More About Board Books: Bilingual!

Two notes to launch this post:
1) I received this set of bilingual board books from a publisher with no promise of a review of any kind. 
2) That delivery was a welcome surprise on yet another COVID19 Safer-At-Home day. I've had a long-standing friendship with our mail person for the many years, enjoying conversations that have ceased in these days in order to sustain physical/social distance. She knows me well. Through the window she smiled, shook the box, and mouthed: "BOOKS! It's a good day!"

I was not familiar with CANTICOS, a YouTube Channel for bilingual nursery rhymes and kids' songs (HERE). Their short English/Spanish videos incorporate adorable animal characters and one cardboard cutout who comes to life, Pin Pon. They populate the various short features, singing songs in both English and Spanish, delivered at a pace that sustains attention and allows for little ones to participate spontaneously. 

Now these characters, stories, and words are featured in a series of early concept board books. In case you missed it, I hope you'll read my recent post about an outstanding board book offering, EGG. In it, I mentioned some of the essential qualities of board books: durability, size, age-appropriate content, long-lasting appeal. 
The board books in this new series have those features and add several forms of interactivity (flaps, tabs, sliders, fanfolds, magnets, etc.). These elevate the appeal, although such features can make it challenging to prevent damage from little hands with unrefined motor control and unbridled enthusiasm. But these are made of sturdy materials and bindings, so I'm betting this set of books will survive repeated handling by eager little fingers. 

The publisher's materials enclosed with the books didn't state this, but I'm guessing that parent/caregivers of little video fans may have asked for books related to the series. These certainly should make preschoolers (and adults who care for them) happy with the effort. Tots will read/play/sing along with numbers, letters, colors, and nursery rhymes with monthly releases throughout the spring and summer. In the process, little ones will develop reading and speaking skills in both languages, fostering early literacy and exercising brain cells at a crucial time in their development. Engaged adults may also learn a thing or two!

These are not the types of books I typically feature, but several factors moved me to share them here. First, the overall design has been thoughtfully executed, with consistency of images and labels, font choices, and pacing to convey content effectively. Additionally, but not secondarily, I found these to be exciting offerings in early childhood bilingual language and literacy development. I readily admit that I am NOT an expert in this specialized area, and I view them from an English-speaker's perspective. As such, I feel confident in recommending the books to those whose primary language is English. 
I'll never stop advocating for increasing bilingualism in ALL children, but especially in typically monolingual American children. When additional languages are introduced through musical, visual, and engaging experiences, young minds absorb, expand, and retain languages with lifelong benefits,

I'd welcome insights and reactions from those whose primary language is Spanish.

Meanwhile, I can't resist a reference to Covid19 Homeschooling experiences. Teachers, students, and caregivers are gradually developing a new-normal approach to delivery of instruction. Even so, there's no doubt that some days (most days?) require doses of "out-of-the-box" approaches, time spent away from assignments. Exploring activities involving other languages could be exactly the kind of challenge to energize and engage when exhaustion and/or frustration loom. These little board books reminded me of how much FUN it can be to learn a new language, and how many resources exist to do so. Why not give it a try?