Author(s): Lynne Bentley

Picture Books

This new addition to Barron's popular "Let's Read! "language-learning books teaches kids a second language while entertaining them with an exciting adventure story. Each "Let's Read! " book is written in a bilingual format, which encourages kids who are independent readers in their own language to start learning a second language. Every two-page spread in this book presents a parallel text in French and English on facing pages. This format encourages young readers to compare the words and sentences in both languages and start out on a path toward bilingual fluency. As they read, children discover that they don't need to learn every single new word that they encounter in the new language. Instead, they soon find themselves picking up meanings effortlessly by seeing the new words in the story's context, just as they pick up and understand new words in their own language. The parallel text, illustrations, and dialogue balloons give kids a child-friendly bridge to reading and speaking in a new language.