The method you are referring to is best exemplified by the book "Kanji Look and Learn" by the Japan Times. The core philosophy is Visual Association: using pictures to link the shape of the Kanji to its meaning.

Knowing 1000 individual Kanji is useless unless you can read them in pairs. The workbook should provide 2-3 common compounds per Kanji (e.g., for 食 (eat): 食事 (meal), 食べる (to eat), 食堂 (cafeteria)).

While I can’t distribute a direct file, here’s how you can create or find this exact resource for free:

  • Convert Anki decks (e.g., “Kanji Kingdom with Pictures”) into a PDF via Anki’s export → HTML → Print to PDF.