Many Latina moms were not raised bilingual themselves, but they want to try to pass on the language of their ancestors to their kids. Although raising their kids bilingual is undeniably harder, it's definitely doable… you just have to arm yourself with a lot of resources to make the journey easier and fun for your kids.
One way to do that is to get them a few audio books so that even if you can't read to them in Spanish, they get the exposure by listening to someone else tell them the story.
Here are some of our favorite bilingual or Spanish children's books on CD:
El fandango de Lola–Barefoot Books: A beautiful story about a little girl, Lola, who's jealous of her older sister until she discovers Flamenco and learns to dance it with the help of her dad so she can surprise the rest of her family. The audio book is narrated by a family that has a lot of similarities with Lola's fictional family.
Un regalo misterioso–Heritage Language: We love all five books published by Heritage Language, but I chose this one as a favorite because my 4-year-old son can't get enough of it. The story deals with typical fears little kids have at bedtime while talking about the importance of family, traditions and culture. All books are bilingual and come with a CD that includes narration in both language with prompts for kids to know when to turn the page and keep on following.
La parranda de Mimi–Lorito Books: A lovely book about a girl who isn't able to travel to her native Puerto Rico during Christmas, but manages to still enjoy a parranda thanks to her loving friends. This is only but one of the countless titles offered by the highly recommended Lorito Books, a company dedicated to providing bilingual children's audio books.
Cuentos que contaban nuestras abuelas–Del Sol Books: Folk tales from several countries in South America that will surely remind you of your abuela! The best part is that they are narrated by authors Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy.
