Mi Comunidad!/My Community! makes a true bilingual book accomplishable

I understand why some parents don’t want to read a book to children in a second language. It’s the accent that we perceive they’ll be laughed at. I get that, but spoiler alert, your elementary school student is not going to know if you’re slightly mispronouncing a word in a second language that’s in a book. This is a good thing. To be able to have a book in Spanish and English, with exactly the same content in a way elementary-aged kids will understand and enjoy, is a good thing. Mi Comunidad!/My Community! is by 123 Andres and it’s a high-quality bilingual illustrated book that kids will enjoy, but might fly under your radar.

I’m a testament to that fact as the book sat on my desk for far too long. I have many good qualities, but maintaining a clean desk is not one of them. However, better late than never, and when we experience middle school students who know the vocabulary but are hesitant to speak it; we’re reminded of how important it is to introduce a second language earlier than you think it should be.  We read Mi Comunidad several times and even took it to elementary schools when I’d substitute there. It was read to a handful of classes, many of whom had students who spoke Spanish as their primary language. They politely giggled when I said a word incorrectly.

A couple of those times I asked them if I was pronouncing it correctly, and they were kind enough to steer me in the right direction. The point is that it was a learning time for everyone. The non-Spanish speakers in the room heard me read the book. It was a non-native speaker trying their best in a second language and needing some fine-tuning. Those kids that spoke Spanish appreciated that someone was teaching other kids their native tongue. The non-native Spanish speakers also learned a couple of new words and could see exactly how it was read in English.

My Community! is all about the people and places that are in the area where we live. It’s the typical day in a city where we see the fire department, a community garden, repair shop, doctor’s office, and more. All the while the pages or the characters are offering commentary as to what’s happening in Spanish and English. Me cuida la enfermera and I go to see the nurse are all side by side. This allows people reading the book to know the subject/verb agreement as it would be stated in a real-world environment.

By extension, they’ll be able to take certain words or verb conjugations, and then apply them to different situations. It’s always the grammar that throws up a lack of confidence to second-language speakers. They don’t want to sound like it’s their second language. While it’s great that they want to be perfect, those young language learners shouldn’t let their desire for perfection be the enemy of conversational.

Mi Couminidad!/My Community! is written by 123 Andres, who also makes some jamming music for all ages. The book comes with a QR code that will take you to a couple of songs that provide an overview of the book, one of the songs is in Spanish, while the other one is in English. The illustrations are by Monica Paola Rodriguez and are softly drawn in the way that early elementary students are used to.

This is a gateway, confidence-building, early elementary school book aimed at getting kids curious about really learning a second language. I say ‘really learning’ because it has phrases in both languages that they’ll be able to reference. It’s the kind of illustrated book that kids will read along with and see that what happens in the city is the same in whatever language it’s spoken in.

Mi Communidad!/My Community! is by 123 Andres with illustrations by Monica Paola Rodriguez and is available on Scholastic Books.

There are affiliate links in this post.