So, truthfully, I’d like to keep writing about why Twilight is so gripping (I’m now 1/2 way through Breaking Dawn — guess what I did over Rosh Hashanah), but I feel like you’ve got the point. I recommend the series highly, for anyone who isn’t sure. Not so much for teens (because they read it months/years ago) but for adults who want to temporarily remember what it felt like to be a teen. Moving on (we’ll see how long that lasts.)
Eight Animals on the Town
So, here’s a completely different suggestion. We received Eight Animals on the Town by Susan Middleton Elya as a gift. And, I’ll admit, I wasn’t that jazzed about it when I first saw it because it is a bilingual book. To me, that just seemed silly. I mean c’mon, there’s enough pressure on my 5 year old already that I don’t need him to be learning Spanish. At least not this year. So, I’m recommending this book not because it will help your young child learn to speak Spanish but because it’s a bilingual book that is just fun to read. And, though the small child does not appear to either know how to count or name animals in Spanish after countless readings, I’m actually starting to learn those things — which is helpful given that I speak no Spanish at all.
Basically, this book is the story of a bunch of animals who go on the town to buy food, have a big dinner party and then come home. The 30 Spanish words are nicely integrated into the story so by the time you realize you didn’t know what that word is, you’ve figured it out. Here’s an example:
Eight animales, ready to eat, head to the market on animal feet.
First comes a mouse. He’s a raton. Numero uno, out on his own.
Again, I wouldn’t start making flashcards out of the words or anything, but there’s something kind of cool about hearing a story that blends different languages and different sounds. And, according to Amazon, I’m in for a treat because the adventure continues with Eight Animals Bake a Cake and Eight Animals Play Ball. Can’t wait to find out what Spanish words I’m going to learn, I mean my kids are going to learn, next.
Reading Kids Are Dreaming Kids 