Spanish Books for Every Child Ready to Read

I am a big fan of the Every Child Ready to Read (ECRR) parent education initiative, developed by the Public Library Association (PLA) and the Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC).  As a Children's Librarian, I presented many ECRR workshops for parents in both English and Spanish.  As a consultant, one of the services I offer is helping libraries offer ECRR workshops to Spanish-speaking parents in their service area.  One of the reasons why I love ECRR so much is because it is a data-supported model which accomplishes multiple goals at once.  This is particularly true as it is offered to Latino and Spanish-speaking communities.  Not only does it reach early literacy goals by teaching and empowering parents as the first teachers of their children, it also works as an outreach tool to form new relationships between libraries and Latino community organizations and even individual families.  I am a huge advocate of the ECRR initiative and I am thrilled that the updated version will soon be available in a Spanish as well, Cada niño listo para leer.

In order to support librarians and library staff offering ECRR workshops to Spanish-speaking families, I thought I would share some of my favorite Spanish and bilingual books that support early literacy development.  These are books that are fun to share with children, are wonderful to incorporate into storytimes, and make great examples for sharing with parents during ECRR workshops.

Board Books for Babies
My Colors, My World / Mis colores, mi mundo by Maya Christina Gonzalez
This Belpré honor recipient for illustration is now available in board book form.  Explore the colors hiding in the desert with young Maya.

I Love to Sleep / Me encanta dormir / J'aime dormir and I Love to Eat / Me encanta comer / J'aime manger by Amélie Graux
Trilingual touch-and-feel board books introduce simple vocabulary.

¡Fiesta! by Ginger Foglesong Guy
Count the objects the niños buy at the market for their fiesta.

Time for Bed / Es hora de dormir and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes / Diez deditos de las manos y diez deditos de los pies by Mem Fox
Two much loved titles for babies now available in bilingual board books featuring spectacular rhyming translations by F. Isabel Campoy.

¡Cu-cú, bebé! and ¿Dónde está el ombliguito? by Karen Katz
Spanish versions of fun lift-the-flap board books that introduce new vocabulary in an interactive manner.

Picture Books for Toddlers
Hello Night / Hola noche by Amy Costales
A gentle story that rhymes in both languages.  Perfect for bedtime.


Let's Eat! / ¡A comer! by Pat Mora
A sweet story in the "My Family / Mi Familia" series about the joy of sharing a meal together as a family.  The entire series is highly recommended; other titles are Wiggling Pockets / Los bosillos saltarines and Sweet Dreams / Dulces sueños.

Fiesta Babies by Carmen Tafolla
Rhyming English text which incorporates Spanish words introduces us to the many ways in which babies celebrate!


¡Muu, Moo! Rimas de animales / Animal Nursery Rhymes by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
Animal rhymes that niños and parents will enjoy sharing time and again.


ABeCedarios: Mexican Folk Art ABCs in English and Spanish by Cynthia Weill
The first in a series of bilingual first concept books that feature photographs of traditional Mexican folk art pieces as illustrations.  Others in the series are Opposites / Opuestos, Colores de la vida, and Count Me In!


Picture Books for Preschoolers
Quinito's Neighborhood / El vecindario de Quinito by Ina Cumpiano
Meet the diverse folks in Quinito's neighborhood while learning fantastic vocabulary!

Ten Little Puppies / Diez perritos by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy
A traditional Spanish children's song in storybook form.  Count and sing along!

Un pez muy divertido by Jack Tickle
One of several Spanish pop-up books in the "Libros Cu-cu Sorpresa" series.  Spanish pop-ups can be difficult to find for purchase; it's really fun to be able to share them with kids in storytime or at a workshop.

What Can You Do with a Rebozo? / ¿Qué puedes hacer con un rebozo? by Carmen Tafolla
The rebozo, a traditional shawl, can be many things if you use your imagination.

Arroz con leche / Rice Pudding by Jorge Argueta
One of several bilingual cooking poem stories.  The stories are actually recipes told in poem form, which makes them excellent for acting out and talking about what happens first, middle and last.  Others are Sopa de frijoles / Bean Soup and Guacamole.

What did I miss?  This is just a sample; there are many more great Spanish and bilingual books that promote early literacy skill development and are fun to share with kids.  If one that you love is not on this list, please leave a comment and share it with us!

Mamiverse Bilingual Book Reviews

Get to know Mamiverse!  This online hub for Latina moms and families is now featuring reviews of children's books, including bilingual books.  This section covers bilingual titles, culturally relevant for Latino families, for children of all ages, from babies to young readers.  This is definitely a site to visit frequently for new content.  You can also like/follow them on various social media tools for new information.  Check it out!

http://www.mamiverse.com/life/mamiverse-books/bilingual-books/

NPR Story on Library Services to Spanish Speakers

NPR's Tell Me More recently did a story with Reformista Loida Garcia-Febo on library services to Spanish-speakers.  It is definitely worth a visit to read or listen to the story.  One of the things that I noticed is that the host mentions some libraries assisting Spanish-speaking parents with the completion of back-to-school paperwork.  This is something I did every year in my work at the Village Branch library. I know my colleagues there continue to do this not only with annual back-to-school papers, but with all kinds of forms and other types of cultural brokerage that immigrants adjusting to life in a new community need help with.  It was really great to see this issue discussed on a national level, outside of library press.

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/26/161815911/librarians-reach-out-to-spanish-speakers

"Connecting with the Spanish-Speaking Community": A Professional Development Opportunity for Library Staff

The Latino community is the fastest growing demographic in the United States.  This growth is particularly noticeable in some areas, such as the South.  Libraries and librarians who are noticing growth in their Latino and Spanish-speaking communities may face a number of challenges in their work to provide quality outreach and services, particularly if they have limited or no bilingual/bicultural staff.  I have designed a 4-week, online course offered by the Library of Virginia that addresses such challenges and helps library staff learn how to overcome them.  The next session of the course begins October 1, and all of the information for registration is provided below.  I hope you will consider participating!  State agencies and other organizations interested in offering this course to their staff can contact me directly.

Connecting with Spanish-Speaking Communities

Taught by: Katie Cunningham

Cost: $25.00 for people in Virginia and $70.00 for people outside of Virginia

Offered: October 1 - 26, 2012

Course Overview: Through this 4 week online course, participants will increase their knowledge of the general library needs of Spanish-speaking communities and will develop strategies, resources and confidence they can use to reach out to this community and connect them with library services. Small groups will work together to develop an Outreach Plan for a library. The required reading, Serving Latino Communities, by Camila Alire and Jacqueline Ayala will be provided.

Prerequisite: The free online course Introduction to Moodle, which will be offered beginning September 10, 2012 and must be completed by September 26, 2012. When you sign up for this course you will automatically be signed up for Introduction to Moodle.

Instructor: Katie Cunningham has been serving Latinos and Spanish-speakers since she began working in libraries in 2005. Katie was a participant in the Webjunction Spanish Language Outreach (SLO) training program in 2007, and her work serving Spanish-speakers was recognized by Webjunction as the best outreach project by an SLO participant in 2008. She has designed numerous presentations to aid librarians and teachers serving Latinos and Spanish-speaking families. Katie is an active member of Reforma – The National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and Spanish-Speakers – serving on the Children and Young Adult Services Committee and as the 2012-13 President of the Southeast Chapter.  Katie is also an ALSC appointee to the 2013 Pura Belpré committee.  Katie now works as an independent training specialist and library consultant.  She regularly shares bilingual programming ideas, suggested books and storytelling resources on her blog " Es divertido hablar dos idiomas" available online at http://bilingualchildrensprogramming.blogspot.com/. 

Registration for this course is open.  We do require payment at the time of registration. We accept Visa and MasterCard.

For more information and a link to register for this course please contact: Enid Costleyenid.costley@lva.virginia.gov or 804.692.3765 or go to http://host5.evanced.info/lva/evanced/eventcalendar.asp and change the month to October and click on the course.

Bilingual Storytime: ¡La Piñata!

This week I humbly offer another Flannel Friday bonus, mostly because after this week it may be a while before I am able to share anything again!


A while back I shared ideas for a Fiesta Bilingual Storytime.  In that post I describe how we created our own flannelboard piñata after we read the bilingual book Piñata! by Rebecca Emberley, but I did not put up a picture or pattern at that time.  Here they are!  The "piñata" itself is too large to scan, so the pattern is just of the dulces and juguetes that we put inside the piñata.  To make the piñata, I simply cut out one very large felt circle and attached to it four long skinny felt triangles of different colors with paper streamers on the ends.    My idea was to have the flannel piñata resemble a star-style piñata.  This is a really simple and interactive technique for reinforcing the vocabulary of the specific objects in both English and Spanish, engaging mixed-age audiences in a family storytime setting (older children often help the younger children add objects to the piñata), and to bring the piñata to life with our imaginations.  I hope you have fun with it!

 

Piñata from Katie Cunningham

Flannel Friday: Vamos a la granja / Let's Go to the Farm

This flannel was originally made more me by a wonderful colleague, Maria, at the Columbus Metropolitan Library.  I used her original as the pattern for my version which I am sharing with you all today.  The flannel is for the easy reader The Day the Dog Said, "Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!" by David McPhail, which is also available in Spanish as El día que el perro dijo, "¡Quiquiriquí!"  The basic premise of the story is that a terrible storm comes sweeping through the farmyard, picking up all of the animals into the air, and when they crash back to earth, their voices have been mismatched.  Pretty soon they all begin arguing over who has the best voice.  The quacking cow thinks that the mooing duck has the best voice, etc.  Eventually, they are all swept up by the storm again and when they land this time, their original voices have been restored.

This story is really fun to use with preschool and family storytime audiences.  It's sure to get some laughs!  I usually have all of the kids help me blow in the big wind and sweep the animals up into the air, crashing back to earth with the wrong voices a few times.  I skip the arguing part and instead draw out the humor of the animals making unexpected sounds.  Finally, when their original voices return, the group catches on after the first animal or two and joins in.  This story is great for bilingual and/or Spanish storytimes too.  Bilingual is especially fun because you get to say both "cock-a-doodle-doo" and "quiquiriquí."

I hope you enjoy!

Day the Dog Said from Katie Cunningham

Flannel Friday BONUS! La hormiguita

Because I feel so terribly about how long it has been since I have contributed to Flannel Friday, tonight I am adding a bonus flannel.  This is one of the first flannels I ever made for myself; my skills have improved some over the years!  But even though the flannel pieces themselves aren't the prettiest, I wanted to get this story, "La hormiguita," out there to you all.  I came across this flannel while working at the Columbus Metropolitan Library.  I know it is based on a Mexican folktale, but I have never been able to track down the original story.  I have read every "Little Ant" folktale out there that I could find, but have never found this exact one.

In this story, la hormiguita (the little ant) slips on some ice and hurts her foot on her way to take a loaf of pan (bread) to her abuela (grandma).  Her friend the grillo (cricket) tells her she should demand justice from the escarcha (ice), who says it is actually the fault of the sol (sun), who blames it on the nube (cloud), etc. until the surprise twist at the end.  The script for the story as I like to tell is is available here.

I like this story because it is a cumulative tell that builds on and repeats key Spanish vocabulary.  This means that it is an easy story to tell to incorporate a Latino folktale and some Spanish words into your storytime, even if you don't speak Spanish.

Have fun, and if anyone knows of or finds the original source for this story, I would LOVE to know what it is!

La hormiguita from Katie Cunningham