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.

Host a Literary Party: Start a Book Club with Friends and Family

What is a Literary Party? A LP is one that involves the written and/or spoken word. It is a gathering of friends to enjoy each other and share texts with one another. It is to be awe and fall in love with words!

One Literary Party that you can throw with your friends and family is a Book Club Party. You can get together with families and friends who have

kids who enjoy to read similar books. Choose a book, read it with your kids and then meet at some one's house. Bring a collection of snacks, pick parts of the book to read aloud and choose some ideas to share with friends.

A nice mixture of kids and adults helps everyone see the beauty and power of books. Maybe the discussion lasts 30 minutes, maybe only 10minutes. Then celebrate the read by eating and mingling.

For babies, you may decide to each bring a board book to the party! You can spend the time reading all the different books with your babies! Let them roam and crawl and explore different favorite books! This could be a way for everyone to share the wide variety of texts that are out there.

Invite your friends and their families! Snack, read, talk and enjoy!

Encourage Kids to Write at Home: Get the Right Stationary

This weekend, Little Moon, Mama J and I were hanging out in the International District in Seattle together. As we picked up a tea to walk around the neighborhood, we decided to go to my favorite kind of store- a bookstore. We went to Kinokuniya a gigantic Japanese Bookstore filled with books and videos In Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and English.

They have a big Japanese Children’s Literature section, filled also with puzzles! They have a nice section of books in English too, filled with books by Grace Lin, Oliver Chin, Yumi Heo and more.

They have a beautiful stationary section at the front of the store- what a heaven! We shopped for notebooks and pens for an hour! So I picked up a couple of things for my nephew’s birthday! Why not get a couple of little notebooks for his 3 year old birthday. He can work on drawing and ‘writing’ in side of them- just like his Titi. I got us matching ones. As I support his library and reading development- I shouldn’t ignore his writing development either. Writing is another beginning step towards literacy!

Luckily his ‘surfers backpack’ has side pockets- just the right size for a couple of notebooks! Just 3 weeks away!

Happy reading and writing to you!

Birthday Gift Update

This winter, my sister, nephew, and I took a 2 hour road trip to Ottawa to visit with friends. My nephew asked for music. He is usually pretty particular about what he likes and wants. Ever since he was a little baby he has enjoyed the music of Johnny Cash (influence from Nana).

One day as he was listening to the play list on his mama's itouch. He heard a steam engine sound off in the background of a song- whoooooooo- and soon started the song, Casey Jones. He was in love.

As we headed out of town, my nephew called from the back seat, "Casey Jones! Casey Jones! Play it loud!" Luckily my sister understood and found the song and played it. When it finished he shouted, "More, please!" This went on for 2 hours- until we pulled into the driveway of our friend's house.

Well I was online browsing books and I found, "I Dream of Trains" by Angela Johnson (one of my favorite authors). That's right, it's the story about ...Casey Jones. I had to get it for him. I had to feed his passion.

I also found the story of Sonia Sotomayor, Sonia Sotomayor A Judge Grows In The Bronx, By Jonah Winter. Judge Sotomayor is the newly appointed US Supreme Justice.

I also found Pele, King of Soccer by Monica Brown. My nephew is a big fan of soccer. His baby sitter (a big soccer player herself) began to teach him how to play last spring. Spring is on its way. It will soon be time to get out of the pool and onto the field!

All his gifts still fit inside his "Surfer Backpack"! There is still a little room left. Mmmmmm... I have side pockets to fill as well.

Enjoy the biographies! Happy reading to you!

Getting Ready for the Nephew's 3rd Birthday

Don't worry, it isn't until March. Like every other auntie, I am collecting along the way, little gifts here and there, that I want to bring to him on his 3rd birthday. I usually see him once a month (they live in Canada); but I don't think I will be able to see him in February. So, the gifts I am presently collecting will be for his birthday! Here is what I have so far:

When I was out in Seattle, I went to a bookstore for children, The Secret Garden, in Ballard. Very cute bookstore! My friend Mama J wanted to know what it was that I was looking for in the bookstore. It was a good question. I often just browse and try to get inspired. Sometimes I have a specific book in mind. This time I did not. I wanted to see if in this bookstore I could find new books, ones that I hadn't seen in NY. Sure enough they had a couple that just called out my nephew's name!

1. I Call My Grandpa Papa My nephew does actually call his grandfather Papa. It is so cute. In this book though it describes how different languages and culture's name their grandfathers and the things they do together. I love books that celebrate diveristy of families and languages and cultures- especially because our family has a diversity of 'families', languages, and cultures. My nephew's grandparents are a big part of his life. Even though they live hundreds of miles away, they remain close through lots of visits and Skype chats, "Papa, do you want to skype?" Now I am going to search for I Call My Grandma Nana (because he does).

2. I found these beautiful Architecture Concept Books! They have Colors, Animals and Counting! How beautiful. I love books that teach more than one thing- Architecture and Counting!

3. I also found a large, board book with beautiful pictures about the Pike Street Market in Seattle! Great gift and souvenir!

What fun! They are already in his new "Surfers Backpack" that Big Girl C and Baby E are giving him for his birthday. I'm sure that it will fill up soon (I also have an adorable Owl T-shirt and Slug I got from KLTworks). Don't worry sis, I won't go overboard!

Reading The Caribbean

AB is a Haitian, Puerto Rican, American, Middle Schooler. Together we have searched and collected books that would reflect some of her cultural heritage. We have been collecting and reading books, since she was a baby. Here are a few we have found since the 4th grade, that are from the Caribbean. They are books for tweens and teens.

Julia Alvarez

The Secret Footprint- A beautiful picture book

Before We Were Free- A chapter book

Lynn Joseph

Coconut Kind of day- A wonderful book of poems

The Color of My Words- A chapter book

Edwidge Danticat

Behind the Mountains

Nicholasa Mohr

The song of el coquí and other tales of Puerto Rico- Picture Book

Magic Shell- Chapter Book

Bronx Remembered: A Novella and Stories- Chapter Book