[aisle] Spanish/Dual Language books for PK-2 and their parents and a shameless plug asking for help and teaming up

Fri Jul 9 09:08:48 CDT 2021

Todd - sorry I'm so late responding, but I wanted to get my thoughts in
order.

I've had similar questions, even though our structure is different. We have
one Spanish language classroom per grade level, with a native Spanish
speaking teacher.

When you're not a Spanish speaker, it's hard to evaluate books for the
library. Things I've learned include:

1) while it's tempting to just buy each title in Spanish and English,
don't. The quality of translation varies, and while Spanish-speaking kids
want to read what they see their English-speaking counterparts read,
sometimes it's just better to have them read the English version of a book
originally written in English.

2) translations from English to Spanish, even when the translation of words
and phrases is good, often don't express the fluency of the original
language. It's important that students who read Spanish learn to appreciate
the flow and lyric of Spanish as it is written by natives. More US
publishers and booksellers are building relationships with writers and
publishers of Spanish language materials, and they are a good source. Our
District has an ESL Coordinator who has gotten us many items in original
Spanish - I can put you in touch with her if you'd like. Ultimately, I'd
like to get some of those stories translated into English so there is more
acceptance of those titles.

3) graphic novels and books with lots of illustrations (Diary of a Wimpy
Kid, etc.) are good for both English and Spanish speaking natives. They
break up the text so it isn't overwhelming for readers in any language.
Visual fluency is becoming more important in literacy efforts, so these
books help all readers.

4) stuff my K-2 kiddos like to read: as expected, they are of varied
reading ability, so you need a wide range of difficulty as well as subject
matter. Favorites are Dr. Seuss (in English! I bought the Spanish
translations, and I'm told they are horrible!). DogMan. Owl Diaries. Disney
books from movies. Mo Willems. Barbie. Batman. Spiderman. Lego. Bad Kitty.
Fly Guy. Star Wars. Also, more and more kids read nonfiction for pleasure.
Mine like ones about animals - pets and zoo animals - and tornadoes. Go
figure. Some also like sports cars and military equipment. I would also
suggest a few good series that someone at home can read to them. Audio
books are great in building fluency, but this age group has some trouble
with the hardware to get to it.

5) A parent collection. Hmm. I don't have any experience with this kind
of collection, and my experience with Spanish-speaking parents is that they
often don't read at an adult level, in English or Spanish. Unfortunately, I
think this will end up being a case of the parents who need it won't use
it, and the other parents have already read them somewhere else.That's not
to say you shouldn't try, but, well, just sayin'.

Good luck with this project! I can sense your enthusiasm, and your kids are
lucky to have you!

Chris Wilson

On Mon, Jul 5, 2021 at 7:30 AM Todd Freer via AISLE <
aisle at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> Good morning knowers of Literacy! -
> We are going into year 2 of our Dual Language School (PK -2) but year one
> of actually using the library for classes and such. We have ordered many
> new books, ordered some size appropriate furniture and tables, and know,
> over the summer, I'd like to read and collect more for them.
>
> Here is my two part question:
>
>    1. We'd like to develop a "for parent" section in our library -- maybe
>    a shelf or two, maybe a cart or two? What should be on it? Many of my
>    parents are first generation in the US and their kids were born here. What
>    may be of use to have for them?
>    2.
>    3. This may sound like a strange question, but, here goes.....What do
>    your kids (PK - 2, Dual Language) kids like to read? What are their go -
>    tos? We ordered a lot of Spanish Books, a lot of NF, Graphic Novels, and
>    picture books.  Are there things in English that I could read to
>    familiarize myself with those things, especially if they have translated
>    copies that they could read in Spanish but we could talk about with me
>    having read the English?
>
> As usual, I appreciate you, your support, your knowledge, and your
> suggestions.
> One final thing. If you're on Twitter, look me up at @MrLMC. I'm trying to
> fight literacy by creating home libraries for my kiddos. Maybe we can help
> each other? There's a decently long post I made yesterday. Maybe, with a
> little luck and some good contacts, we can do something good.
>
> Happy summer, happy 4th/5th.
> --Todd
>
>
>
>
> * Todd Freer Library Media Specialist East Elementary School 2913 Elim
> Avenue, Zion, IL, 60099 847.379.0156 • 847.872.8130 (fax) www.zion6.org
> <http://www.zion6.org/> *Currently reading:
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> Currently Listening to:
> The Boys in the Boat - Daniel James Brown
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