The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry & the Big Hungry Bear El ratoncito, la fresa roja y madura y el gran oso hambriento, written by by Audrey Wood and Don Wood, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Summary:  This is an English and Spanish bilingual book.  The English text is in black font below the Spanish text which is in red font.  This is a board book that follows a mouse as he finds a huge, red strawberry.  The narrator is warning the mouse that the bear will come to steal the strawberry.  Mouse tries to hid it and disguise it.  Finally, he splits it with the narrator.  The illustrations have beautiful muted forest colors and the expressions on the mouse’s face will have young readers laughing.

Straight Talk for Librarians:  The language development with a familiar story will be beneficial for students learning either Spanish or English.  Perfect for any bilingual elementary library or classroom.  Schools with mostly English speakers will benefit from this book if they offer Spanish classes.  I am putting this book in my high school library because we have a lot of new Spanish language learners.  This is perfect for first-year students learning Spanish.  They might already be familiar with these characters and will appreciate both languages on the page.  Students will learn new vocabulary and practice their reading comprehension.
 

Curious George: Trash into Treasure | Jorge el curioso: De basura a tesoro, written by H. A. Rey, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Summary:  This is an English and Spanish bilingual book.  The English text is in blue font and the Spanish text is below in black font.  Curious George is excited for Pretty City Day.  It’s a day to pick up trash and clean up their city. Curious George is on the hunt for litter. He comes across someone clearing out their apartment and George wants to keep a lot of what was thrown out for trash collection. He kept a lot of the items he found for himself. The Man in the Yellow Hat was not happy with all the things George brought home.  George brought an empty bag to the mayor and they all realized that some people’s trash could be someone else’s treasure. The book ends with an activity asking readers to think about collections and there are instructions on how to make a recycled bird feeder.
Straight Talk for Librarians:  Everyone loves Curious George!  This book is adapted from a TV show.  The language development with a familiar story will be beneficial for students learning either Spanish or English.  Perfect for any bilingual elementary library or classroom.  Schools with mostly English speakers will benefit from this book if they offer Spanish classes.  I am putting this book in my high school library because we have a lot of new Spanish language learners.  This is perfect for first year students learning Spanish.  They will be familiar with the characters and will appreciate both languages on the page.  Students will learn new vocabulary and practice their reading comprehension. 

El Ratoncito, La Fresa Roja Y Madura Y El Gran Oso Hambriento: Spanish/English The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear, written by Audrey Wood and Don Wood, reviewed by Amanda Davies

Summary:  This board book is about a mouse who has picked a beautiful strawberry and is now trying to hide it from a bear. The narrator keeps emphasizing how the bear is going to steal the strawberry from the mouse and convinces the mouse to share half of the strawberry with them.

Straight Talk for Librarians:  This is a lovely board book for two important reasons. It could easily be used in an early Spanish classroom so students can use the English translation to help them comprehend the Spanish. It could also be used in a higher level Spanish classroom where students could evaluate the accuracy of the English translation. In addition to its use in a Spanish classroom, it's a great example of a tricky first-person narrator who is unseen in the story but plays and important role in the plot. English and ELA classes could use it as a mentor text for surprising and creative ways to play with the point of view of a children's story.