If you’re looking for a great bilingual book that will entertain your niños from beginning to end look no further than The Pumpkin Moon Empanadas. Like the name  suggests, The Pumpkin Moon Empanadas by Clementina Llanes is a magical story about a little girl name Paloma and her curiosity about the orange tinted moon she saw on an autumn night walk with her papá. Such was her curiosity that her papá promised to one day bring her the moon. This magical story of how Paloma’s papá brought her the moon centers around the love a parent has for their niños, and how we would do just about anything for them!

The story is told mainly in English and lots of Spanish phrases and vocabulary are sprinkled in throughout. It is a great way to introduce kids to the Spanish language, and for those that are already bilingual they will surely appreciate the way that the characters effortlessly switch between English and Spanish. For every Spanish word that comes up in the story there is the English translation in parenthesis as well, and the book also includes a glossary of all the words and phrases in Spanish. The cherry on top of this great story are the pumpkin empanadas! The book includes a recipe for the empanadas, which you will surely crave after reading the story. This offers another great opportunity to introduce more Spanish vocabulary and fun!

It’s no surprise that this wonderful story comes from Clementina Llanes, who is also the author of A Little Cup Of Mexican Hot Chocolate blog. Her love for cooking and culture shines through in this story for our niños.

You can purchase this book via Amazon for $7.99 

In the mood for besos y abrazos? Your day is here. Remember to celebrate el día de San Valentín (or Día del Amor y la Amistad) with all of your Valentines, young and old. It’s a good opportunity to discuss the proverbial ties that bind and the reason we are all making such great efforts to raise well-rounded, bilingual kids: ¡AMOR!

Keep the love alive by starting a collection of LOVEly books like the ones below. Find them, along with tons of other great ones, in La Tiendita.

Para los niños:

El Día de San Valentín/Valentines for Vinnie by Greg Roza

Un día del amor by Sujatha Lalgudi

El Primer San Valentín de Clifford by Norman Bridwell

On Valentine’s Day/Día de San Valentín by Judith Mazzeo Zocchi

Para los padres:

El amor en los tiempos del cólera by Gabriel García Márquez

De amor y de sombra by Isabel Allende

La Maestría del Amor: Una Guía Práctica para el Arte de las Relaciones by Don Miguel Ruiz

100 Love Sonnets: Cien sonetos de amor by Pablo Neruda

Un Día/One Day by David Nicholls

 
Check out all the Valentine’s goodies we have for you here and our Valentine’s Pinterest board is really cute too!