Learning Spanish with Children's Books {Part Two}

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.  Recently, I began 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...

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.

Colors
**Demasiados Globos (See link and description above)
-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

Body Parts
**Go Away, Big Green Monster! Unfortunately, this book is no longer available in Spanish.  I have only the English version that I read to my students in Spanish.  It is an excellent book for teaching parts of the face.  There are also a lot of activities online that go with this book.  So if you have the capability to translate the book to Spanish as you read I would definitely get this one!
 -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

Big and Small
-Soy Demasiado Grande  (See link above)
-Perro grande... Perro pequeño
 -Un Cuento De Un Pez Grande

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)
-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)
-Froggy Se va A Dormir
 **Froggy Duerme Fuera de Casa
 -Buenas Noches Luna

Where is it?/Prepositions
-¡Corre, perro, corre!
 -Migas en las escaleras (See link above)
-Se Venden Gorras  (see link above)
-Donde esta la oveja verde?
 -Lupe Lupita, ¿dónde estás?
 -Vamos Froggy (See link above)
-Arriba Y Abajo
This books also teaches the five senses.  Available at Sonrisas Spanish School 

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)
-Vamos Froggy (See link above)

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

Food 
-La oruga muy hambrienta
**Quiero Mas Fideos!
 -A Comer!
 -Froggy Sale a Cenar (See link above)

Animals
**De la cabeza a los pies  (See link above)
**Sali de Paseo (See link above)
-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)
**Los animales no se visten (See link above)

Holidays
**Chumba la Cachumba (Halloween) (See link above)
-El Primer Beso de Froggy
 -La Mejor Navidad De Froggy
 -Froggy y el Día de Halloween
-A Comer (See link above) This book could be used around Thanksgiving
-Un dia de Nieve (See link above)  Could be used around Christmas