SB Finds : Books + Libros

As a mother of two and a Kindergarten teacher, I often wonder about the imagination of children and if it is being fostered enough. We live in the era of electronics and I’m not sure our children are being given the opportunity to use their imagination the way we were when we were young. With television, video games, and educational apps, our kids don’t have to construct castles, monsters, or mountains in their minds as it’s right there on aRead More ...

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW How does cereal with orange juice or a pretzel covered cake sound? Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash (Marisol McDonald y la fiesta sin igual in Spanish) is the story about a unique little girl named Marisol McDonald, her unusual birthday, and her doting love for Abuelita. When Marisol’s birthday approaches, she wants nothing more than to have abuelita by her side. Unfortunately, Marisol’s grandma is all the way in Peru and bringing her to the United StatesRead More ...

On November 1st, McDonald’s celebrated the joy of reading by including four different original books in their Happy Meals. The books focused on nutrition, imagination and play and were available  in English and Spanish. They’re a great addition to the “on the go” library and a fun reminder for kids to eat right. Below is a short description of the four books pictured above. “La Hormiguita Campeona”  is a book about Ant, a bodybuilder, who encourages physical fitness through exerciseRead More ...

I was delighted to get a chance to review some books in the “Quién fue…?” collection for Young Readers. It was so refreshing to see books written in Spanish about important characters I had learned about when I was younger. I didn’t have these growing up — everything was in English. This collection is amazing! The books are written in an interesting way with information that is both educational and entertaining.  Each book has vocabulary that is age-appropriate and containsRead More ...

I had the opportunity to review the five bilingual board books that form part of the Arte Kids Books collection: Black & Blanco!, Colors Everywhere, 1,2,3 Sí. Animal Amigos! Hello Círculos!  are colorful and full of learning opportunities! The sturdy board books provide colorful images, text in English and Spanish and at the end of each book, an explanation of the artwork that is included on each page. The artwork in the books are quite diverse, coming from all over the world. OneRead More ...

BOOK DESCRIPTION/REVIEW Growing up, I always loved comic strips. I couldn’t get enough of Condorito, Mafalda, Archi and La pequeña Lulú. Looking back, I know at least the jokes in the first two were more for an adult audience than anything else, but I still loved them! While I haven’t introduced my kids to any of these comic strips just yet, I recently got my hands on a copy of El globo grande y mojado a TOON book by Liniers, a renownedRead More ...

This reading product has been so much fun to use with my three year old who is considered a “pre-reader” which basically means she is developing reading skills. For example, she is “reading” by moving her little pointer finger across the letters as the sparkup reads the book. It’s such an interesting product because it’s like new technology (sparkup recorder) meets old technology (paper books) where your little one can hear some of her favorite books read by mommy, daddy,Read More ...

In the world of children’s books, we often speak about the window and the mirror. It is of course important for our kids’ books to serve as a mirror and for them to see themselves in what they read. On the other hand, books must also provide a window into experiences and cultures other than our own. My kids are surrounded by books. Books we own, books from the library… suffice it to say, books are everywhere. Okay, okay, weRead More ...