5 Great Spanish Language Read-Alouds for 5 and 6 year olds

Last year, I had the privilege of coming in to my son's Kindergarten classroom as a volunteer Spanish language teacher before work and reading to my daughter's pre-K immersion classroom. It was so fun to see them in their elements and share some of my favorite books and songs with their classmates. Picking the right book to read always felt a little nerve-wracking! It had to hold the attention of 10 pre-K students or nearly 20 kindergarteners, keep them seated for at least 10 minutes, and the illustrations and stories had to be fun enough to engage them even if they didn't understand all of the Spanish words. These are the 5 Spanish language picture books that we most enjoyed for read-alouds last year. The illustrations in all of these books are top notch, and the stories lend themselves to a lot of fun sound effects and changes in voices which kept the kids entertained and laughing.

Ni Guau ni Miau by Blanca Lacasa and Gómez

This is the story of a dog who doesn't always like to do dog things like playing fetch or even bark. His owner, Max, goes on the hunt to figure out why and what truly makes his dog happy! 

Three reasons why Ni Guau, Ni Miau makes a great read-aloud for a Spanish classroom:

1. The vibrant illustrations catch and keep the kids' attention. They can even try to learn to draw the pup afterwards.
2. It's silly! This is a dog that does some unexpected things!
3. Kids have fun making the dog and cat sounds in Spanish! Miau! Guau! 

¡Buen Camino, Celestino! by Gracia Iglesias and Sara Sanchez

Gracia Iglesias and Sara Sanchez are my favorite author/illustrator duo I've come across yet. And this new(ish) book in the series that started with Marcelina en la Cocina is so funny. Celestino is a penguin who is going on a trip. While he aims to travel light, his friends keep presenting him with items he just can't leave behind!

Three reasons why this book is one of my favorite Spanish read-alouds and always a hit!

1. The story is told in rhyming verses which just makes it so fun and beautiful to listen to!
2. The illustrations are so colorful, happy, silly and detailed! Kids want to dig into every page. 
3. It's all of the silliness that pre-K and Kinders love and they can guess what else Celestino might take on his trip.

¡Shh! Tenemos un Plan by Chris Haughton

Chris Haughton's books have such unique illustrations - they are bold and somewhat monochromatic, but they tell the story beautifully. A group of bird-catchers experiences some challenges on their adventures, and the story has some lovely messages to share. Though this book is super simple, it's the one that the kids most engaged with.

The reasons I love this Spanish language picture book for sharing with a classroom:

1. It has the perfect level of repetition to get little ones to start reading the words with you!
2. It has a bit of an unexpected twist which always surprises kids!
3. The illustrations make me want to just hang this one up on the wall in a frame
4. And a bonus....you can read this book to a classroom of kids that mostly don't speak Spanish, and they will totally understand it and learn a few words!  

Un Lobo con Mucha Hambre by Silvia Borando

This is another simple, yet beautiful book. It's about a very hungry wolf and some animals that try to help each other out to escape him.

I love this book for reading aloud especially for newer learners of Spanish because:

1. It has pretty simple text with a lot of repetition so the kids can start repeating the sentences along with you.
2. It's a great way to introduce some unique animal names. 
3. This one has lots of opportunities for changes in voice and tone, from whispering to frustrated sighs! It's easy to switch things up to keep listeners engaged. 
4. And this is another one that you can easily read to a classroom of mostly non-Spanish speakers and still have them super interested and learning some new words!

¿Quién soy?

This is a fun rhyming book that I wrote but never sent to print. It is a book that doubles as a mask, and on each page there's a short poem about an animal. The catch is you don't know which animal the poem is about, and the kids have to guess. The kids had so much fun guessing, and I was impressed by their animal knowledge! This book isn't in print yet so would love your feedback on whether it's something y'all would be interested in? In the meantime, try reading this page to your little and see if they can guess the animal! 

I was surprised at how fun this Spanish picture book was in a classroom!

1. This is a great interactive Spanish book - kids have to listen carefully so they can guess the animal.
2. Spanish books with rhyming verses make me very happy! And I think they do the same for the listeners! 
3. The book doubles as a mask so the kids love passing it around after listening.

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