Children's books

[Princesa777]

Im not sure if this thread belongs in this forum, if not you can just move it.
I live in Europe and had a (half Dominican) baby a couple of months ago. We want to raise him bilingual. My husband is only going to speak Spanish with him I have a whole pile of childrens books to read from in my own language, but none in Spanish. We would like to have some Spanish books as well, so my husband can read to him (so for ages 0-6) There are no Spanish books in the stores here, so I will have to order online.
I dont like to order books online, because then I cant check them if they 'feel and look' right. I have all the 'must haves' in my own language. But have no idea what the must haves in Spanish are.
I guess you probably have the stories from the brothers Grimm (etc.) in Spanish as well, but are there more typical spanish fairy tales to read to your children or better yet Dominican fairy tales?

And what do you think are the must haves in Spanish?

 

[Chirimoya]

Been there with my own son and to my disappointment there appears to be very little children's literature in Spanish - most children's books in Spanish are translated from other languages. I couldn't find much in the way of equivalents of the standard British or North American baby, toddler or children's classics. As a result, although he has grown up into an enthusiastic reader, 98% of what he has read is in English.

 

[Matilda]

I have a Dominican boy who comes to stay with me most weekends and friends from the States have brought him a large selection of books in Spanish. His favourites are Jorge el Curioso (which is in English and Spanish) and there are loads of stories about him

Amazon.com: jorge el curioso: Books

He also loves Winnie the Pooh in Spanish!

I would steer clear of the Dominican Fairy tales as most involve nasty things like witches who eat babies.

Matilda

 

[Princesa777]

Been there with my own son and to my disappointment there appears to be very little children's literature in Spanish - most children's books in Spanish are translated from other languages. I couldn't find much in the way of equivalents of the standard British or North American baby, toddler or children's classics. As a result, although he has grown up into an enthusiastic reader, 98% of what he has read is in English.

Oh, thats too bad. Like I said i can always buy (for example) Cinderella in spanish. I think Cinderella is also translated into my language and still loved the story, but some Dominican (or even central american) classics would have been nice. That explains though why muy husband didnt know any, although reading stories to him was definitely not a priority for his parents. Thankfully he's really enthusiastic about reading to our son.

I found a book online 'Los siete mejores cuentos centroamericanos', but no idea if it's any good.

 

[Princesa777]

Haha, witches who eat babies. So no child friendly fairy tales?

I will check if I can find any Jorge books here, thanks.

 

[dv8]

aren't you starting early, gurl
i understand. a month ago my niece was born and i am already planning on getting her a bunch of books to read. i do not believe there is no literature for kids in spanish. heck, only 40 million polaks and we have some rocking books for kids and teens! if i were you i would inquire in other forums, located in spain of south america. there must be hundreds of kid books out every ear, with millions of spanish users all over the world.

in any case, a quick search:
Abecebichos. Autor: Daniel Nesquens. Ilustrador: Jacobo Mu?iz. Editorial Anaya: Espa?a.
El libro que se muere. Autor: Ricardo Ch?vez Casta?eda. Ilustrador: Carlos V?lez Aguilera. Editorial Norma: M?xico.
Hab?a una vez. Autora: Mar?a Teresa Andruetto. Ilustradora: Claudia Legnazzi. Calibroscopio: Argentina.
Nocturno. Autora e ilustradora: Isol. Fondo de Cultura Econ?mica: M?xico.
Por el color del tr?o. Autor: To?o Malpica. Ilustrador: Iban Barrenetxea. Fondo de Cultura Econ?mica: M?xico.

a good page here:
Scholastic en Espa?ol - Los mejores libros para ni?os de todas las edades
and here:
Los 10 mejores libros biling?es

 

[skynet]

I would read anything and everything popular in English but in Spanish..and its great that your starting so young, it will make a huge difference with your baby speaking earlier and of course, getting those other senses going...I would also start with either some good education story teller TV or hit youtube, barney etc....all of my kids spoke very early, can defiantly say barney, and other shows like sesame street and reading to them was the reason..they are like little sponges when so young and it will teach them to be interested in education as they grow older, so do your thing!

Anthony

 

[PeterInBrat]

I wouldn't worry so much about the content being originally in Spanish. It's not like Hans Christian Anderson or Grimm's Tales were originally written in English--or Madeline, Pinnocio, The Little Prince.. etc etc..

I heard an unedited book on tape for Pinnocio about ten years ago. Practically R rated.

 

[Princesa777]

Yes, we are starting young bit he is 'already' 2 months old and we dont have any spanish books yet. I read to him in my language now, but really would like husband to start as well. He only speaks Spanish to him and we asked our Spanish speaking friends to only speak Spanish to him too. Me and the rest speak Dutch to him.
Hopefully his grandmother can get a visa and come over for 3 months, so he gets some extra Spanish influence. I would really like him to learn botoanguages good. But more than that I think reading is such a fun and relaxing way to spend with ur baby (although I sometimes feel a bit silly doing it now with him being so small. But oh well, no body's watching and he seems to enjoy hearing me talk. I would like my husband to have the chance to do it in Spanish with him.

It's not really a problem if the content wasn't originally in Spanish, we have those main fairy tales translated into Dutch too, but I would also like to have something more tipico. Just like we have those main fairy tales in Dutch, but also really popular tipical dutch writers and stories. It's like a little bit of culture too

I think its a good idea to ask on some Spanish forums!

I wish I would be going to Spain/dr/usa soon, so I could just buy it in the stores, its so much nicer choosing books u can see and feel instead of buying them on the internet.