Do you have preschoolers or even toddlers? Do you want to introduce them to other cultures but are not sure how to bring it to your home or classroom? I have to fun books that will do just that. These books will also work to help older kids become familiar with Chinese and Korean as well. Both books come with CDs so the pronounciation of the other languages can be heard and you do not have to try to figure out how it is said. Nursery rhymes have been a favorite in our house. Hazel even has a nursery rhyme quilt that I made her when she was younger and had a nursery rhyme themed birthday party when she turned three. Oh and there was the year that Hazel and I dressed as the dish and the spoon for Halloween. But today's books are different than our nursery rhymes. They give us a sense of different cultures. We will start with Chinese and English Nursery Rhymes: Little Mouse and Other Charming Chinese Rhymes by Faye-Lynn Wu and illustrated by Kieren Dutcher.
This book pairs the Chinese nursery rhymes with English ones. The Chinese nursery rhymes are written in Chinese, Chinese prounciation and English. The English ones are written in only English. Throughout the book there are small asides that teach even more about the culture and history of China. There are things like how kites were invented in China for use in wars to spy and how the Chinese admire nature and have plants that represent each season.
I love how the book shows the two cultures--American/English and Chinese and compares them. The pictures are colorful and the book is beautiful. The illustrations themselves are multicultural. There are pictures of kids of different races like the one on the cover. I can see this book being well loved by toddlers and preschoolers as well as the fun CD that accompanies it.
Our next book is Korean and English Nursery Rhymes: Wild Geese, Land of Goblins and Other Favorite Songs and Rhymes by Danielle Wright and illustrated by Helen Acraman. This book is slightly different. It does not pair the nursery rhymes from Korea and America/Britain. Instead it shares fourteen Korean nursery rhymes in Korean, Korean prounciation and English. The pages of this book are absolutely gorgeous.
This book has small asides with instructions or more about the rhyme. Some of the songs are for jumping rope or have hand movements and the instructions explain all of this.
Each page is dedicated to a rhyme and the illustrations go along with it in a very simple but colorful way.
Again I can see a toddler or preschooler loving this book and loving hearing the songs and rhymes. I love how it introduces the Korean culture to younger kids. I know several of Hazel's teachers have introduced other languages in the room by teaching kids different ways to say hello. How wonderful would it be to learn a song or rhyme in another language? I hope you will check out both of these beautiful books!!
