Two posts in as many days, but Christmas is coming, it's a bright, crisp day and my friend and translator Bettina Obrecht  has just sent me a tidy pile of her books for children. So here I am. No, I don't read or speak German, but my aim is to try, so that I can read these stories. It's a sign, I reckon. Besides, the pics look good. So haul out the German dictionary, work out what the words mean and  piece together the plots. Sounds easy.  Hmm. My cousins are great linguists. So what happened to this side of the family? We came from the same root, yet languages were never our thing. A smattering is all. A very light smattering. OK. That's probably overestimating things. Nearer zilch in the lingo stakes. Hey ho. Obviously our talents lie elsewhere. Anybody find them, let me know. Auf wiedersehen.