Un, Deux, Trois: First French Rhymes (Book & CD) (French Edition) [Paperback]

Opal Dunn (Compiler), Patrice Aggs (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 2006 | Age Level: 2 and up | Series: Book & CD

Simple songs and rhymes are an excellent way to familiarize young children with another language. Un, Deux, Trois, a collection of 25 traditional nursery rhymes, is a delightful way to introduce French. An illustrated vocabulary features simple words and phrases that are easy to learn and that can be used in games or everyday life. Children are encouraged to repeat the phrases and sing along with the rhymes, and the included CD lets them know how both should sound. The lively illustrations and amusing rhymes make learning a new language fun. A guide for parents translates more difficult phrases.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Opal Dunn is widely known as a specialist in books on early first and second language development. She has been a consultant to the Council of Europe on children's bilingual education and acts as consultant to the British Council's LearnEnglish Parents programme. She has been short-listed for the Eleanor Farjeon award for services to children's literature and in 2008 received the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun for over 30 years work with bilingual Japanese children. Opal's books for Frances Lincoln are Acker Backa Boo, El Gato Leo Goes to School, El Gato Leo Comes to Play, Leo le Chat Goes to School, Leo le Chat Comes to Play, Hippety-hop, Hippety-hay, Un Deux Trois and Number Rhymes to Say and Play. She lives in South London. Patrice Aggs studied Fine Art at the City and Guilds Art School in London. She lives in Ashington, West Sussex

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children's Books (June 9, 2006)
• Language: French
• ISBN-10: 1845076230
• ISBN-13: 978-1845076238
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,672 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Foreign Language Fiction > French
  • #5 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Language Learning > French
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Baby-3 > Nursery Rhymes > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Boring, July 13, 2009

By 

Amelie Bolduc - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Un, Deux, Trois: First French Rhymes (Book & CD) (French Edition) (Paperback)

I don't quite understand the other reviews. I am French from France. I bought this CD for my 3 year old daughter. I don't know 3 quarters of the songs!! France has so many wonderful and rythmic nursery rhymes. This has to be a selection of the most unknown ones. My daughter enjoys : "Un elephant qui se balançait, Jean de La Lune, Promenons nous dans les bois, à la pêche aux moules...", not this selection of cold songs. I believe that "fun" is a huge factor in teaching children a language (or anything else for that matter). There is not much fun in this book.

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but don't expect too much, July 5, 2008

By 

amanooensis (Flyover Country) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Un, Deux, Trois: First French Rhymes (Book & CD) (French Edition) (Paperback)

This book is primarily about rhyming, not necessarily about French language. I am surprised to see people discussing it as a way of learning to "speak" French -- as in, saying something useful or meaningful. The book's cover makes that claim, too. Shoppers should be wary of expecting too much from this book as an instructional tool.

This is an attractive, fun package. If you go through it you might pick up a smattering of French words, a few numbers and so on. But it is not organized with any kind of instructional strategy, and the contents are rather inconsistent.

What it mostly does is to lead you through a lot rhymes with cute or interesting sounds. Sure, some pages contain poems in genuine French. But many of the rhymes include nonsense words (as the authors admit) which do not mean anything in any language (like "Bourre et bourre et ratatam").

The book claims that many of these rhymes are used by French kids for picking sides in playground games, or the like. If so, that means that a lot of these pieces are the equivalent of "one potato, two potato" or "Eeny meeny miney moe" on an American playground. I can't imagine teaching the phrase "eeny meeny miney moe" to a French child as a first introduction to English.

One of the rhymes, according to the guide in the back of the book, supposedly teaches the pronunciation of the "U" sound in French. The only "teaching" involved is the child listening to the CD. If you want the child to be able to speak those words, you may have to teach them how to form the French U sound. The book doesn't do it.

Another poem playfully replaces "sept oies" with "c'est toi." Due to the use of liasons in spoken French, those phrases are homonyms. The whole rhyme builds up to that double-entendre, which is based on a uniquely French bit of phonics. So if the book were really trying to teach French, this would be a perfect opportunity to do so. But it doesn't even mention it, so non-French speakers will miss out on the pun entirely.

In another case, the authors claim that a rhyme supposedly demonstrates different ways of using the "R" sound in French. It does nothing of the kind. Over and over, I felt like the authors were attempting to claim more educational value for the material than it really has, while failing to use teaching opportunities that *were* available.

What value the material DOES have is that it is mostly fun, catchy little rhymes that kids will relate to, especially with the help of the cute illustrations in the book. I believe that the CD by itself would not be very successful at all, unlike some other products. And for parents who do not speak French, or have a French dictionary nearby, good luck. Some -- but not all -- of the material is translated into English in the back.

The accents sound authentic, and the recordings introduce each rhyme with a slow rendition first, then move up to "normal" speed, and repeat it yet another time. I think this is a good approach. The recordings mix an adult voice and some kids -- some other reviews mistakenly say it's all kids.

The child I'm using this with had already learned a few fundamentals in reading and speaking French, and that background definitely helped. So, as other reviewers have suggested, this book may ironically actually be more useful as something other than a "first" book, contrary to the suggestion of its title.

So: Fun, yes, but your child will still need to learn a lot more "real" French somewhere else.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A hit at our house!, February 12, 2007

By 

Heather in WI - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Un, Deux, Trois: First French Rhymes (Book & CD) (French Edition) (Paperback)

We recently bought this and our boys (6y, 4y, and 2y) love it! It has lots of chanting which the boys love to repeat. The book is colorful and easy to follow along with. The current version came with a cd, not a cassette.