These books and their companion CD's feature nursery rhymes in English and Spanish. The illustrations offer great insight into the rich culture of the Southwestern United States, particularly in the Humpty Dumpty & Friends book. Our entire family enjoys listening to the CDs during trips in the car because the songs are traditional rhymes rather than watered-down pop songs.

Having the rhymes printed in both languages allows visual learners to follow along and learn how to read the second language and make the connection between the sounds of the words and their spellings. Pre-readers and auditory learners will appreciate hearing the rhymes sung or recited in both languages and everyone can work on their accents thanks to such excellent examples.

My preschooler and I have enjoyed both of these titles, but our favorite of the two is Humpty Dumpty & Friends. Many more of the illustrations include Southwestern themes, including holiday décor for Christmas. I recently overheard my daughter singing "Rock-a-bye, Baby" and realized she was trying to sing the song in both languages as she'd heard them on the CD! While listening to nursery rhymes and children's songs may not make us fluent in Spanish, it has certainly helped me better tune my ear to the accents. We are all looking forward to hearing more offerings from Star Light Press.



--Product Review by Melonie K. Murray, Market Development Manager, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine