Bilingual Children's Spanish Books

For people who are thinking about raising their kids bilingually, books in the other language are key. However many are attempting to raise bilingual children in a language that the parents themselves don't know. This is where bilingual books come in handy.

In Spanish there are many bilingual books to choose from but here are a few outstanding choices to begin a bilingual Spanish kids' book collection.

"Curious George Cleans Up/Jorge el curioso limpia el reguero" by H.A. Rey is a great book to start off a bilingual book collection. The familiar curious George character draws children into the story and the book itself isn't too expensive as it can be found for under five dollars. In the book George has a new rug that he accidentally stains and then he tries different approaches to get it clean. This book is perfect for reinforcing cleaning phrases and terms.

"Big Dog... Little Dog/Perro grande... Perro pequeño" by P.D. Eastman is another good choice. Fans of P.D. Eastman's writing know that the books he writes are often hilarious in their pictures and phrasing. A child can quickly catch on to the meaning of the words by putting the pictures into action. The opposites described in the books will give any bilingual child a great expanse of vocabulary to work from.

"My Family and I/Mi familia y yo" by Gladys Rosa-Mendoza, Carolina Cifuentes, and Jackie Snider can be bought in board book form which is perfect for the bilingual family with babies and toddlers. The story features a Hispanic family and includes a rich vocabulary of family-oriented words which can be put to great use in the home and out.

"How do I Feel?/¿Cómo me siento?" by Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries is another board book which includes action words related to feelings. The phrases can be taken straight from the book into use in real life which is great for the parent who knows little to no Spanish themselves.

"The Ugly Duckling/ El patito feo" illustrated by Irene Bordoy is a classic tale about a duck who thinks that it is ugly until it learns that it is in fact a swan. Using classic books like this is a must in any bilingual upbringing as it will help the child to connect the two worlds of the English culture in which the child resides and the Spanish culture that the child is learning. The book is priced for buying at under five dollars and the illustrations are truly enchanting.

Those are just a few of the wide array of wonderful bilingual children's literature available in the United States. Learning an additional language, be it the child's second, third, or fourth, is challenging in the best conditions so reinforcing with bilingual reading material is an excellent decision.