Back to School: Carmen Learns English

As we prepared a new back-to-school booklist for Colorín Colorado this year, I had the pleasure to discover Carmen Learns English, written by teacher Judy Cox and illustrated by Angela Dominguez. I wasn't just charmed by our spunky heroine, though - I found myself cheering for her from the beginning of the story until the very last page of the book.

Carmen is a young girl preparing for the first day of school, and she is nervous about starting school without speaking any English. Things get worse when she arrives to school to find that none of her classmates speak Spanish.

Much to her surprise, however, her teacher (Señora Coski) greets her in Spanish! While her teacher's Spanish sounds muy terrible, Carmen knows that she has at least found someone who won’t laugh at her English. Slowly, Carmen begins to learn new words each day which she teaches to her younger sister, Lupita, at home. In the meantime, Señora Coski encourages her to teach her classmates new words in Spanish. Carmen's confidence blossoms over time, until she finally has the courage to confront a pair of bullies at the playground who make fun of her accent:

"I put my hands on my hips the way Mami does when something does not please her. 'Excuse me?' I said as polite as la Señora Coski. 'Excuse me? I don't got an accent. It's you who got the accent!'"

On the surface, this is an engaging story about a young girl learning a new language and assimilating into her new environment. Yet the story is so much more than that. Carmen is a wise and responsible older sister, preparing Lupita for kindergarten so that she doesn't have to confront the same obstacles the following year. Alternatively, the scene at the playground offers a chance to talk about bullying and respecting all of our classmates, no matter how different their backgrounds (or accents!) are.

Perhaps most importantly, however, this story offers a positive depiction of Carmen's first language rather than only celebrating her success in English. Not only does Señora Coski greet Carmen in Spanish to help her feel more comfortable on the first day, but she welcomes Carmen's language into the classroom whenever possible. When a classmate complains that Carmen recites her numbers in Spanish rather than English, Señora Coski asks Carmen to teach the class to count in Spanish, recognizing an opportunity for the class as well as the important knowledge Carmen has already learned. Señora Coski also serves as an important example for other teachers - even if you speak just a few words of a new language and it sounds muy terrible, it can provide a lifeline to a young English language learner.

Written with authenticity and filled with rich details, Carmen Learns English is a story that will inspire children of all backgrounds and will introduce young English language learners to a character that they will never forget.

For related stories, take a look at the following back-to-school booklists from Colorin Colorado and Reading Rockets:

• ELL Stories
• Are You Ready? School's Open!
• School Days

Finally, in honor of Grandparents' Day, don't forget these great titles in the Grandma's Stories and Grandpa's Stories booklists! Happy reading!