No is No, Si is Yes

My bag has never been bigger.  Before kids, I always lamented that my purses weren't big enough for a book, but now, curtesy of parenting three kids three and under, the bag I carry is enorme.  At any moment, it holds the basic purse stuff plus some kind of snack (times three), some kind of small toy (times three), a notebook, a pen, a book for me and a book for me to read to them.  Reina de la organizacion that I am, I rotate the titles. 

So recently, I found myself at the pediatrician's office with my older nena.  We'd been on time for our appointment but there were lots of sick kids going ahead of us, since we were just there for a well visit.  We looked at the fish tank, and the toys in the waiting room for a few minutes.  And then, as the wait got long, it was time to turn to the bolso and to the newest title I'd put in there: No is No, Si is Yes by Ana Galan .

What I love about this book was that, even for little kids, it's fun and super interactive.    The simple rhymes in Spanish and English take you through some basic vocab and are fun and helpful for remembering words and expressions in Spanish.  They read like a song, and, after a few reads, easily invite memorization.  Here's a taste:

Tu eres mi amigo is

you are my friend.

Dilo otra vez

is say it again.

 The illustrations are jump-off-the-page colorful and silly.  De hecho, this is one of the most silly books we own... maybe not great for nap or bedtime, but the perfect read-aloud for any occassion in which you  need to spice up a dull moment.

Like a waiting room!  And if you read it out loud in a crowded room of monolinguals, you get the added fun of seeing them scratching their head at you.  They hear/recognize some English, but what's that other stuff?  :)  As I said, spice for the dull moment.