Our house is full of children’s books. They’re everywhere. In my kids’ bedrooms, in their playroom in the basement, in the family room, in my bedroom and even in the bathroom! I’d say maybe 90% of the books are in Spanish, except for the board books which are mostly in English because I’ve always had a really hard time finding board books en español.
While my almost 5-year-old daughter no longer has patience for the simple stories usually told on a board book — the books she likes these days have to have a more complex story with several characters — my 18-month-old son is all over them. Lolos, he calls them and loves to sit on my lap while I read them to him.
I’ve never had a problem translating English books into Spanish, but it’s really nice to not have to do that all the time and that’s why I was so happy when I got the latest bilingual additions to Candlewick Press’ board book collection: The Birthday Box/Mi caja de cumpelaños and Higher! Higher!/¡Más alto! ¡Más alto! both by Leslie Patricelli.
I really like Higher! Higher!/¡Más alto! ¡Más alto! because of its simplicity and its repetition of the phrase ¡más alto! Plus, the story is pretty cute too: a little girl on a swing who wants to go higher and higher and the things she encounters (giraffes, high rises, planes and even an alien in outer space) on her way up. Who doesn’t like go higher and higher on a swing? While there’s not a lot of vocabulary on the book, the illustrations of the things listed above give me ample opportunities to introduce new words to my son.
The other book, The Birthday Box/Mi caja de cumpelaños, tells the story of a little boy who gets a gift in a box for his birthday and how he enjoys playing with the box more than the gift itself. If you have small kids, you know this is definitely true, ¿cierto? This board book has a lot more vocabulary and while I would’ve translated a couple of sentences a bit differently, it’s just an issue of style because the translations are all grammatically correct.
I also think these books would be perfect for parents who are raising bilingual kids, but who are non-native speakers of Spanish or for those Latino parents who are not completely fluent and need a little help with simple vocabulary associated with children.
THE GIVEAWAY!
We’re giving away two sets of books to TWO lucky winners. To enter please leave us a comment about why you’d like to win these books and for whom.
That’s all you have to do to enter this giveaway. If you want to up your chances at winning, then this is how you can get additional entries (only after you’ve completed the step above): **Please leave a separate comment for each so we can count them and avoid mistakes.
1. Subscribe to receive blog updates and subscriber-only content via email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so or that you’re already a subscriber. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with.
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3. Like SpanglishBaby on Facebook and join our thriving community of parents. This giveaway ends Sunday, March 27 at midnight EST and you must have a valid US address to enter.
Disclosure: We received review copies. All opinions are our own.
Our daughter has definitely enjoyed the English version of “Higher! Higher!” so I’m sure she’d enjoy it in Spanish too.
My son loves to read books! So far, we only have two books in Spanish. They are hard to find in the Mid-West, but I will be on the lookout online for these two. Thanks!
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My daughter would love these! We are always looking for new books in Spanish.
My kids would LOVE these books!
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I try to read as many books in Spanish as possible to my daughter as part of raising her bilingually. She is already familiar with this story in English, so I’m excited for a bilingual edition!
i would like to win this book because my son is asking me how to say or write certain things in Spanish. it would be nice to win this for my son. thank you!!!
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Like Roxana, my 18 month year old totally loves books. “bibos” recently surfaced in her verbal vocabulary.
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Libros en espanol, que bueno! My son Gael and niece Luna both love their books en espanol. I would love to add to their collection beyond “Dos”
These books would be for my daughters. We are doing our best to raise them bilingual and I am always looks for products that help in that area!
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I tweeted at assiduous.
I would love to win these books. I read a book a night to my son. Considering it’s my down time from a busy day, we look forward to our “book time”. I feel that I am teaching my son something by reading and spanish is what I want to teach him as my parents and grandmother taught me.
My daughter LOVES books and sometimes it gets tiring translating the English books in to Spanish. It would be nice not to have to do that with these!
totally agree! :0)
buena suerte!
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I’m a subscriber and have found this site an invaluable support! We are always looking for books in Spanish but this is even better for us since my son is rapidly becoming fully bilingual. He says everything in Spanish and English. “Azul! Blue!” =D
My son would really love them, so I hope I win
We love to read to read to my 2-year old son in Spanish and are always looking for new book series.
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I already follow Spanglish Baby on FB – what a great resource!
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Growing up in Indiana I was definitely not exposed to ANY books in Spanish. So now after finding your site I am starting my son’s, so that he is exposed to them sooner. If I had the money I would but them all, but right now it’s pay check by paycheck. Last month I bought ¡A comer! Which is short and sweet for a 3 year old and it has frijoles and arroz with tortillas for dinner
I love kids’ books in any language, and I’m always looking for more options in Spanish or that are bilingual. I’m a teacher, for one, and another reason is that I’m expecting our first little baby in just a couple of weeks. I’m planning on raising our son (and any future children) bilingually, but it has to be OPOL because my husband only knows English. Any bilingual books would be great, that way we can both read our kids the same book!
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I’m a children’s librarian and we never have enough children’s books in Spanish or that are bilingual. I’d love to win these books to add to our Spanish collection!
Emilio, 3 yrs old, loves to read. We read at least one Spanish or bilingual book every night so these would help expand our collection. Thanks!
My daughter Camila is 13 mos and OBSESSED with books! She has been more into the English ones than the Spanish– I need some great Spanish ones to balance out her learning. I would love to have these highly recommended books.
We can never have enough books in Spanish! Would love to get this one too:)
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I would love to have these books to read to my daughter (3), son (1.5), and baby on the way…. especially since we’ll be moving overseas soon to an Arabic-speaking country with no Spanish books in sight!
I have two little daughters (2yo and 9mo) so I’d love to read these books to them!
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My boys would love this book! We are trying to add more Spanish books in our collection.
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Mas libros en espanol! My son Joaquin loves when I read books in spanish. These would books are fun and we don’t own them yet!
My kids love books and request only spanish at this time…these stories sound great!
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We have just started Spanish classes for our 2.5 year old son. We woud love to win these books to enhance his learning. Our family emphasizes building strong relationships with people, and learning another language is just one, effective way of reaching out to more people. We love travelling, culture, and of course, people.
My almost-2-year-old Zoe is bilingual and loves books. Her dad reads to her in English and I read to her in Spanish so these would be perfect for her!
Tweeted your giveaway here:
RE http://bit.ly/fDH8PR
I was raised bilingual in Chile (by a USian mom), and I want to give my five-month-old son the same invaluable gift. We have some picture books in Spanish, but not many… right now, I just translate as I read. (When Mamá puts him to bed, we read “Buenas noches, Luna;” when Dad puts him to bed, they read “Goodnight Moon.”
)
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Also liked on Facebook! So glad my sister shared this blog with me!!
I would like to win these books because I need to start building my library with as many books in Spanish as possible. With me not being a native speaker, I need to make sure I surround my son with as many materials as possible. I am serious about him being fluent and I will make it happen if it’s the last thing I do.
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Would love to get these books. Although I don’t speak spanish (mi esposo is the spanish speaker in the family) I can read well. I would love to read these to our Ecuadorian-American daughter!
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My children would love these books! My son is almost 4 & my daughter is 19 months! I’m trying my best to raise them bilingual but it’s very hard since my husband does not speak spanish & the school/ daycare they attend is all english. I am always looking for ways to include spanish activities especially books but its so hard to find toddler specific books & being on a strict budget makes it even harder! So far we have one book that is age appropriate & its in spanglish but they both love it!! I know they would like having more books in spanish since they love story time & I do as well!!!
Would be wonderful to win this for them!!!!!
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(Jajaira Miranda Overton)
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I love how clever these books are and the pictures are adorable. All of my kids like reading them! Thanks for the giveaway!!
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I’d love to win for my bilingual daughter.
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Andrea G O
I would love these books for my 6 month old daughter Giselle who is being raised Bilingual!
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I would like to win these books for my two year and my five year old who is learning to read in Spanish.
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My son starts dual immersion (Spanish/English) kindergarten in September. We have been learning Spanish together through books, songs, and kid’s movies to ease the transition. These new Patricelli books would be a welcome addition, and then could be donated to his classroom in the fall. His birthday is in April so the timing couldn’t be better!
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I do consider all the ideas you’ve presented in your post. They’re really convincing and can certainly work. Still, the posts are very short for starters. May just you please prolong them a bit from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.
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My granddaughter is 18 months old. Her mother speaks, Spanish, English and sign language. Therefore my granddaughter will be trilingual as they are teaching her all three. Her mom mentioned it was difficult to find books in Spanish and I these would be a great Christmas present. Thank you.