In a dark old castle in medieval times, someone has a bright idea: “If we could find a way of putting some fire on a nail in the wall we could have a lamp in the room.” They get the local giant to dunk twigs in candle-wax to make the first simple lamp.
If you pictured this story as you read it, you have just learned the meaning and pronunciation of a Chinese character! This book uses stories like this as well as pictures to help you to learn and remember 800 Chinese characters. This is enough to recognize about threequarters of the characters you would come across in an average piece of Chinese text.