Spanish Nursery Rhymes Book Review
Cali's Books
Spanish Nursery Rhymes Book Review
Juliana Shoumbert
A bilingual teacher and mom connecting you with the educational resources you need.
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Are you always on the hunt for bilingual books for your child or students? Do you get excited when you find something authentic and original? If so, this post is just for you.
We recently came across Cali's Books, a company that designs, manufactures and sells interactive books that inspire and cultivate a passion for reading and music. Today we will be reviewing their Spanish nursery rhyme book.
One of the things I want to share with my little one is love for reading and it is never too early to start. Nursery rhymes are a great way to introduce new vocabulary, develop both rhyme and rhythm, and teach how language works.
What are the Spanish Nursery Books by Cali’s Books?
The Spanish nursery rhyme book is a sound book that comes in three editions with 6 different Spanish nursery rhymes. The lyrics are in Spanish with their respective English translation. Each page has a 15 second recording of the song.
How do the books work?
Each page has a sound button with 15 seconds of the Spanish song so you can sing along.
Lyrics are in English and Spanish!
There are currently three different editions with famous Latin American nursery rhymes
Batteries are replaceable and it has a convenient on/off button on the back
Features:
There are three Spanish Nursery Rhymes books, this particular one has the following songs:
Pin Pon
A mi Burro
Tengo una Vaca Lechera
Que Llueva, que Llueva
Un Elefante se Balanceaba
Duérmete Niño
You can actually watch this video which has all of the songs for this version. You can also download the music for free on their website and preview the songs.
Who Created Cali's Books?
Cali's Book started off as a one-woman show in the garage of a multilingual mom of two (Cali) and it has now grown to a team of friends and family working remotely around the world. Learn more about her story here.
Final Thoughts
As a bilingual teacher and also as a new mom, high-quality and innovative books like these are exactly what I am looking to have in my home and classroom. If you like singing along to famous Latin American nursery rhymes which makes reading even more fun, this book is for you!
Join us next week where we will highlight another bilingual resource for parents and teachers.
Summary:
What's to like?
So many things...The illustrations, having the lyrics in both languages and the singer's voice in this edition is very soothing (reminds me of Jose-Luis Orozco).
There is also a great selection of bilingual titles including Arabic, Chinese, French, Hebrew, Greek, Korean and even Portuguese.
What's not to like?
The English lyrics are the direct translation of the rhymes, so it may not make sense if you are not familiar with the original Spanish rhyme. Some of the lyrics like "la virgen de la cueva" and "que viene el coco y te comerá" might get lost in translation.
I personally appreciate the fact that they used the original version of the nursery rhymes because it reminds me of my childhood.
You can always use it as a teachable moment and explain that there is no boogeyman that will eat them and maybe research together the why of the lyrics from "Que llueva".
I did it for you already (thanks Google😅)it turns out the lyrics were inspired by a legend from Valencia, Spain dating back to the 1400s.
- Juliana Shoumbert
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