Bilingual Kid’s Books

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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Christmas shopping, looking for books for the grandkids that are bilingual, not easy to find!  

Today I found this site, and thought some of you might be interested too!  Available on Amazon, Barns and Noble etc

http://www.lillibros.com/
 

Auryn

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Apr 22, 2012
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These books are fantastic. Created because of the lack of bilingual Spanish-English books out there. We have several and they are beautifully illustrated little treasures.
 

bigbird

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May 1, 2005
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Here are a few more that are cheap enough to hand out year round. Sometimes a free book is better received than Bon Helado (sometimes......LOL)

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0152062815/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/grande-peque...rd_wg=4zQB6&psc=1&refRID=ZS4DJVBA8T0ZKXPJ0BHN

https://www.amazon.com/grande-peque...rd_wg=4zQB6&psc=1&refRID=ZS4DJVBA8T0ZKXPJ0BHN

If you continue to search Amazon they have a couple dozen books at $5 and under. I pass them out year round.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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what age level? our nieces are 4 and 2, would these books be suitable for them?
 

AlterEgo

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what age level? our nieces are 4 and 2, would these books be suitable for them?



Yes, as they are board books, not paper.  I bought one for our granddaughter who is 16 months old, and for grandson who is 7 and learning Spanish in school.  

Every morning his mom drops him off at 7.30, he comes in and says “Buenos Dias!”.  Papa (Mr AE) asks him what he wants for breakfast, and he always answers “Dos huevos por favor”.  I drive him to school bus at 8.45, and he always says “Adios Papa!”.  He says he’s English because that’s his language, haha.  He thinks I’m Spanish and English.  Papa speaks English with an accent, so he’s just Spanish.  Gotta love the little ones...........
 

Auryn

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Apr 22, 2012
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There is a new one to come out in the new year "Around the World with Cantinflas", and they've also done a mini biography on Selena and Celia Cruz. These are all on Amazon when you search Lil' Libros, but not showing up on their website. The Contando con Frida one takes inspiration from her life and art - one blue house/una casa azul, two paintbrushes/dos pinceles, etc. and the Emociones book is based on the Dia de los Muertes. The last two are available on the website.

I love good illustrations in children's books and these are really quite unique. Nice hardcover board books with lots of pretty details- perfect for toddlers and older kids too. I had bought the Bebe Listo (Bright Baby) Numeros, Primeras Palabras, and Colores and they're also good, but the Lil Libros series are just such special little books.

Children's bilingual or Spanish paperbacks (cheaper than hardcover) are a bit harder to find on Amazon. We do have a few, but are there any good places to buy children's books in the DR? Sister-in-law is a teacher and she says there is a decent place in SD.
 

Auryn

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Apr 22, 2012
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We just received "Around the World with Cantinflas-Geography" and "Zapata- Colors". Both are beautiful books, highly recommended if you're teaching young children Spanish/English. They are the nicest Spanish-English bilingual books that I can find. Next on my list is La Llorona- Counting Down, which will bring us to 9 Lil Libros in our house. My favorites is still Counting with Frida, with Cuauhtemoc-Shapes coming in a close second.
 
Aug 21, 2007
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I teach in both English and Spanish here. Sometimes I have children's literature books in English, sometimes, Spanish. What I do is read the book with the kids in one language, discuss it, then go to YouTube. Most books are available there in the other language. It is the actual book. You see the pages being turned as the book is read. Sometimes I think this method is even better than a bilingual book, as the children need to pay closer attention to the language and story to gain understanding in the weaker language.

Good luck! Reading is fun!

Lindsey
 

Auryn

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That will work great, especially for older kids Lindsay, I'll look on youtube to see what I can find.

It should also be mentioned that the books definitely have a Mexican angle. There is one that includes Evita and one on Celia Cruz, and the shapes book is more Aztec, but the rest are fairly focused on Mexican traditions/characters/culture.
 
Aug 21, 2007
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That will work great, especially for older kids Lindsay, I'll look on youtube to see what I can find.

It should also be mentioned that the books definitely have a Mexican angle. There is one that includes Evita and one on Celia Cruz, and the shapes book is more Aztec, but the rest are fairly focused on Mexican traditions/characters/culture.

And some of the classic children's literature translated to Spanish has very bad translations - as though it has been translated by someone who does not speak the language.

Lindsey
 

Auryn

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I have encountered a couple like that, where even with my intermediate Spanish I can identify poor translations.

Maybe this is for a new thread, but the only Dominican children's book I can find is called "Island Born" by Junot Diaz, which is about Dominican-American girl. I haven't bought it, but I did buy "Encounter" by Jane Yolen for my nephews awhile ago. Are there any others?
 
Aug 21, 2007
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I have encountered a couple like that, where even with my intermediate Spanish I can identify poor translations.

Maybe this is for a new thread, but the only Dominican children's book I can find is called "Island Born" by Junot Diaz, which is about Dominican-American girl. I haven't bought it, but I did buy "Encounter" by Jane Yolen for my nephews awhile ago. Are there any others?

Are you looking for a picture book? What is the reading level you need?
 

GringoRubio

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Oct 15, 2015
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Christmas shopping, looking for books for the grandkids that are bilingual, not easy to find!  

Today I found this site, and thought some of you might be interested too!  Available on Amazon, Barns and Noble etc

http://www.lillibros.com/

I like the spanish readers. They have English on one page and on the opposing page is Spanish. The stories are cleverly written with advancing vocabulary.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0071428062/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486258106/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There's also bibles, etc. I've found these useful learning spanish, but they could easily go the other way to English.
 

Chirimoya

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Dec 9, 2002
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Julia Alvarez has written several books for children in English that have been translated into Spanish. The Tia Lola stories, Return to Sender/Devolver al remitente, The Secret Footprints/Las huellas secretas, The Gift of Gracias/Un regalo de gracias and Before We Were Free/Antes de ser libres.
 

Auryn

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Apr 22, 2012
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The Lil Libros series will be putting out several new books within the next few months, including the life of Ritchie Valens, First 100 Words, Vamonos a Havana, and Vamonos a San Salvador.

They did El Chavo most recently and it's available to purchase. They are starting to expand to include a puzzle for the Cuahutemoc-Shapes book, and a few other little items in addition to books. Maybe one day they will also do Vamonos a Santo Domingo!

I have no affiliation with them, they are just our favorite bilingual books. The stories and illustrations are so well done

Lindsay if you see this, I look for toddler books at the moment. But anything roughly ages 2-8.