A deliciously absurd grammatical romp of a picture book, ashimpa: the mysterious word begins when a researcher rediscovered a long-lost word that has resurfaced “by chance in a dusty old dictionary: ASHIMPA. Quickly, the news spread. Everyone wanted to use this exciting discovery—but no one knew exactly how. No one knew what the word meant, or even what type of word it was.”

The solution is obvious: a visit to 137-year-old Mrs. Zulmira. She immediately sets everyone straight, telling them that it’s the verb, “to ashimp.” And according to her, folks “ashimped, had always ashimped, in fact, and would ashimp on forever.”

The linguistic silliness continues in this enjoyable vein, with the new-old word morphing from verb to adjective to adverb. Eventually, it gets used willy-nilly, even as a preposition or an interjection. Good heavens!

Deciding this won’t do, the researcher digs in and assiduously does more research. He then triumphantly announces that “ashimpa” is actually… A “perlimpent!” (A perlimpent?) Oddly enough, no one has the foggiest idea what that is either. And so, it’s time for another trip to Mrs. Zulmira.

Children love to play with language, making up words at the drop of the proverbial hat, and many adults do, too. (I, myself, am partial to the odd invented word.) Hence the premise of this zany picture book will tickle many young readers’ linguistic imaginations, and the casual references to parts of speech can easily lead to a delightful discussion of grammar.

I’d be willing to bet that that’s the first time you’ve read the words “delightful” and “grammar” used in the same breath, but this book definitely prompts that rare event.

In the end, what does “ashimpa” actually mean? I have no idea… But isn’t that really the point?

ashimpa: the mysterious word
Written and illustrated by Catarina Sobral
Translated from the Portuguese by Juliana Barb
ISBN: 9798893380026
May 13, 2025 Transit Children’s Editions

Reviews: Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal

You can buy a copy here* or find a copy of it at a library.

*Book purchases made via our affiliate link may earn GLLI a small commission at no cost to you. Review copy provided by the publisher.

Award-winning opera singer Nanette McGuinness is the translator of over 130 books and graphic novels for children and adults from French, Italian, German and Spanish into English, including the much-loved Geronimo Stilton Graphic Novels, as well as Tiki: A Very Ruff Year (nominated for the 2023 Eisner and Harvey Awards) and Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan Civil War (2023 GLLI YA Translated Book Prize Honor Book, 2023 Mosaic Prize winner, 2023 Excellence in Graphic Literature Finalist and 2023 Harvey Award nominee). Accolades have also gone to her translations of Ellie in First Position (2024 ALA Top Ten Graphic Novels for Children), Magical History Tour: Vikings and Magical History Tour: Gandhi (both 2023 Excellence in Graphic Literature Finalists), Luisa: Now and Then (2019 Stonewall Honor Book; 2020 GLLI YA Translated Honor Book; YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2019) and California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas (2018 Harvey Award; YALSA’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens in 2018).