The Alphabet / El alfabeto (English and Spanish Foundations Series) (Book #1) (Bilingual) (Board Book) (English and Spanish Edition) [Board book]

Gladys Rosa-Mendoza (Author), Michele Noiset (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 2 and up

Teaches children letter recognition and the alphabet with pages of delightul illustrations.

Teach children letter recognition and the alphabet with the use of cognates (words that look similar across languages). Research has proven that cognates are among the best tools for introducing two languages simultaneously to children. The pages are bursting with delightful illustrations of toys, musical instruments, as well as ñandús, queztals, and other exotic creatures native to South and Central America-all in bright and cheerful colors. Learning the alphabet has never been this fun! 32 pages, 4.75" x 5.875"

Enseña a los niños a reconocer las letras del alfabeto con páginas de encantadoras ilustraciones.

Enseñe a sus hijos a reconocer las letras del alfabeto mediante cognados (palabras que son similares en uno y otro idioma). Investigaciones han demostrado que los cognados constituyen una de las mejores herramientas para presentar a los niños dos idiomas de modo simultáneo. Las páginas están llenas de encantadoras ilustraciones de juguetes e instrumentos musicales, así como de ñandúes, quetzales y otras criaturas exóticas nativas de Centroamérica y Suramérica, todo esto en brillantes y vivaces colores. ¡Nunca había sido tan divertido aprender el alfabeto! 32 páginas, 4.75" x 5.875"

The Benefits and Features of the English · Spanish Foundations series include:
• Helps teach vocabulary and other oral language concepts
• Summary page at the end to recap and instruct
• Helps kids get ready to read
• Helps develop phonemic, print, and numeric awareness
• Large bright colorful pictures to keep kids engaged
• Rounded corners for children s safety
• Laminated to protect from spills
• Board book so they can last
• Great size for little hands
• Simple but engaging text
• Useful for beginning Spanish at any level
• Useful for beginning English at any level

Our Guiding Principles:
• We believe that every child should be read to from birth.
• We believe every child should be taught at least two languages.
• We strive to surpass each customer's expectations.
• We will only produce the highest quality products.

Our Vision:
me+mi publishing will be a company that is recognized for producing the finest dual language products that allow children to function at a high level equally well in English and Spanish.

Awards:
me+mi publishing has received the following literary awards:
• Benjamin Franklin Award
• Chicago Book Clinic Book and Media Show
• Latino Literary Hall of Fame Mariposa Award
• Latino Literary Hall of Fame
• Latino Literary Hall of Fame Honorable Mention
• Writer s Digest Certificate of Merit

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This series of bilingual board books has received the Benjamin Franklin Award from the Publishers Marketing Association. The sturdy binding, chunky size and stiff board pages coupled with the bright colors of the illustrations make these books very appealing to the younger set. Colors and Shapes features illustrations of multicultural children holding up outsized shapes in different colors (e.g., red circle, yellow square, blue oval, etc.). The English words appear in the top left-hand corner, while the Spanish words appear in the bottom left-hand corner. The final page depicts a busy classroom scene and invites readers to identify shapes and colors from the scene. The Alphabet features illustrations of toys, musical instruments, and other commonplace items in bright cheerful colors. Each page showcases a letter of the Spanish alphabet (? and ll included). The author has chosen items that begin with the same letter in both languages (e.g., airplane/ avion, flower/ flor, juice/ jugo). The use of exotic creatures native to South and Central America such as the ?andu and the quetzal give this book a uniquely Latin flavor. Numbers also uses wonderful illustrations of exotic animals, from the iguana on page one to two toucans, three turtles, four frogs, etc. All the numbers, one through 10, are assembled at the end, and readers are invited to repeat their names in both languages. The final pages list the numbers up to 20 with both their English and Spanish names. This well executed series belongs in all public and school libraries serving a very young Hispanic clientele. Also appropriate for book-stores. M.O.B.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

The illustrations are breath taking. -- Chicago Book Clinic Award Show

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Board book: 32 pages
• Publisher: me+mi publishing (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967974801
• ISBN-13: 978-0967974804
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 4.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #53 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Multilingual > Spanish

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great bilingual alphabet book!, December 4, 2004

By 

E. WIe "Mother of four" (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Alphabet / El alfabeto (English and Spanish Foundations Series) (Book #1) (Bilingual) (Board Book) (English and Spanish Edition) (Board book)

This book does a great job of teaching the alphabet in English and Spanish. With each letter, the author found a word for an object that starts with the same letter in both English and Spanish...A - airplane, avión...B - balls, bolas...C - crayons, creyones.

Two words are a little unusual.. ñandú and quetzal, but it is clearly hard to find words that start with "ñ" and words that mean the same thing in English and Spanish AND start with the letter "q".

Overall, I think the author did a great job finding words that started the same in both languages. The pictures are clear and playful. It is a wonderful introduction to the alphabet for your little bilingual baby!

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars W is for Washington?, April 9, 2008

By 

Lara G. Galindo "Lara Novell-Galindo" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Alphabet / El alfabeto (English and Spanish Foundations Series) (Book #1) (Bilingual) (Board Book) (English and Spanish Edition) (Board book)

Before I begin my critique, I must say that my three kids have all enjoyed hearing this book at the appropriate age. The illustrations, by Michele Noiset, are bright, clear, fun, and functional. Most of the items depicted in this ABC book are interesting and/or familiar to young children (train, ocean, juice).

BUT there are inherent difficulties in portraying ABC-linked items in English and Spanish. What do I mean? Well, Spanish has very few, if any, words that begin with "W". So, in this book, the "W" page has a 1978 George Washington quarter for its illustration. What USEFUL word do our aspiring bilinguists learn from this page? "Washington". Similarly, "Y" is for "yo-yo" in both languages, and 'R' is for "robot". As far as I'm concerned, this is "lame/lamé".

The next difficulty (closely related to the first) is that español has three more "letters" than English has: "ch" ("chay), "ll" ("el-yay"), and "ñ" ("en-nyay"). Fact is, NO English-only words begin with these "letters". That means that this book gives us "chimpanzee" (spelled identically in both languages), "llama" (fine, but there's no pronunciation guide to distinguish between the two), and "ñandu", which the authors and editors had to acquiesce, has no English equivalent. (It's a an emu-sort-of thing.)

I wouldn't bother with this book unless you get it practically free. There are many better ABC books and there are many better (i.e. more educational) English-Spanish/español/inglés books on the market.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great books with eye-catching illustrations, November 8, 2005

By 

K. Jordan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: EnglishSpanish Foundation Box Set (Board book)

I really like these books. The alphabet one has great illustrations that my little one likes to look at (and so do I). Because it finds words that start with the same letter in English and Spanish, you get a nice variety of examples for the letters. For example, crayons instead of the traditional cat for C or monster instead of monkey for M.

I highly recommend these books as a good way to gain exposure to another language. Enjoy!!!