Thursday, October 3, 2013

Learning Spanish with Children's Books


Using children's books to teach kids Spanish is a wonderful way to build vocabulary and introduce sentence structure in a natural way.  Over the years I have collected tons of books in Spanish to augment my teaching.  Last year I taught a Spanish Circle (lessons that include songs, rhymes, books and activities to model the language) in which I teach different themes to elementary kids.

Below you will find a list of books that I use for the different themes that I teach.  Stars are put beside the books that are not to be missed!  I have chosen books for several reasons.  Some are great because of the wealth of vocabulary they offer for that theme.  Others are good because they are classics that are related to the theme or because kids love the humor or storyline in them.  Some are out of print, but can be bought at other places or used on Amazon.  So take a look...


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Numbers
**Elefante Tiene Hipo Unfortunately, this books is currently out of print.  It is a great one to review numbers (numbers 1 to 10 are counted backwards in the story) and animal names.  The humor is awesome in this book!
-Mi Abuela Va Al Mercado
 **Demasiados globos I have used this book for many years to teach colors, numbers and introduce animals.
**Llaman a La Puerta-I love this book, because it teaches the concept of dividing groups evenly. I actually use plates and laminated cookies for students to use as we go through the book. See this post for more information.
**Un Alce, Veinte Ratones-This is a great book to review numbers 1-20. Read about how I use this book here.
-Los Cinco Patitos-A cute book that counts down from five to one. Great plot for the younger set that makes them curious as to how the story will end.



Colors
**Demasiados Globos (See link and description above in Numbers)
-Pinta ratones  Helps with the concept of mixing colors
 **Sali de paseo  Simple language.  Color and animal vocabulary
 -Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí?
 -Huevos verdes con jamón  Not a lot of color words here, but a fun classic to read with lots of other vocabulary
**Colores-This book is super cool, because it has clear pages that change the colors of  the page behind them. You can see how it works by clicking here. (NOTE: This shows the English version of the book just to give you an idea on how it works. Click on the word "Colores" above to find a link to purchase the Spanish version.) I have my students "read" the book back to me by saying the colors as I move the pages.


Body Parts
**Fuera de aquí, Horrible Monstruo Verde-Great book to use for teaching the parts of a face!
**Un Bicho Extraño-This book goes through several different body parts, and is a "never-ending" book in that you read it one way and then turn it upside down and continue reading.
 -Soy Demasiado Grande
-Se Venden Gorras  A great classic
-Froggy Sale a Cenar  I love the humor in the Froggy books.  These books are more suitable for older elementary kids.
 -Froggy va al medico
**De la cabeza a los pies-Lots of body parts mentioned in this fun book in which your students can do the movements.

Opposites
-Soy Demasiado Grande  (See link above in Body Parts)
-Perro grande... Perro pequeño
-Un Cuento De Un Pez Grande
**Cerdota Grandota -Cute book with lots of opposites.
**Contrarios-Another book with transparent pages that teaches opposites.





House
**Ruidos en la casa: Un misterio cómico I love this story of a scared little puppy alone at home.
 -Migas en las escaleras
 -Oso En Casa
 -La casa adormecida   A great classic!
 -Vamos Froggy



Family
-La Semilla de Zanahoria
 -Abuelita Fue al Mercado  (See link above in Numbers)
-La Hermanita De Froggy
 -¿Tu mamá es una llama? A classic that has been translated well with the rhyming
 **Si Yo Tuviera Un Dragon A little boy wishes for a dragon instead of a little brother but in the end realizes that a brother might be better!
 **Yo Tenia Un Hipopotamo Lots of family vocabulary



Time/Good night/Good Morning
**Chumba la Cachumba Great traditional rhyme/song that teaches the hours of a clock.  Very humorous illustrations showing what a group of skeletons do at each hour.
-Buenas noches a todos
 -Los Durmientes de Lola Fuentes
 -La casa adormecida (see link above in House)
-Froggy Se va A Dormir
 **Froggy Duerme Fuera de Casa
 -Buenas Noches Luna
**Llevé a la Luna a Pasear


Where is it?/Prepositions
-¡Corre, perro, corre!
 -Migas en las escaleras (See link above in House)
-Se Venden Gorras  (see link above in Body Parts)
-Donde esta la oveja verde?
 -Lupe Lupita, ¿dónde estás?
 -Vamos Froggy (See link above in House)
-Arriba Y Abajo-This books also teaches the five senses.  Available at Sonrisas Spanish School 
**Arriba, Abajo, y Alrededor-This book teaches the prepositions that are in its title, plus it is a great introduction to food words.
-El Pastel Está Tan Arriba-teaches arriba and abajo.



Clothing
**Froggy se viste  Another great Froggy book.  This is the only one currently in print.  The others mentioned here can be bought used.  Lots of great humor.
 **Azul el sombrero, verde el sombrero Great humor and lots of repetition of clothes and colors.
 **Los animales no se visten /Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing Absolutely hilarious!
-Se Venden Gorras  (see link above in Body Parts)
-Vamos Froggy (See link above in House)



Seasons/Weather
**Un recorrido por las estaciones Beautiful illustrations.  Also teaches the months.
-Oso Bajo El Sol
 **Un Dia de Nieve-Love this classic!
-Un Día de Lluvia
-Froggy se viste (See link above in Clothing) Lots of words surrounding winter


Days of the Week
-La oruga muy hambrienta
-Oso en la Ciudad

Places in a City
-Oso en la Ciudad (see above link)
-Taking a Walk/ Caminando: A Book in Two Languages/ Un Libro en Dos Lenguas

 Food 
**La oruga muy hambrienta-Lots of foods in this book plus days of the week!
**Quiero Mas Fideos!
 -A Comer!
 -Froggy Sale a Cenar (See link above in Body Parts)
-Arriba, Abajo, y Alrededor (See link above in Prepositions)
-Fiesta Secreta de Pizza-Super cute book about a raccoon who is wild about pizza.
-Dragones y Tacos-NEVER feed dragons spicy salsa!!!
-El Nabo Gigante-Could be used in a food unit, but also to teach animal names.

Transportation
 -Oso En Bicicleta
-Jorge el Curioso

 Animals
**De la cabeza a los pies  (See link above in Body Parts)
**Salí de Paseo (See link above in Colors)
-Oso polar, oso polar, ¿qué es ese ruido?
 -Oso Pardo (See link above)
-Oso panda, oso panda, ¿qué ves ahí?
 -Veloz Como El Grillo
-Harry, el perrito sucio
 **Elefante tiene hipo (See link and description above in Numbers)
**Los animales no se visten (See link above in Clothing)
-El loro tico tango
-Un Recorrido por la Selva

Holidays
**Chumba la Cachumba (Halloween) (See link above in Time)
-El Primer Beso de Froggy (Valentine's Day)
 -La Mejor Navidad De Froggy
 -Froggy y el Día de Halloween
-A Comer (See link above in Food) This book could be used around Thanksgiving
-Un Día de Nieve (See link above in Seasons)  Could be used around Christmas
**Un Día Una Señora se Tragó una Campana (Christmas)

1 comment:

  1. This list is so comprehensive! Thank you for sharing with the rest of us who love teaching Spanish with books. It takes a great amount of time to come up with such an organized collection of books.
    Mil gracias!

    ReplyDelete