Millie books - Los cuentos de Millie

Reading in two languages - Leyendo en dos idiomas

children's books

What happened with “CH“ and “LL“?

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You can read the Spanish version of this post here.

I know you are wondering, what happened with “CH“ and “LL“?

When I was illustrating this book, I was wondering if I should draw a CHeeta and a LLama.  I could not remember if CH and LL were part of the alphabet in Spanish.  I sort of remember repeating in primary school “A, B, C, CH, D“…. but at the end of the day, isn’t CH the combination of C and H, and LL is L twice?

It turns out that the Royal Academy of Spanish Language excluded CH and LL from the alphabet in 1994.  The explanation is in this link, it is in Spanish though.  You can imagine that I learned the alphabet a lot earlier than that! 🙂

 

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Leyendo en voz alta: Zoológico Bilingue

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¡Hola! Aquí te dejo la lectura en voz alta de mi libro Zoológico Bilingue.

¡Espero que les guste a tí y a tus peques!

 

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Why an alphabet book?

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Si quieres leer este post en español haz click aquí.

When my daughter turned two, she was given a beautiful alphabet book.  The book is small, for small hands, has die cut letters and bright colours.  Until then, I had always translated books on the fly from English to Spanish, but it is not the same to translate a story using the images to translate only a single word.  I could not say “G” is for garden but in Spanish it is “J” for jardin.

alphabet-book

I tried finding alphabet books in English and Spanish, but none of them caught my attention enough to buy.  I had to search a bit better.  So in the meantime, I created the animal alphabet colouring pages using animals that start with the same letter in both English and Spanish.  Then I thought “why not putting these little animals into a book? Maybe, many other bilingual families are having the same problem”.

alphabet-book-r

This is how I turned my animal alphabet colouring pages into a book.  Just before sending the file to print, and with the help of very good friends, I realised that the book was missing “something”.  I realised that if kids where going to enjoy this book, it had to be a bit more fun and not just have the animal sitting there doing nothing.  How boring!  So, I decided to write ther third Millie book and leave the alphabet book for another time.

One day, I Heard my daughter say “P for daddy”, instead of “P de papá”, “P for dog” instead of “P for perro” and I almost had a heart attack.  I know that this is mostly because, living in Australia, her stronger language is English.  This was enough for me to think again about that alphabet book.  Time to go back to drawing!  Everyday, after work, dinner and putting the little one to bed, I would set up one hour to draw my characters.  Thank Goodness I have a great husband and we are a great team! 🙂

zoologicobilinguehardback

I have to say that now, I am very happy with the result.  I hope this is a book that you and your kids enjoy reading together.

See you soon!

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¿Por qué un libro del abecedario?

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If you want to read this blog post in English, click here.

Cuando mi hija cumplió 2 años, le regalaron un libro del abecedario súper bonito.  El libro es pequeño para manos pequeñas, tiene las letras troqueladas y colores muy vivos.  Yo siempre había  estado traduciendo mientras leía libros en inglés, pero no es lo mismo traducir un cuento ayudado de las imágenes que traducir una palabra sola.  Era muy difícil decir que la “G” es de garden en inglés, pero en español se dice jardín que se escribe con “J”.

alphabet-book

Busqué libros con el alfabeto en inglés y en español, pero ninguno me llamó la atención como para comprarlo.  Tenía que buscar mejor.  Así que decidí mientras tanto, hacer unas páginas para colorear con el alfabeto y relacionando animales en inglés y en español.  Y después se me ocurrió, “¿por qué no hacer un libro con estos animalitos?  Tal vez, muchas familias bilingües tendrán este mismo problema”.

alphabet-book-g

Fue así cuando convertí mis páginas de colorear en un libro.  Justo antes de enviar el archivo para imprimir, y con la ayuda de mis buenas amigas, me di cuenta de que al libro le faltaba “algo”.  Me di cuenta de que si este libro le iba a gustar a los niños, tenía que ser más divertido y no tener el animal ahí sin hacer nada.  ¡Qué chiste! Entonces, mejor decidí escribir el tercer libro de Millie y dejar el libro del alfabeto por la paz.

Pero un día, escucho a mi hija decir “P for daddy”, en lugar de “P de papá”, “P for dog” en lugar de “P de perro” y casi me da el patatús.  Si bien, yo sé que esto es ayudado porque viviendo en Australia, su idioma más fuerte es el inglés, eso fue suficiente para darme otra vez el gusanito de terminar este abecedario para niños bilingües.  Así que ¡a volver a empezar con todas las ilustraciones! Todos los días después de terminar el trabajo, de cenar y poner a nuestra hija a dormir, le dedicaba una hora a arreglar los dibujos.  Gracias a Dios, mi esposo y yo somos muy buen equipo. 🙂

zoologicobilinguehardback

Debo decir que ahora estoy contenta con el resultado.  Espero que sea un libro que le guste mucho a tus peques y que disfruten leyéndolo juntos.

¡Hasta pronto!

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Reading aloud: Millie goes to space

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I just wanted to share the read aloud of my first book ‘Millie goes to space’.  I hope you and your kids enjoy it!

Erika

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Leyendo en voz alta: Millie va al espacio

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Aquí te comparto la lectura en voz alta de mi primer libro ‘Millie va al espacio’.  Lo estoy leyendo en español del libro en su versión bilingüe.

¡Espero que tú y tus peques lo disfruten!

Erika

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Millie va al espacio / Millie goes to space is available on iTunes!

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So I finally got around editing the book so it can work out on in iTunes.  It is a little bit more difficult than doing it on Amazon but I think I will get used to it for the next book!

I decided to do this because a lot of the people I know, especially in Australia do not have an Amazon account!

You can download the book here.  And please, if you and your child enjoyed it, please leave me a review so other parents can find it.  Thank you!!

Erika

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“Millie makes a new friend” is now available / “Millie hace un nuevo amigo” ya está disponible

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Hola!
Just this week I published the second book of Millie’s adventures. It feels like it has taken forever. I started this in April last year and after what it felt like thousands of edits I was finally happy with it.

This is the second (of hopefully many more) bilingual books for toddlers who speak English and Spanish.

I hope you like it!
Millie makes a new friend is now available on Amazon in English and in bilingual versions. 😀

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Hello!
Justo esta semana publiqué el segundo libro de las aventuras de Millie.  Parece que me ha tomado muchísimo tiempo. Empecé con el libro en abril del año pasado y después de editarlo como mil veces por fin ya estuve contenta con como quedó.

Este es el segundo libro bilingüe (de espero muchos más) para niños y niñas que hablan español e inglés.
¡Espero les guste!
Millie hace un nuevo amigo ya está disponible en Amazon en español y en su versión bilingüe. 😊

Millie new friend cover bilingual

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5 ways to improve your child’s reading experience

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We all know that there are a lot of beautiful children’s books out there.  But let’s face it, you can only read the Hungry Caterpillar so many times!

Even I have noticed that my little one has started to get bored with the same stories, but I have come up with ways to make things a little bit more interesting.

1. Be an actor.  If you are not already doing this…. Make voices and entonations, different accents help too.  Surprise your little one by getting out your inner actor.  For example, if I read the Millie book to my baby I pretend the Rabbit on the Moon is Spanish and that Kliff and Kloff are ‘chilangos’.  When I read ‘Wombat stew’ I lisp as the lizard talks and I pretend to be a posh lady when Emu is telling Dingo how to improve his stew.  You might feel silly at the beginning but hey, your baby won’t judge you for your non Oscar performance!

2. Ask them to tell you the story.  If they are old enough and they are talking, you can ask them to tell you the story based on the pictures. Relax and enjoy!  If they are younger though, you may be able to point and ask ‘what is this?’ so they can tell you.  Another option is to ask ‘where is the elephant?’ Or ‘where is the house?’.  You will be surprised at how much they know!

3. Don’t read the story.  Focus on other things in the pictures, name the items and relate them to your life.  For example, if the caterpillar ate one apple, say how much your little one loves apples or if they are older, what is their favourite colour of apple?

4. Join your local library.  We are spoilt in Australia on this one.  However, if you live elsewhere Google will tell you if there are any libraries near you.  Nowadays, local libraries have a lot of programs for kids and you and your family will enjoy more variety without going through the expense of buying new books.  Alternatively, you can swap books with friends or buy them second hand at a local market or on Amazon.

5. Use books in a different way.  This one is not so much about reading but about playing with books.  You can stack them, sort them, build a ‘bridge’ for your baby to walk over them as an obstacle course. The idea here is to let your kids know books can be fun.

book bridge
I hope these tips help you in making your and your toddler’s reading experience a little better.  Do you have any other tips you would like to share? Leave us your comments below! 🙂

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