Grab some great readalongs!

Did you know that we feature book & CD sets in our children's collection? These sets are great for helping kids learn how to read, since they can see the words in the book as they listen to the audio track on the CD. We also have several sets to help your child learn another language, such as Spanish, French, or Italian. We just received a bunch of great new readalongs, so come on in to Children's Library or Mitchell Park and check them out. Below I have highlighted a few of my favorites:

The Saggy Baggy Elephant, by Byron Jackson

When I was in preschool, I listened to this readalong non-stop in the car. Of course, my childhood version was a cassette, not a CD! But even all these years later, the story of the little elephant Sooki and his saggy, baggy grey skin still resonates as a wonderful tale of self-acceptance.

This readalong version of the Little Golden Book classic features clear, pleasant narration and Gustaf Tenggren's whimsical illustrations.

Martina, the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, by Carmen Agra Deedy

The lovely, lush illustrations of this book are what initially drew me to it. It's evident that lots of care was put into crafting this retelling of the Cuban folktale. Apparently, the Odyssey award panel thought the same thing, because Martina was just named an Odyssey Honor Book for 2009. The Odyssey awards are given each year to audiobooks that show exemplary production values.

A Visit to Grandma, by Berlitz Kids

We have several titles in the Berlitz Kids "Adventures with Nicholas" collection. One of these titles is A Visit to Grandma, which we have available in three languages: Spanish, French and Italian. These books feature colorful illustrations and bilingual text (English and another language). If your child is interested in learning another language you might want to consider this series. They're a nice introduction to other languages, and the audio track helps to reinforce the language learning aspect.