Where do I find Spanish resources for young children?

[mmconde]

I would especially like to find books and CDs that a latina mom might use for her own little ones. I live in San Diego, so it's not hard to find English children's classics translated into Spanish, but I've been pretty disappointed by many of these. Since many picture books are written in rhyme, the Spanish translations tend to either 1)mangle the meaning to preserve a rhyme or 2)drop any attempt at preserving the poetry in favor of preserving the meaning. So I figure that what I need to find are classic children's books (and maybe music) that were originally written in Spanish. How do I find these?

Thanks.

[matroyshka]

Not so much help with books, but José Luis Orozco (http://joseluisorozco.com/) has a great series of CDs with classic Latin American kids' songs, as well as other CDs with some teaching songs (numbers, days of week, etc.). He also has bilingual song books to go along with many of the CDs (most of the CDs themselves are in Spanish only).

[mmconde]

Thanks very much, Matroyshka! I'll look those up.

[matroyshka]

DVDs are also good. You can play many regular US kids' DVDs in Spanish - our favorites were Magic School Bus.

Some I was able to buy at Amazon that are actually from Spain are Las tres mellizas and Célia. The former is a cartoon and the latter is a really lovely tv show about a well-meaning but rather naughty little girl in 1930s Spain. You'd need a PAL or region-free DVD to watch Célia though. Las tres mellizas has been converted to US format.

[cmarango]

What age are you looking for? I tend to buy my dd lots of books while we are in Colombia. Let me know the age range and I will see what sort of books I have. I do know that many of the same stories that we read I also have in spanish (eg. Puss in Boots, Pinochio, Aesop's fables).

I remember when I first went looking for books at the local bookstore - The Cat in the Hat translated into spanish is terrible.

[mmconde]

Right now I'm looking for picture books--my daughter is only thirteen months old. However, she has a very long attention span for her age when it comes to books, so I'm looking for stuff roughly between the levels of Where the Wild Things Are and Make Way for Ducklings.

[cmarango]

I just tried doing a search for our favorite book, Quien esta en el bano, but it does not show up anywhere. I am afraid that what is available in the US will simply be translations of books we know well (eg. Goodnight Moon, Green Eggs and Ham, etc). I will look again tomorrow when I can actually get to the book and search for the ISBN.

I can tell you that my in-laws brought a few Dora the Explorer books for us this past Christmas. I also have a translation of Cars and Finding Nemo (books and DVDs). DVDs are okay to use, but once again, many of the jokes in english are not as funny when translated.

I don't suppose that you can arrange a book buying trip to a spanish speaking country. :tongue_smilie:

I will definitely be loading up in books on our trip in May. I had never thought about the difficulty of finding books en espanol here - one more reason to load up my suitcase.

[mmconde]

I don't suppose that you can arrange a book buying trip to a spanish speaking country. :tongue_smilie:


I actually live within an hour of the border. Not that I'll be making any trips to Temecula soon, it's just too dangerous down there right now. But I'm sure I could find a bookstore down near the border with a lot of stuff in Spanish--I just don't know what's good, and I don't trust my own Spanish well enough yet to just read through and pick stuff. (I'm working on learning so I can speak Spanish with my husband and kids, but it's slow going.) Is there a list of great Spanish children's literature online, or something like the Caldecott Medal in Spanish?

[Renai]

Is there a list of great Spanish children's literature online, or something like the Caldecott Medal in Spanish?

Honey, I've asked that question since I started hs'ing dd, and never got an answer. However, I do know you can purchase native Spanish materials through Santillana USA http://www.santillanausa.com and Lectorum. Yes, there are also translations there as well. More recent authors would be Alma Flor Ada (I get a lot of her stuff) and Isabel Campoy. Santillana sells some of their stuff, but you can also go here http://www.delsolbooks.com. The Scholastic book clubs have a Spanish one called Club Leo- although many of the books are translations, they have a native literature section as well. My very favorite bookstore that was also online, has unfortunately gone out of business. MIBI Books sold only native language materials. I miss them :sad:. I feel like I'm missing a company....hmmmm, I don't know. Hope this helps.

[mmconde]

Thank you Renai!

[USDGAL]

Central, North, East or South county?

Chula Vista Library has a large Spanish section. Also, if you ever cross or know anyone who does you can get some really good ones at the Cecut Museum in Tijuana for about $4. It comes with an audio CD and HB book, plus the CD can also go into your computer to listen and follow along.

[mmconde]

North County. Can you recommend any particular titles?

Is everyone okay down there with the earthquake?

[cmarango]

I found that 2 of the books that my dd enjoys are actually Usborne titles! However, these are not really picture books - they are more looking at the pictures and talking about what you see. For example: in the zoo book, this is what one of the pages has written. "Pajaros y mas pajaros. Cuantos pajaros distintos ves en estas paginas? Y cual de ellos tiene la cola mas grande?"

Anyhow, the ISBN for the zoo book is 9780746093986 and La Granja is 9780746093948. I found that these books were available at Abebooks.com

We have a book on dinosaurs which is ISBN 9788430569298.

Quien esta en el bano? ISBN 9789583027833

Relatos de 3 minutos - Cuentos para los mas pequenos ISBN 1412730031

Let me know if this is even close to what you are interested in. We have many more books that I can give you the ISBN for if you would like.

[Mabelen]

In Spain we have the Barco de vapor book series. They have different levels according to ages and they also do Premios Barco de vapor, I guess that would be the closest thing to the Caldecott Medal.

You can find Barco de vapor titles in Lectorum, I believe it is a good store although I don't have personal experience with them.

It's good to hear about the Chula Vista library system since I live relatively near the area, but not in the area itself. I will find out, but I suppose you will have to show proof of residence to join. Do you know?

I am with mmconde, I am too chicken to go down to Tijuana although it kills me to know that we are so close to the Cecut Museum in Tijuana, which I've heard is excellent, and yet not be able to enjoy it with my girls!

[USDGAL]

North County. Can you recommend any particular titles?

Is everyone okay down there with the earthquake?

Well the books I buy at Cecut are classics like Pulgarcito, Peter Pan, etc. Fairy Tales that we all know but printed here in Mexico so they are very good. I have to go up to Encinitas next week, maybe my dc will be willing to give you one of ours to start.

Danielle

[mmconde]

Thank you all! I am looking up those Usborne books and the Barcos de Vapor books.

Thank you very much for the offer, Danielle, but I don't think I should borrow books from anyone until I'm absolutely certain my daughter won't damage them. (She can sit through a whole reading of a book, listening and pointing to the pictures and turning the pages for me, but she still might try to take a bite out of the cover later.) Thank you very much though.