Long-winded way to talk about our favorite Spanish books

It took eight years to convince my husband to have a child. When we would talk about this maybe baby and I would argue it would bring us “comic relief’’ he would say this child of ours – if and when he consented — would have to behave, not watch TV and speak Spanish. (We’re batting 1 out of 3). So, it really has been at my husband’s encouragement that we make Spanish a focus. Credit where credit is due. It would be very easy to slip into whatever-ville if he were not here to support the effort.
So, when pregnancy finally happened – just weeks prior to the tenth year of our marriage – we started asking bilingual friends in Tennessee (yes, there are others) how they managed to pass on the palabras. Two people who gave us great advice are originally from Costa Rica and Mexico. Both are married to Americans from the South. They told us I should speak only Spanish to our child and that I should read only Spanish books. It’s how the linguists say we should do it too.
The guy friend – a tall and imposing figure – also said he makes his children repeat in Spanish whatever they say to him in English.
“They eventually figure ‘Oh, this guy is going to make me repeat myself, so I might as well just say it in Spanish first and get it over with,’’’ he explained.
I have chosen not to force the Spanish in that way. I am not big and imposing and honestly, my kid is too hard-headed for that.
But, the point of this post, is to say good Spanish baby books have been a godsend. Gracias, Amazon! Somehow we discovered books for tiny babies like this one, which I have read to Maria since she was barely human. Even then, she loved looking at the pictures of other babies.
As she got a little bigger we started using the fabulous My First Spanish Word Book by DK Publishing and though she is now 3, we still read these books. They support our vocabulary. I say “our’’ because I learn new words right along with her. (Other favorites here and here.)
All this is on my mind because there’s a little half-Cuban 4-month-old in New Jersey whose Tia is getting ready to buy books for. Lots and lots of Spanish books that her dad can read to her and tune her ears to understanding her flan-loving, pork-roasting, salsa-dancing, crazy-making familia.

If you have some favorite Spanish kid books to list, I’d love to know.