Reading in a Series in French

I have been building up my nephew's library at home. He now has officially taken over the complete last two shelves (three if you count the stacking of books under the shelves) of my sister's floor to ceiling bookshelf that takes up the entire living room wall. While I feel quite proud, about a third of his library is now in French. My nephew is bilingual. To support his linguistic development in his second language, I have been diligent to find books in French that hold his interest, introduce him to new and challenging vocabulary, and that span both story, poetry, and non fiction texts. I buy him books that his mother (who is fluent in French) and his babysitters can read to him with no problem. I also have bought him books that I can read to him (ones that are a bit simpler for the novice French speaker).

I found many series that he has absolutely fallen in love with that I can read too. Our two favorites are: Crocolou and the Petit Garcon series. Crocolou's books are simple stories all about a little crocodile named, Crocolou. Each book centers around another thing that he loves: Crocolou aime sa mama, Crocolou aime l'ecole etc. With a few re-readings of these books my nephew has been able to "learn" them and fill in the blanks, quickly and easily when i make dramatic pauses for him to chime in. Even as simple as these books are, they still introduce new vocabulary to us!

The Petit Garcon series are fun. Each one is about another little boy enjoying some sort of transportation: Le Train de Bastien, La Moto de Marco, L'Avion de Gaston etc. They also rhyme. This makes it fun for my nephew to listen to but also easier for me to read with the rhythm!

If your kids are bilingual, make sure you have the books in both languages in your house! Read them together! Bilingualism is a gift to be treasured! Spend time in the "not so dominate" language together.

If you are not bilingual, but enjoy languages and want the kids in your lives to enjoy languages too, buy books in foreign languages. Read them with your child. Study the pictures hard! Reading is a great way to learn a language and to develop appreciation for different languages. Be brave! Dive right in! Pick up a children's book in a language you studied in high school or college- practice reading it and then share it with a child! Have fun.

Life: Acting Real Life Out

When you ask my nephew what his favorite videos are, he now replies, "Planet Earth, Life, Galapagos (en francais) and T'choupi (en francais aussi). Life, is another version of Planet Earth, narrated by Oprah Winfrey. It is a beautiful display of wildlife across the globe.

My nephew, in true 3 year old form, enjoys acting the different scenes. He gets his animal critters out of the toy box and begins to explore, who hunts who? Hunting and Hunted is his favorite episode. Unfortunately we don't have an ostrich for the cheetah to eat nor do we have a "cheetah deer" for the tiger. Luckily he can improvise. Sometimes he enjoys acting out the videos without props and just take on the animal personalities himself. He ropes in other 'actors', like myself to play different roles.

From Galapagos, one of his favorite scenes is watching the giant predatory birds hunt for iguanas, swimming in the sea.

The videos have been amazing to develop quite a large and specific vocabulary and to introduce the concept of "interdependence". Acting out before, during or after, is a great way to have a 'conversation' with kids about what they are understanding and thinking about while watching videos!

Enjoy the stage with your kids! Enjoy Life!

A Throw Back to The 70s: An Interview with a Toddler and Her Mother

I am visiting with my friends in Mount Vernon Wa, an hour north of Seattle! In honor of Little Moon's birthday (2 years old) and the new year- I brought her three books- Tomie DePaola's, Te Amo Sol, Te Amo Luna, Opposites by Eye Like, and A Child's Day An Alphabet of Play, By Ida Pearle.

I decided that I would conduct my first interview with Little Moon (2 years old) and her mom- Mama J. I asked them, "What are Little Moon's favorite books here that she likes to read?"

Mama J pulled out a few favorites that tended to be the books that Little Moon would pull and read on her own or ask Mama J or Papi read!

I Can Blink

We Like Kindergarten

People In My Family

Hand Hand Fingers Thumb

The Pokey Little Puppy

I looked at Mama J and I was like, "You still have these? Golden Books?" She told me that her mother saved all of her childhood books (and more) so that when she had a daughter, she could have the same things as she did when she was a child. Yes- it was like going back in time!

Finally Little Moon emerged with her own books in hand- A big and little copy of Backyard Circus! Mama J started laughing! "She really does read that all the time- mostly on her own!"

We were on our way out the door, to go to brunch, when Little Moon rushed to get her books. Little moon then proceeded to get into her car seat with book in hand. When her straps were on, she opened Backyard Circus and read it- numerous times until we arrived at our destination.

What is so beautiful is not that she loves Backyard Circus but that she has interests and that she wants to carry on her interests in the car as we go to brunch. Oh, Little Moon! What a reader you are!