Skip to product information
1 of 2

四季时光 All Around Bustletown - 4 Seasons - Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Night (Set of 5) - Bilingual

7 total reviews

Regular price $61.90 SGD
Regular price Sale price $61.90 SGD
Sale

This is definitely a bookset to cherish for many many years!
I can't recommend this enough for any book-loving family!

These are hands-down THE BEST wordless books ever made.

Our family has read these for many years and still find new things to marvel at and wonder about every single time.

Set includes:

  • Winter 寒冬 - 1st year's winter
  • Spring 暖春 - 2nd year's spring
  • Summer 盛夏 - 2nd year's summer
  • Autumn 凉秋 - 2nd year's autumn
  • Night 月夜 - 3rd year's summer at night

Awesome details within each of the 5 books:

  • 40+ main characters throughout each book, and across the series
  • Various animals and plants, each with exciting storylines!
  • 7 scenes
  1. Apartment 住宅, garden 花园, bus stop 公交车/巴士站
  2. Farm 农场, car repair shop 维修站, petrol station 加油站
  3. Train station 火车站, newspaper stand 报刊亭, snack stand 小吃店, seafood stall 鱼店
  4. Kindergarten 幼儿园, cultural center 文化中心 (with a exhibition hall 展览馆, library 图书馆, performing arts space 小剧场)
  5. Town square 广场, hotel 旅店, pharmacy 药店, fruit and vegetable stall 果蔬店, bakery 面包店/房, bookshop 书店, barbershop 理发店, dental clinic 牙科诊所, newspaper stand 报刊亭
  6. Departmental store 百货公司, carpark 停车场
  7. Park 公园, mini zoo 动物园, pond 池塘, cafe 咖啡馆, playground 儿童游乐场

 Features that make this set exceptional and like no other:

  • Extremely detailed illustrations over a big two-page spread, about A4 size
  • Illustrations are so gentle and heartwarming!
  • Board book and hardcover with sturdy pages, and rounded corners
  • Book always lie flat for optimal viewing!
  • Tons of details about different aspects of life 衣食住行, city and street sights 城市街景, all things in the markets 市井百态
  • Many different characters with their interesting storylines!
  • Search and find, look for items hidden within the illustrations
  • 600+ English and Mandarin vocabulary terms to learn - with contextual and visual clues
  • Visual prompts good for conversation starters eg clock - what is it used for? What is the english and mandarin term for it? Where can it be found in our own home or outside?
  • Opportunities to hone math skills - How many types of animals are there? How many of each animal are there?

We can work on skills like:

  • Visual perception
  • Focus and observation
  • Logical deduction
  • Mathematics skills
  • Acquiring vocabulary
  • Language expression

Recommended for Ages: 1-99
Number of books in set: 5
Pages: 80 
Format: Hardcover and Board book
Language: Simplified Chinese
Author: Rotraut Susanne Berner

Our story:

I first came across this absolute gem 8 years ago as a first-time mum, looking for a search and find book that would bring us on countless reading adventures together, where we could share new experiences and learn new things together.

I chanced upon and purchased In the Town All Year 'Round, a wordless picture book and spent hundreds of hours in my firstborn's toddlerhood days poring over the details of 4 seasons and learning new words together. Those happy days getting lost in books together is a precious memory that I'll hold tight forever.

My old hardcover book with paper pages were torn and patched in so many places, and the spine fell apart over the years - showing how well-loved it was. One day, it was just too difficult to manoeuvre and somehow we decided it was time to let it go. Saying goodbye to the book was like closing a chapter in our single-child, simpler days,心里总有不舍。
Many years later, I chanced upon the mandarin version of these books by Rotraut Sanne Berner and had to get my hands on it as soon as possible!

The day I received the books, while looking at the familiar illustrations and characters, all the little details, it transported me right back to those days where we'd lay on the bed on our bellies for hours on end and describe what we saw.

Our favourite running story is how 2 cats met each other, hung around town together, and we witnessed their family growing. The mama cat even nursed her kittens! We had interesting chats about DNA, genetics and heredity when the black-white papa cat and yellow-orange mama cat gave birth to 3 kittens: black-white, yellow-orange, and a combination of both!

Imagine dozens and dozens of such stories of people, places, across the different parts of town, across the various seasons in a year, and one book even shows how the town is like at night! Limitless details to look at, and talk about.

The best part of the new version we have now, is that it's in hardcover and board book - now I'm sure these books will be sturdy and last for many many more years to come.

It brings my heart great joy to see all my 3 kids enjoying these books, and getting lost in its pages just like in good old times.

Maybe I'll be the only one looking at the books years from now, reminiscing the days we spent together reading.

 

Customer Reviews

Based on 7 reviews
100%
(7)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
z
zoey
probably a book with a long mileage

i got it for my 3 year old and while she didn't express too much interest in this set of books, i had a filp through and it's really quite a lot happening on each page, you can find and seek the items listed at the bottom of the pages, or strike a conversation about how the houses have changed in terms of decor and feel in between the seasons, or just whatever captivates their attention in the pages (it's animals phase for my kid now so we just identified the animals in the pages). i can imagine that conversations around this book will change as the kid grows older.

Dear Zoey, thank you for sharing your thoughts on this lovely series! These are certainly books that keep on giving and grow with us all through the years (:

Y
YP
OMG best book set ever!

I love love love love love this book set! This is so many things rolled into one - search and find, storytelling from difference character's perspectives, concept of time and seasons, daily life, things of interest....
The illustrations are SO beautiful and detailed.. there's several vocab words at the bottom of each page, but the focus is mainly on the wordless scene that spreads across two pages. The open-endedness and continuity of scenes made it possible for a different story to be told each time depending on the child's interest! My almost 2yo loves it (prob not as much as I do yet… but very sure he will eventually!)

G
Gracie
Just adore this set!

The illustrations are absolutely detailed. So many intricate storylines woven through the pages. You'll spend hours poring these over with your kids. Love that it's bilingual too!

N
Nicole
Lots of details to pore over!

This series is much loved in our home! We first stumbled upon the English version from the library, which was an extremely large board book, so was a little disappointed by the size. But, the advantage is that it can be easily brought around, so not complaining. This series is a good way for us to grow in our journey of learning mandarin with the kids--challenges us to learn new vocab, describe scenes and tell stories in mandarin!

C
Chias
四季时光

bought this set of books for my 22mo, and I love it so much! we bring 1 book with us whenever we head out, and it's the best book to have on hand during waiting times. there are just so many things to talk about. my girl loves identifying the different objects/ animals/ people on each page for now, and we expand it by talking about what's happening. such a great read. thanks for the recommendation! (I first saw it on your instagram).