Monday, May 07, 2012

Two Bilingual Board Books

A Nest in Springtime: A Mandarin Chinese-English Bilingual Book of Numbers. Belle Yang. 2012. Candlewick Press. 24 pages.

Springtime...
Wild geese come to nest.
Busy, busy.
How many eggs?

A Nest in Springtime celebrates the arrival of spring. Two wild geese have arrived and they are preparing to hatch eight eggs. This one is a concept book--readers count from one to ten; eight goslings, the goose, the gander. But it is also a simple story just celebrating spring and nature. The art is very nice, very gentle.


For those ambitious enough who want to read the story aloud in Chinese, the book includes some help. The last page includes pinyin pronunciations for the Mandarin Chinese text.

Summertime Rainbow: A Mandarin Chinese-English Bilingual Book of Colors. Belle Yang. 2012. Candlewick Press. 24 pages.

Blue sky, white clouds. 
Yummy green grass.
Little flowers like yellow stars.
They smell sweet.
They're honeysuckle.

Belle Yang's second board book also celebrates nature. It is a concept book, "teaching" colors. I'm not sure if it is teaching so much as pointing out how beautiful and wonderfully colorful nature is. I think it also "teaches" you to look at the world around you and appreciate what you see. I am really enjoying Belle Yang's art.


For those ambitious enough who want to read the story aloud in Chinese, the book includes some help. The last page includes pinyin pronunciations for the Mandarin Chinese text.

Read Summertime Rainbow and A Nest in Springtime
  • If you're looking for bilingual books to share with little ones; especially if you're looking for Mandarin Chinese books to share with young ones.
  • If you're looking for concept board books that teach numbers and colors
  • If you are looking for board books that celebrate nature and the natural world
  • If you are looking for seasonal board books--spring and summer!

© 2012 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this -- my granddaughter is two years old and speaking both Mandarin & English -- I will buy NOW.