Rate this book

Before You Were Here, Mi Amor (2009)

by Samantha Vamos(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0670063010 (ISBN13: 9780670063017)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Viking Juvenile

review 1: This book is very interesting. I like it because it has bilingual elements, like "I drank mucha leche". This book is in both English and Spanish, with a Spanish glossary in the back. I would love for my children to personally read this because it discusses how babies are made and other loving things, but I could see how a parent would challenge this book in an elementary school classroom because not all parents want their children to know about the growing process. I really like this book, but I can see how others would not.
review 2: I really like this, even though I am very opposed to mixing languages the way the book does (but let me explain why!). It's a really cute, feel-good story about a mother telling her child what life was like when she waiting for t... morehe child to grow in her tummy and be born. The pictures are beautiful and complement the many things the mother shares with the child through her storytelling. The story makes you feel warm and fuzzy and I can imagine little kids really enjoying it. Having said that, I do have some issues with the fact that this book mixes English and Spanish. From a linguistic standpoint this is bad for the kids who read it because it doesn't create a clear separation between the two languages, which is ideal. I feel like if there was a Polish book that did this, I wouldn't like it because I would feel like it's marginalizing Polish (a language that I speak). So I wonder if Spanish speakers feel empowered by this mixing of languages or if they feel like it just weakens Spanish. Anyway, since it's a picture book I won't think too hard about it but I will say that I think I'd definitely recommend reading it to a non-Spanish speaker only because it would introduce kids to another language and culture in a relatively simple way. less

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