In a multicultural world, bilingual books serve as great tools for learning a second language, making it more accessible to readers of two languages.
Here in the Philippines, almost all picture books are bilingual, with English and Filipino translations side by side, as young readers learn in both languages.
Last December, I was organizing my bookshelf when I uncovered a set of bilingual fairy tales in Spanish and English. I mooched them last year and stashed them on a back shelf, almost forgotten: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs / Blancanieves by Miquel Desclot, Ignasi Blanch; Jack and the Beanstalk / Juan y los frijoles mágicos by Francesc Bofill, Arnal Ballester, Alis Alejandro; Aladdin and the Magic Lamp/Aladino y la lámpara maravillosa by Josep Vallverdú, Pep Montserrat, and The Three Little Pigs / Los Tres Cerditos by Mercè Escardó i Bas, Pere Joan.
Published by Chronicle Books (one of my favorite publishers), the books are part of an English-Spanish series of popular fairy tales, illustrated by award-winning illustrators.
Here’s a look inside the books:
from Three Little Pigs
I don’t know any Spanish — my foreign language in college was French — and having bilingual books in English and Spanish is a great introduction to the language (aside from the Filipino vocabulary that has some words with Spanish roots in it), as the reader can compare the two translations and learn to use context clues in either language, especially because the stories are familiar to most cultures. The translations are substantial enough to tell the fairy tale, but also simple enough for someone learning a new language.
Of course, because this series (which has dozens of books now!) is from Chronicle Books, the layout is clean and easy to read, and the illustrations are topnotch — a wonderful addition to any multicultural collection.
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Books 216-219 of 2009
My copy: paperbacks, mooched from the US
My rating: all 4/5 stars
what great illustrations! i bet you have more books than clothes ;P
anyhoo, do you speak (read) spanish?
Hehe, you’re right. I have more books than clothes. And that’s saying something — my closet is still full to bursting after the annual weed-out!
Nope, I don’t read / speak Spanish, but these books will be great for when I try to learn it. Someday… And then I can read Zafon in original Spanish! :)
My mom is from a Spanish speaking family, so when I was little, I remember that all my fairy tales were told and read in Spanish. At that time, I only knew Spanish and hardly English. When I had to go to kindergarten, though, I sadly unlearned it in favor of English and our local dialect.
Last year I discovered my book of fairy tales in Spanish. I couldn’t understand all of it, but the stories just sounded romantic, when I read aloud from it. Great to have English-Spanish books you can learn from. :)
These are… cute! Hehe! No, really they are. I saw some foreign language children’s books last time I dropped by Booksale. I think I’ll do this as some kind of challenge this year. I can already imagine the faces of my parents when they see me keeping a stash of these books at my room. :P
@Jo- I agree, Spanish isn’t one of the romance languages for nothing! :) I have some Spanish Harry Potters too, and sometimes I read them aloud for fun.
I studied some French in college, although it wasn’t really all that practical — Basically, I can order tickets from the TGV. Haha, when I watch TV5 on cable I have no idea what they’re saying :D
@Patrick – Uhm, haha, you can always tell them you know someone crazier: I have dozens of Harry Potters in foreign languages in my room
Dami magagaling na Spanish na children ilustrator. Sobrang gaganda ng mga childrens book sa kanila. Gandang pang add yan sa collection…
Ray-ann, true! I keep buying picture books when they have a sale at Instituto Cervantes, even though I can’t understand them