Lupe Lupita, Where Are You? / Lupe Lupita, ..donde Estas? [Broché]

This book is really cute. Not only are the pictures amusing, but the book itself is very clever. It follows a little girl around to different places and contrasts where she is to where other things are. If you are looking for a story, this is not it; but if you are looking for an easy to understand tool for children to learn elementary Spanish this is it! Once you read this book, you will be able to practice phrases all the time when referring to `where you are.'

I live in Mexico and have all the bilingual books I buy my daughter reviewed by our Spanish teacher. It is amazing how many don't make sense when translated from Spanish to English. This series of book actually used the Spanish language properly and makes sense. Very happy with Gladys Rosa Mendoza books and plan to buy every title.

Several weeks ago I purchased ten or so Spanish children's books to aid me in teaching my daughter the language. Teaching her Spanish has been a significant challenge as neither my wife or I are fluent ourselves (not even close). I bought several Spanish versions of books that she already had thinking that the familiarity would be a teaching advantage (books like Buenas Noches Luna - Good Night Moon, Buenas Noches A Todos - The Going to Bed Book, etc). That turned out to be a mistake since the translations were not exact and many difficult Spanish words had to be used to keep the stories similar. One of the ten books I happened to purchase was Lupe Lupita, and what a pleasant surprise it turned out to be. It quickly became my daughters favorite of the bunch. Although it's not necessarily intended to be a great story book, it's written at a perfect level for a beginning English reader. I also think it's illustrated very well which aids the child's ability to comprehend and enjoy it. Because my daughter liked reading the English so much, the book kept her attention enough for me to read to her the Spanish. Now she is getting to the point where she knows most of the Spanish terms and can even read many of the words herself. The translations are very similar so picking up the meanings of words is intuitive for both the child and the adult. The author even puts key words in bold text in both languages to help you match up the meanings (i.e. under & debajo). Even more helpful is the pronunciation chart included in the back of the book.

I was so pleased with the purchase of this book that I bought the entire series of 25 books (Lupe is #16). What's great about the English and Spanish Foundation Series by me+mi publishing is that they're labeled from 1-25 and get progressively more challenging as the numbers get higher. Another great feature about the way these books are written is they they're equally as educational for the English language as they are for Spanish. Even if the Spanish text wasn't included I would say these are excellent books for children to learn English reading. The fact they contain two languages simply makes it a no brainer.

Between these books and the Whistlefritz children's Spanish video series, you can help your child learn the foundation of the Spanish language right at home. Don't buy just one, buy them all!

Lupe Lupita, Where Are You? / Lupe Lupita, ¿dónde estás? (English and Spanish Foundations Series) (Book #16) (Bilingual) (Board Book) (English and Spanish Edition)