With babies and toddlers there is always a time when a lullaby comes to our rescue. And yes, I mean rescue because lullabies are fundamental to sooth a crying baby or simply to create the right bedtime environment. These songs are useful not just to lull the baby to sleep but also any little brothers and sisters who may be around.

Lullabies in all languages have put to bed millions and millions of babies, all over the length and breadth of the world. All of them share the necessary elements to put the baby, and even ourselves, at ease: rhythm, melody and story. And that is precisely what fascinates me the most, that there is a story behind each one of them, a story that reveals customs, lifestyles, fears and the unique ways in which each culture values babies and toddlers.

There are many beautiful lullabies in Spanish, many of them with recurring topics such as the urgency for children to fall asleep and allow their mothers to carry on with their domestic tasks. This is the case of Este niño lindo and Duérmete mi niño.  Aruru mi niño, Muñequita Linda and other similar songs focus on conveying the baby’s beauty, while those with their origin in popular folklore, such as Arruru la faena, speak of the mother’s arduous labor.

Some lullabies like Duérmete mi niño have threatening themes involving wolves and bogeymen; others like Arriba del cielo talk about selling children. Some lullabies, like Señora Santa Ana or A la rorro nene, have been used for centuries to lull Baby Jesus in Catholic and other Christian celebrations. And, of course, there are many lullabies in English that have been translated to Spanish, as is the case of Todos los caballitos lindos (All the Pretty Little Horses).   

Regarding the lyrics, I must say that I love the use of the words “roro, rorro, arroró, aruru” used to denote rocking movement or to say that the boy or the girl is very pretty.

Not all lullabies can be found in books or the Internet. I mean those in which parents or grandparents sing from their own imagination, usually basing their songs on a familiar tune and making up their own stories as they go along. As unbelievable as it may seem, some become part of the family tradition, generation after generation.

Making up your own lullabies could be a fun activity which could help you further strengthen that essential bond of safety and trust between you and your kids, for lullabies are, without doubt, songs for the soul.

What is your favorite lullaby? Have you ever tried creating your own lullabies? Share with us; we’d love to hear from you!

{Image via Jorge Ravines Fotografias}

Adriana Pacheco Roldán, is a children’s books author who has taught Spanish as a second language for most of her professional life. She has always found news ways to teach Spanish, not only as a tool for communication, but as a tool for developing critical ways of thinking and understanding culture, history and traditions. With her husband she founded Heritage Language, a publisher of bilingual books. She is currently a doctoral student of Hispanic American Literature at the University of Texas at Austin. Adriana was born in Puebla, Mexico, and she is very proud of having raised three multilingual and multicultural boys and one girl.

My daughter is at the ripe age where new words are just constantly flying out of her mouth every day.  I’m in total awe of this natural language-acquisition process of an almost two-year old.

I’m also in awe that she’s definitely already a bilingual little niña, using her hundreds of new words to construct mini Spanglish sentences, like: “Más jugo, please.” “Shoe acá pié.”

I’m totally not bothered by it because that’s exactly how my own brain functions, moving seamlessly from one language to the other.

That’s why the language-introduction approach used in the Professor Pocket CDs was completely relevant to us. Professor Pocket is a family-owned company that’s created two bilingual (Spanish/English) CDs and supplemental materials to help children develop a lifelong passion for learning languages.

At first, I thought Camila was still too young to completely understand and follow the storyline in “Our Silly Farm Adventure” since it’s recommended for children ages 2 and up. That was not the case at all. Maybe she still doesn’t grasp the context of what she is listening to, but she loves the silly animal sounds, the catchy songs and the identifiable kids’ voices. I’ve also caught her adorably repeating the key words and anticipating the songs many times.

You will like:

• How it naturally and aptly flows from English to Spanish through the wacky interaction of the three main characters: Professor Pocket (English), Desi the Dinosaur and Chico the Chicken (mostly Spanish).
• The original story lines with just the correct dose of silliness to entertain toddlers and older kids alike. A dinosaur on a farm?  Yes, it’s far-fetched, but it works.
• Spanish words and key concepts are effectively reinforced with the use of songs which you will find yourself singing along to in no time, like: “¡Ay, caramba! No hay dinosaurios” and “La la la la Leche” (a song about a cow that produces chocolate milk, yum!).
• PERFECT FOR LONG CAR RIDES!! OK, in my book, this should be reason enough to love these CDs. Your child will be absorbed, entertained, she’ll learn new words in both English and Spanish and you’ll have a smile on your face from watching her dance in her seat and imitate the voices she hears. At least I do.

The two mom’s behind Professor Pocket, Nathalie and Paula, want to give you a chance to win a free copy of both “Our Silly Farm Adventure” and “Our Hawaiian Hula Adventure.”

To enter to WIN:

All you have to do for your chance to win is visit the Professor Pocket website Shop section where you can listen to samples of some of the songs on both CDs. Come back here and leave us a comment telling us which song you liked and why. Please be detailed so we know you visited their site.

If you want to increase your chances of winning you can get additional entries by doing any of the following.

1.  Blog and/or tweet about this giveaway. Please leave an additional comment with the link.

2. Subscribe to our feed via email and leave us an extra comment letting us know you did so. Make sure to leave the comment using the same email you subscribed with. And please do verify the subscription once you receive the email to do so. We will check in order to validate the entry.

3. Subscribe via RSS. Once you do, or if you’re already a subscriber, email us the “Secret Phrase” at the bottom of the post to: giveaways@SpanglishBaby.com.

4.  Become a fan of our Facebook page.  Leave us another comment letting us know you did so.

This contest will close tonight at midnight PST Sunday, July 5th at midnight EST…so don’t hesitate and enter now. These two Professor Pocket CDs could be yours!!!

For the part that nobody likes, but we’ve gotta have, check out the Giveaway Rules.

Scroll down to the next post for another giveaway from fabulous t-shirt line with a Latin attitude: ChíChí&Flaco

Photo by Simon Blackley

I love going back home for a lot of the obvious reasons, but also because, as an avid reader, it gives me a chance to stock up on books in Spanish. Now that I’m a mami, I’ve added children’s books to my list. The selection tends to be much more varied than back in the States–especially now that we live in Colorado! I know there’s always the option of getting books online, but there’s nothing better–for me, at least–than to spend time browsing a bookstore, just picking up whatever looks interesting.

I should clarify that by “home” I usually mean Perú because even though I left many years ago, I still feel like that’s the one place that will always pull me more than any other. Having said that, and because my extended family and mis suegros y cuñada live in other Latin American countries, my search for books in Spanish is not limited to Perú. I have the fortune to visit Puerto Rico at least once a year and Mexico every two years.

It was actually during our last trip to La Isla del Encanto this past Christmas where I found the most wonderful collection of children’s books which I immediately purchased for my daughter, Vanessa (and for myself, too!). The series is called “Colección 9 Pececitos” and it includes five books full of colorful illustrations with titles such as Grano a grano…Refranes populares, Pon, pon: A jugar con el bebé! and ¡Vamos a Jugar! All the books are supposed to be suitable for kids in their preschool years all the way to tweens. And, although my daughter might still be too young for some of them, she will eventually be able to understand and appreciate them. So, it was totally worth the buy!

Vanessa loves to sing and it warms my heart to hear her tiny voice, especially when she sings tunes that take me back to when I was a child. It is so important for us to pass on all the traditional songs, nursery rhymes and finger plays both her father and I grew up with which is one of the reasons I enjoy Pon, pon: A jugar con el bebé! so much. It’s funny, the book’s back cover describes its content as reflecting la cultura puetorriqueña, but the reality is that although the wording might be different, I bet most of us have heard a version of most of these songs. Check them out for yourselves:

Pon, pon

(Sing this while taping your index finger on the palm of your hand)
Pon, pon, nena pon
el dedito en el pilón.
–Sounds like the simplest song in the world, but babies actually love the repetitiveness!

Tortitas

(Sing this while clapping your hands softly)
Tortitas, tortitas, tortitas de manteca
a mamá que de galletas.
Tortitas, tortitas, tortitas de tostones
a papá que da calzones.
Tortitas, tortitas, tortitas de casabe
a mi hermano que no lo sabe.
Tortitas, tortitas, tortitas de pan y queso
a abuelita que me da un beso.

La Linda Manita

(Sing this while waving with your hand)
La linda manita
que tiene el bebé
qué linda, qué mona,
qué graciosa es.

My daughter’s face lit up when I opened up the book and I started singing this last song for her. She had been to Puerto Rico before and had heard her cousins, grandparents and aunts sing it to her, so it was a moment of remembrance and recognition. We hadn’t sung it in a while, maybe because she’s a little older now, but the fact that her vocabulary grows exponentially every single day, allowed her to sing along which made the whole experience even more enjoyable.

All of these songs and finger plays are part of our cultural heritage. Raising bilingual children is more than just teaching them Spanish. It’s about our music, our foods, our traditions and our holidays.

This post originally appeared in a different form and under a different title over at Latin Baby Book Club.

What are some songs and finger plays that you are teaching your children?

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In case you’ve never visited LLBC, I recommend you go visit as soon as possible. This blog was created “to provide parents with suggested reading for their families. Our goal is to help our children develop pride for their Latin culture through education and literature. We also strive to support Hispanic authors through interviews and our reviews of bilingual young adult and children’s books. Each month we will feature one book and author that we feel is exceptional. So read to your children and help spread Bookjoy!”

Si les gusta leer, you’re going to love Latin Baby Book Club!

Please let me know what you think…and gracias to Monica for inviting me as a guest blogger!

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Photo by JAG Photography

I almost died the other day when, by chance, I listened closely to the lyrics of one of the songs my daughter likes to play on a regular basis – meaning every day a few times a day. I don’t know why I hadn’t paid attention before, but I had to actually play back the song a couple of times to make sure I hadn’t gone crazy when I heard the word “demonio” or devil. The song in question is “El patio de mi casa” and I really don’t remember it from when I was a child, but maybe I just don’t have as good a memory as I thought. Why in the world would a children’s song include this horrendous word? We don’t really use this word – or any of its many synonyms – in English or Spanish at home, so imagine my dismay when I heard it in one of my daughter’s favorite songs?

Photo by Flare

The thing is that, as with most children’s songs, the lyrics are very catchy, and Vanessa is at a stage in her life where she’s repeating everything she hears, especially when it comes to songs. Anyhow, since “El patio de mi casa” is the first song in one of her favorite CDs, she listens to it more than the rest of the songs on it. And, now I’m not really sure I want her to continue listening to it. I can’t even imagine that word coming out of her beautiful mouth…

What I don’t understand is why the song would have this word. The journalist in me tried to do some research, but I couldn’t find much. The one thing I did discover is that many of the versions available out there, including Mamalisa´s World, don’t include the last verse of the song where the word in question is sang. Coincidencia?

I guess in the end it’s no big deal, since no harm was done, but I don’t think I’ll play that song for her ever again.

What do you think? Am I crazy to feel this way? Do you know the origin of this song? What kind of canciones de niños do you play for your kids?