Fe’s Favorite Bilingual and Spanish Books​

In “Raising a Bilingual Child by Barbara Zurer Pearson,” Pearson explains why media such as books are important in language acquisition. Pearson states, “Children are more excited to remember what Winnie the Pooh says and sings than routine admonitions to clean their room or brush their teeth.” Pearson further explains that, ”colorful pictures and wording that is easy to understand help draw the child into the language.”

I made it my duty to introduce my daughter, Fe, to bilingual Spanish and English books early on in her infancy, because I understand the importance of reading. Some of her favorite books are “Dora va a la escuela (Dora goes to school)” by Nickelodeon, “Cabeza, Hombros, Rodillas, Pies (Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes)” by Annie Kubler, “Eres mi mama? (Are you my mother?)” by P.D Eastman, and “Yoga para pequenines “el Osito” ( Yoga for little ones, “Little Bear”)” by Sarah Jane Hinder. 

These books are really awesome for young readers because they can be very interactive. For example, Dora is a character featured on the Nickelodeon television show that is educational for children and reviews the alphabet, numbers and colors. Because Fe is familiar with the show, it makes it easy to sing songs at certain parts of the book to make up our own rhymes when counting and saying the alphabet and colors.  The book is bilingual, so I can read only the Spanish section or the English section. Statements like “Vamanos” and “Lo hicimos” and commands such as “abre” are constantly used in the book and on the show which helps to reinforce the meanings.

“Cabeza, hombros, rodillas, pies” is a short book with pictures that illustrate various movements that go along with the popular song in English “Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes.” You can show and read the movements and then perform the movements together afterwards. While reading this book, I sing the song and point to the various body parts which connects the meaning of the words.