Thursday, April 15, 2010

What my child is reading...

Our stack of library books stands at about twenty five this week. I declared before we entered the building that we were only going to pick out five new books since we have a few left over at home from last week. Well, I forgot about the ten that I had reserved and waiting for me about our new topic of study, bugs. We have checked out quite a few books lately that neither I nor the boys have liked so they were only read once and returned to the library shortly after. Here our favorites from the last couple of weeks.

The hands-down favorite was Mañana Iguana. We read this book every day for over a week. It is a bilingual book but it mostly written in English with a few Spanish words thrown in. I thought that this would turn the boys off to it, but the funny story and repetition kept their interest. I had to stop at the end of each page the first couple of times through to make sure that they were understanding. Basically, it is the story of the Little Ren Hen, but it takes place in the desert with an Iguana playing the part of the overworked "hen" and his friends, Conejo (rabbit), Tortuga (turtle), and Culebra (snake) as his lazy friends who make up excuses why they can't help or that they will do it "mañana" (tomorrow.) I highly recommend this book. If you do not know any Spanish, there is a pronunciation guide for the handful of Spanish words. I just noticed on Amazon that this is a series of books so I am going to look for more at the library.
Manana, Iguana
We read quite a few bunny books leftover from Easter. Our favorite was the Spanish version of the Runaway Bunny called Conejito Andarin. Diego's favorite part was definitely the drawing of the bunnies changing into trees, clouds, and sailboats. He liked to tease me afterwards about going muy, muy, lejos (very faraway.) He would tell me he is going to Saturno and that I have to change into an astronaut to go and get him.

The Runaway Bunny (Spanish edition): El conejito andarin
Another favorite library book this past week was En el baño (In the Bathroom.) This funny little book was published in Venezuela and I can't find it on Amazon. It is a toliet training book that explains that toilets are very children and adults but they are NOT for animals. Each page shows what would happen if each animal tried to use the bathroom (the elephant would break the toilet, the mouse would fall in, the goat would each the toilet paper.) Little gross, I know, but it kept the boys giggling.




Head over to Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns to see other great book reviews.

9 comments:

  1. Diego's comment about telling you he's going to Saturno and that you have to become an astronaut to get him made me laugh! I am definitely going to check out that first one. My kids have had a little Spanish at school but I don't think either is getting anything right now so I should work on it a bit with them at home.

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  2. Diego's comment about you becoming an astronaut to get him from Saturn is so cute. Yesterday Selena drew a rocket to blast off to the moon. She never did tell me how she would get home.

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  3. Great picks! I put Runaway Bunny out of rotation, but after this post I want to bring it back, especially since Anna can read it herself now. Maybe she will appreciate the pictures better now - she was rather lukewarm to them before. The toilet book sounds hilarious - too bad that it's so rare.

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  4. You know I've never read Runaway Bunny to my kids, I wonder how they'd like it.

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  5. We read the Runaway Bunny in Spanish here too:)

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  6. The Spanish version of the Runaway Bunny sounds fascinating.

    Thank you so much for your kind comments regarding the birth of our baby girl. We really appreciate your lovely thoughts.

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  7. Manana Iguana is one of our favorite books to read. I also didn't know there was a series of them. Thanks for the heads up, I will have to order some (or check them out from our local library- which has a very limited collection in books in Spanish or biligual. bua) Anyway, nice blog. I will be paying you visits. =)

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  8. The toilet book reminds me of one we own in French but was originally written in English: "Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing" by Judi Barrett. Whimsical drawing of animals in clothes illustrate explanations like "Because the sheep would get too hot" (with a sweaty sheep wearing a wool hat and sweater) or "Because the kangaroo wouldn't know what to do with them" (with a picture of a joey looking forlornly out of the pocket of a trench coat). It's silly and charming.

    If it's been published in French, it's probably available in Spanish too!

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  9. En El Bano sounds so funny! I'll be on the look out for it.

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