Adorable & Free French Activity Books: LittleBilingues

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Bonjour, mes amis! I'm currently working on a little language love story for a future post, but in the meantime I want to share some adorable resources available from Little Bilangues. Judith is a fantastic illustrator with her own publishing company, OrniCar, and this month she released her latest children's activity book for little French (and English) language learners. This activity book can be downloaded for free until next Friday, December 20th, so take advantage of her generosity!

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French Magazine for Toddlers: Popi

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A few months ago I shared an overview of the French children's magazines available in the U.S., and now I'm glad to give a more in-depth review of my daughter's favorite early childhood magazine: Popi.

Popi (pronounced PUH-pee) refers to a cuddly stuffed monkey who was originally a character from an English children's book series by Helen Oxenbury. Now he has his own cartoon (Léo and Popi). But Popi magazine doesn't focus on the monkey much--he's just one of several reappearing characters with their own brief stories in each issue.

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International Lullabies: French, English, & Spanish Bedtime Songs for Children

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Of all the cultural treasures in the world, lullabies must be among the sweetest snippets of language and melody. In the short film collection Paris, Je T'Aime, one of the more moving five-minute stories featured a nanny singing a Spanish lullaby. The lullaby she sang is called "Qué Linda Manita" and it refers to the sweet little hands, eyes, and other body parts that God gave the baby.

I don't remember any lullabies from my childhood, but there is a song that I associate with bedtime. On a nightstand beside my bed was a lamp with wooden figurines on a seesaw. The lamp played a simple wind-up melody called Say, Say Oh Playmate. My mama taught me the words and wrote them in my baby book. (This American song goes back to the 1930s or earlier).

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French (and Spanish) Children's Magazines Available in the U.S.

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When my daughter turned two years old, I bought her a subscription to a French children's magazine called Popi. Admittedly, subscribing to a French magazine for delivery in the USA is costly, and I wondered if it would be worth the expense. But even at that age, my daughter adored receiving Popi and she continues to read those same issues even now at four years old. We switched to Toupie et Chansons the following year; that subscription included four music CDs with the special issues. I'll write specific reviews for those magazines in a future blog post, but for now, here's an overview of the French children's magazines available in the U.S. and how to subscribe. (Children's magazines in Spanish are further below in this post.)

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The Best French English Dictionary App

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Though I majored in French and English in college, I somehow made it through my studies with only a pocket-size French English Dictionary from the early 1980s. I had no idea how impressive a dictionary could be until I began teaching and purchased a two-and-a-half-inch thick, five pound French Unabridged Dictionary from Collins Robert for classroom use. When a translation question arose that I couldn't answer, the student who volunteered to be the daily fée du dictionnaire (dictionary fairy, with optional wand, ID tag, and tiara) would find the answer in that massive dictionary. But ever since I downloaded the Collins-Robert Concise French Dictionary App as a stay-at-home mama, I've been amazed at how useful a dictionary app can be.

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The Best French Children's Books for Learning Object Names

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American parents love educational toys and books for their preschool-age children, so I find it a little strange that the French have an entire category of children's books for which we don't have a word in English: l'imagier. Wikipedia.fr defines an imagier as "A collection of photographs or drawings featuring objects, animals, and individuals along with the word that characterizes them." Put simply, they're word books with corresponding images. For little language learners, imagiers are a fantastic visual resource.

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A Little Girl's View of Paris: OliveUs Films

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Have you seen an OliveUs film yet? Ben and Gabrielle Blair (of DesignMom fame) together with Tiger in a Jar productions have created three seasons of adorable short films featuring their six children. The episodes are filmed in France and are mostly under three minutes in length. I love watching them because of their sweetness, and the French settings are so idyllic.

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