Learning About Cultures and Languages Through Books

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I’m always interested in building my library to include diverse books for kids that expose my little ones to different cultures. Tuttle Publishing recently sent me an assortment of ABC rhyming books that introduce children to words that relate to different cultures.

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Everyday words that are significant to each culture are represented by each letter of the alphabet.  The text is simple and brief which is appealing to preschoolers.  Though you could definitely use the books with older children too.

The preface of each book explains the sounds of each language and explains a little about each language.  Each book contains familiar words such as body parts, moon, saying goodbye, etc.   There are also several words that are significant and recognizable to each culture.

My First Book of Chinese Words by Faye-Lynn Wu

This was one of my favorite books that we received.  You will learn about chopsticks, tea, lanterns, rice and more as you follow a Chinese family through their day.

My First Book of Korean Words by Henry J. Amen IV

Explore gimchi or kimchi, Taekwondo, and won (currency of Korea) as you learn all about Korea.

My First Book of Japanese Words by Michelle Haney Brown

Join Kenji and his friends as they introduce us to words such as Futon, onigiri (a yummy rice ball treat) and sensei.

All of the books are beautifully illustrated by Aya Padron.  The illustrations do a great job bringing the vocabulary to life.

You can also visit Tuttle Publishing’s page to hear the words spoken aloud.  This really comes in handy to someone not familiar with the language!

If you would like to expose your children to different languages and cultures, I highly recommend this series of books.  It’s so gratifying to see more and more publishers making multi-cultural books available.

Do you expose your  children to different languages and cultures?  Have you found books that you really like?  Please share your ideas.

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