: Aschehoug The words that reveal their incredible stories follow each other apparently according to the method of whimsy. There is no alphabetical order here, but educationally enough we find an alphabetical index at the back of the book. So the associations are probably not so completely arbitrary, either. Underpants humor is a sure winner among children, so it is no coincidence that words such as butt, do and fart get their appropriate place early in the book. Names of animals – most children are preoccupied with animals – have their own sequence, as do profanities, which have actually been given their own little ‘forbidden’ book in the middle of the book. And what excites more than the forbidden? DID YOU KNOW: The word gorilla can actually be considered an insult? Photo: Aschehoug Illustrating with an outside voice Here it is appropriate to comment on the illustrations by Henriette Osnes. For this book is the fruit of what must have been a flourishing collaboration between author and illustrator. They both use CAPITAL LETTERS. Osnes fills the pages completely with colour; they can be green, pink, purple or black, and the illustrations alternate between cartoon squares and large spreads where a story can frolic over two pages. DID YOU KNOW: Sleeping on a Norse hot sofa, fittingly enough. But today’s sofa comes from Arabic. Swipe on -> to continue. The tiny bannord book is laid out in powerful red and black, what could be better when talking about crooks, murderers and the flames of hell? The illustrations are pure movement, almost maximalist grotesque. The close-ups of faces are excessively sensitive, expressing shock, laughter, boredom or rage. It will not be indifferent. Quick shifts in focus, from an overview picture to a huge mouth, for example, create drama and draw the eye to the book pages. I have never seen the likes of a dictionary! DID YOU KNOW THAT: Mate comes from companion, which comes from sharing bread with a friend? Photo: Aschehoug Intense joy of language It is easy to notice the joy of communication of the two female authors. Ragnhild Holmås does not go out of her way to tell stories. But the times she moves away from documented facts, she makes it clear. This is a non-fiction book, you must know, where the sources are neatly listed at the back of the book, for those who wish to imitate the spindly stories elsewhere. DID YOU KNOW THAT: Many of the words we use today consist of two words that actually mean the same thing? Photo: Aschehoug A boost for Norwegian non-fiction for children The production of non-fiction books for children and young people is on the rise in Norway. Luckily. For a long time, foreign non-fiction books, often beautiful picture books about animals, history, cars or sports, created by multinational, streamlined publishing giants, have dominated the market. It is therefore so important that there are now Norwegian books like this: rough, messy and unpredictable. It would just be missing that such an uncompromising book is not seen and appreciated. For an adult reader, “The hair-raising secrets of the words” can seem overwhelming. The illustrations are anything but subtle. The stories are dull, with a clear bias towards the taboo. But it is as it should be. Jon Fosse’s statement about children’s books as all-ages literature is not always valid. Here, it is primarily the children who are the recipients, not the adults. Nevertheless: As a member of the jury that has named “Ordenes hårreisende hemmeligheter” this year’s winner of the Riksmål prize for best children’s and youth book, it has been interesting to see how this book grew among the jury members – and in fact turned out to be everyone’s secret favorite in the end . It is we who create the language Beneath the wild play lies a clear desire to make language harmless. Language is fun, quite simply, and it is created by all of us. That is the message that Ragnhild Holmås and Henriette T. Osnes convey in an enjoyable way: news reviewer Title: “The hair-raising secrets of the Order” Author: Ragnhild Holmås Illustrator: Henriette T. Osnes Genre: Nonfiction for children 10-12 years Publisher: Aschehoug Pages: 200 Hello! I am a literary critic at news, and I write about books for both children and adults. Among the really good children’s books I’ve read lately are “Oskar og eg” by Maria Parr or “Badesommar” by Ruth Lillegraven.
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“Ordenes hair-raising secrets” by Ragnhild Holmås and Henriette T. Osnes – Reviews and recommendations
