Belfégor et l'orage and other (free) online story books

Goodness, it's been a long time since I sat down and tapped away here on my beloved blog and I have so many stories bustling around in my head dying to get out that today's post really should be about an altogether different subject.

It should be about the progress we're making on our bilingual adventure. It should be about the quirky, cute little sayings both Little Man and Poppette keep me endlessly entertained with. It should be about the bumps in the road that never seem to go away but still aren't big enough for me to throw in the towel.

So...that post will come and it will come soon. But for now, I want to leave you with a link to a set of super cute stories that you can listen to whilst looking at the pages of the book on your laptop, smartphone or tablet. My favourite is Belfégor et l'orage - the story of a little dragon who can no longer breathe fire...

Click here to access that story and twelve others.

Bonne lecture

Non-Native Treasure Trove: Everything there is to know about the summer

I've just ordered a new book and am super excited!

It's called Tout sur l'été and, if I'm totally honest, it's more of a purchase for me than it is for les enfants!

In a bid to keep up with Poppette's knowledge thirsty mind and French language needs, I'm trying everything I can to increase my own vocabulary so I don't get caught on the hop quite so often.

This book sounds like the perfect antidote to that all too common brain freeze.



It looks at pretty much everything you can think of that relates to the summer season split into three sections :- animal life, nature and daily life.

It explains scientific stuff (using a little character called Loupiote who shares his knowledge comic strip style) e.g. Why is the weather warm in summer? What causes thunder storms? Why do stars shine in the night sky? Why is it important to protect bees?

It also covers topics such flowers, insects, fruits and vegetables, all from the angle of what happens to them in the summer months. What's it like up a mountain in the summer months? Or by the sea? Why do cows produce more milk in summer?

There are also poems, rhymes, recipes and activities for the children to get involved in to help with their discovery.

A serious gem of a find.

The icing on the cake is that this book forms a part of a series. Yep... guess who'll be coughing up for a copy of Tout sur l'automne and Tout sur le printemps when the seasons begin to change!

I'll let you know whether it lives up to the hype and to my expectations when it arrives!

Now all I have to do is find time to read it. Oh Lordy.

UPDATE : 2nd May 2013

My book arrived a couple of days ago and I'm not disappointed! It's everything I had hoped for.

Here's a few photos of what you can expect to find inside:

All Aboard the Language Rollercoaster

Raising bilingual children can be a real rollercoaster. I've heard countless stories of children refusing to speak their minority language for a whole host of reasons, not least because they just 'prefer' the majority language.

Sometimes things seem to be going so well that I feel like I'm flying...On the days where my language skills feel on point, when Little Man (11 months) shows me that he understands what I'm saying when I speak to him in French and when Poppette (28.5 months) chatters away with me in French, singing impromptu French nursery rhymes and repeating lines from her favourite French cartoons.

On other days, that same rollercoaster has me down in the doldrums... self critiquing my every spoken word and my accent and questioning the very reason we pursue this bilingual goal for our family.

Now that Poppette expresses her own opinions and desires more and more, this creates another language rollercoaster.....the big dip last week came one evening when she point blank refused to let me read to her in French - "Pas français, Maman. Anglais! Non! Anglais!".... I capitulated and then spent the next few days panicking that this was the beginning of some slippery slope which would culminate, somewhere down the line, in Poppette refusing to speak French.

Looking back with a more objective mind, perhaps it was just another case of her expressing her individuality and right to make a choice just like she does everyday when she refuses to eat whatever was her favoutire food the day before or to wear what was, until that point, her favourite t-shirt.

Who knows!

Since then we've been on an extraordinary up ! So much so that I've been having to pinch myself every now and again.

Poppette has been really upping her French with me to the point of about 95% of all our communications. She even comes bounding in from English speaking nursery and switches immediately into speaking to me in French.

The morning after her insistence upon an English story, Poppette was watching Jake et les Pirates du Pays Imaginaire (Jake and the Neverland Pirates) and exclaimed "Oh Oh Maman, Crochet a piqué le coquillage d'Issey" [Oh oh Mummy, Captain Hook has pinched Issey's shell"].... I breathed a sigh of relief that it may not all be over just yet and gave her a big old hug.

I was really quite amazed this weekend when Poppette, who was really quite ill with a sickness bug, still maintained her French with me. I would have expected her to perhaps slip into English.... possibly because that's what I wanted to do in the first instance. In fact, when she first became ill, I actually spoke to her for a few moments in English, just to satisfy myself that I knew what was going on and that she was ok. I don't think I need have bothered. She is quite capable of telling me (and often in full sentences these days) what's going on.

Another indication that Poppette really does understand the fact that she is surrounded by two languages came this weekend when I was reading Mireille l'Abeille (Thanks for the recommendation Tallulah) to her. She pointed at the words on the page, looked up at Papa and said (in English) "It's French look! Papa can't read it" :D





I have resolved to try and be less reactive to these ups and downs and to remember that everything is a phase and that just as it's not helpful to let the downs dent my confidence nor is it a great idea to let the highs make me complacent because as sure as eggs is eggs there will be more tests around the corner!

That's My Girl

Poppette, who just turned 28 months old, came out with a corker today. We were sat in her room reading bedtime stories and she picked a new Lucy Cousins book Hooray for Fish which Papa had read to her for the past couple of days in English.

I started to translate on the hoof and Poppette looked up immediately and we had the following exchange:-

Poppette: Anglais [English]

Me: Tu veux que je te lise en anglais? [Do you want me to read to you in English?]

Poppette: Non. Papa anglais, Maman français. [No. Daddy English, Mummy French]

That's my girl :-D

Books Books Books

As I have mentioned before, Poppette is a real book lover.

She has a pile on the table by her night chair, ready for her bedtime stories.

She sleeps with her favourites lined up in bed with her (usually around nine or ten at a time).

She has two bookshelves in our dining room crammed with books and never puts the wrong book back on the wrong shelf (she must get this from Papa.....one look at his CD collection and you would understand what I'm talking about).

So... I thought I would start to share the different books that are proving a hit in our house. I know that, in the beginning, before Poppette started to express a preference for books, we spent fortunes on books that, in hindsight, were not worth the money. Hopefully, by sharing those that have been a big hit, I can help save you some pennies and some time :D

The book that Poppette has been asking for time after time for well over a month now is one that was given to us by a very kind Multilingual Maman who's children had outgrown the book in question. I would never have thought to buy this for Poppette or Little Man yet as it is proper story book with far more words than pictures (although the illustrations are lovely) and I hadn't realised that a toddler of Poppette's age could concentrate long enough to listen to that type of story. I was, of course, wrong :D

So I present to you Babar et Le Père Noël.



Babar has become a firm favourite of Poppette's ever since she was given the DVD, Le Roi Babar, as a gift by the same Multilingual Maman I mentioned above. The book tells the story of how Babar, upon hearing of his children's disappointment at not having received a response to a letter they have written to Father Christmas, decides to try and track him down and ask him if he will come and deliver Christmas presents to the young elephants living in Le Pays des Éléphants.

Poppette practically knows this story off by heart. A few days ago I overheard her telling herself the beginning of the story as she flicked through the first few pages....She actually said "Petit singe Zéphir dit [à] Arthur, Pom, Flore et Alexandre" (Zéphir, the little monkey, said [to] Arthur, Pom, Flore and Alexandre).... which is practically the first line of the book word for word... then she went on saying relevant words to tell the story as illustrated by the pictures on the following pages.

I don't think I will ever cease to be amazed hearing my children speak French. It's just so amazing and I am so proud of them.

Book Review : Be Bilingual

Just over a week ago,  I mentioned (here) that I had read a manuscript for a fantastic eBook on multilingualism. Well, I'm pleased to say that this book is now out on general release.

Seriously, I have said it before and I shall say it again - this is the one book I have found to be most useful out of all those I have read so far on the topic of bi/multilingualism.

The book takes a fresh approach to the subject matter by providing a summary of what the experts in the field have to say and then asking actual bilingual and multilingual families to talk about their actual experience on the ground. 

The real gem for me is the second part of the book which has tonnes of suggested resources and tried and tested ideas to help bi/multilingualism flourish in your family. The author herself is trilingual and has two bilingual daughters, so she has a wealth of personal experience to draw upon.

You can read a free excerpt of the book here or buy a copy for download on Amazon (by clicking here) currently at the seriously low price of £3.82. Also, if you click on the 'Look Inside' icon on the book cover on Amazon, you'll be able to see the chapter list which will give you a good idea of the scope of the book. Chapter 5 covers raising bilingual children in a non-native language :D

Non-Native Treasure Trove : L'oeil d'ailleurs

Poppette loves books.

Papa and I love books.

Little Man is surrounded by books and I hope to foster in him a similar passion for them too.

So... when I stumbled upon the wonderful blog l'oeil d'ailleurs, I literally jumped for joy :D

This little gem does an almost daily review of a wonderful array of children's books (including picture books, word books, classic fables and much much more) for children between the ages of 2 and 10.

I have found some amazing titles for Poppette and Little Man here. The next on my list is 'P'tit Biscuit ou l'histoire du bonhomme de pain d'épices qui ne voulut pas finir en miettes' [Little Biscuit or the story of the gingerbread man who didn't want to end up as crumbs]. You can read the L'oeil d'ailleurs review here.

Non-Native Treasure Trove : Il était une histoire

Il était une histore is a fantastic free resource overflowing with French stories, songs and nursery rhymes for children between the ages of 3 and 10.

It already boasts a catalogue of around 100 stories and a new story is added to the site every Friday.

An element that particularly appeals to me is the 'Documentaires' section which teaches children about different countries, the weather, various customs and much more.

To top it off, not only are the stories available to read, you can also opt to listen to them in MP3 format. Some even have a 'karaoke' option which allows children to read along.

A large part of the site is open for access to anyone. There's also a bonus section containing colouring pages, puzzles and printables if you register to the site.

For more information about how the site works, click here to see la visite guidée.

For those of you looking for English language activities to do with your children, you will also find an 'Anglais' section containing English stories and rhymes etc click here if you're interested.

9 Great Ideas for Exploring and Expanding Vocabulary

Poppette’s current favourite question is “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” [what’s this?], which, in itself, open’s up a whole world of opportunity to help her expand her vocabulary and knowledge of the world.

The truth is that, before I decided to speak my second language with my children, I had never given any thought at all as to the never ending ways that are available to us to practice and build language. I suppose it’s quite obvious when you think about it…absolutely every activity you ever undertake has scope for language building.

There are many, many ways that I try and help Poppette (and, of course, I will do the same with Little Man in time) to grow…feeding her curious mind and crafting a fun and educational environment for her to live and learn within.

So..without further ado, here’s a list of ideas we use in our home to promote language learning of both the native and non-native variety. I hope that this list will, in turn, give you some ideas or a framework to work around too.

I probably should point out that I am not suggesting that you badger your children by constantly talking and asking questions and disturbing their play :D Obviously, it's super important to leave children to indulge in independent, uninterrupted play. We don't use all of these ideas all of the time - we just pick and choose and pepper these things into our play now and again with great results. 

1 Block Play

I am in the process of trying to build a collection of blocks in all shapes and sizes. They are such a valuable learning material. Through block play, children learn about size, shape, weight and balance.

They can be used to recreate the child’s view of the world around them e.g. building castles, towers and bridges. They can also be used for counting practice and problem solving, helping children to hone their early maths skills.

Blocks provide huge scope for language practice.

Whilst your child plays with blocks, think about asking them questions to help them become more aware of what they are doing and to encourage them to try out new ideas.

2 Creative Arts & Crafts

Drawing, painting, sticking, moulding and gluing are not only great fun, they also provide fabulous language learning opportunities for children.

There are a multitude of great children’s craft blogs and Pinterest boards out there in both English and French. You can sign up to updates for many of these via email or through your blog reader.

I try and read as many French language versions as possible in order to build my own vocabulary. It’s a whole new world of vocab!!!

Arts and crafts open the door to your child to begin to express ideas and feelings, to discuss colour and texture and to learn to follow instructions in addition to learning to talk about the materials they are using.

3 Music and Movement

We do lots of singing and dancing. It’s great for burning off energy and also for learning to talk about physical activity. Spinning, turning, rolling, jumping, clapping….

We also love to play Jaques a dit [Simon says] e.g. Jaques a dit....lay on the floor, touch your nose, lift your arms about your head etc

We also spend a lot of time playing cache-cache [hide and seek]. It tickles me no end when we play because Poppette (who is not yet two) always hides in the same place and always peeps out to make sure you're coming to find her :D As I try to find her, I walk around the room saying things like “is she behind the sofa?….no”, “is she under the table?….no”, “is she in the wash basket?…no”…. a great way to practice prepositions and general vocabulary.

4 Books

We love books in our house. I can’t stress enough the value that I have found in reading. There are no two ways about it, my own vocabulary has increased hugely since I began reading all these wonderful children’s books in French.

Papa and I do like to read the same books in our respective languages so that it is easier for the children to absorb the vocabulary in both languages at the same time. It still blows my mind that young children do not get confused that things have more than one name. It’s just normal to them if you introduce both languages early enough.

5 Drama

Children love to make believe and role play.

Dressing up, playing at shops, hospitals, post offices etc using props to help deepen their understanding of how the world works.

In our OPOL household, when Poppette serves tea and cakes to maman and papa, she hears and uses the same vocabulary in each language. Tandem learning.

6 Toys & Games

When children are playing with their toys and games, it’s a great time to make observational comments or ask them questions to help them expand their thought process and understanding and unleash their inner creativity.

7 Cooking

We haven’t done much cooking yet but I am looking forward to doing more once Poppette and Little Man are ready for it. It’s a great way for children to learn to follow instructions and, also, for them to become mini scientists i.e. what happens when you add water to flour? What does it look like, how does it feel?

8 Outdoor Play 

Poppette loves to run, jump, swing, climb and slide. She used the French terms for each of these activities well before their English equivalents too.

Out in the fresh air, there is so much scope for discussion. We talk about the weather, the things we can see, the things we can touch. Encourage you child to see the world with wonder by asking questions as you walk along.

9 Water Play

Poppette loves water play. Another area ripe with descriptive vocabulary.

And the winner is......

ME!!!!!

Yes, you heard correctly and, believe me, I am as suprised as you are. Little old me that never wins a thing (well, apart from the toothbrush and toothpaste kit I vaguely remember winning courtesy of Colgate when I was a child).

I am a fan of Barefoot Books In France on Facebook and entered a competiton one day without even a slight flicker of a thought that I might win. So when Nicole (the host) contacted me to say I was the lucky winner of 25 Euros worth of Barefoot's books (of my choice), I was gobsmacked.

For those of you that do not yet know about Barefoot Books, it was the brain child of "two mothers who wanted their children to have books that would feed the imagination, while instilling a respect for diversity and a love of the planet." Today, they "are a world-wide community of writers, artists, storytellers, musicians, and others who are committed to providing timeless stories and captivating art that can help children become happy, engaged members of a global society." They have a wonderful selection of beautifully told stories with fabulous illustrations.

The icing on the cake, for me, was the fact that Barefoot carry a small number of French (and Spanish) bilingual books and I was able to pick four fabulous English/ French books that Poppette and Little Man will love.

I chose :-

Bear in Sunshine/ L'ours au soleil
Bear in a Square/ L'ours dans un carré
Bear at home/ L'ours à la maison
Bear in town/ L'ours dans la ville

These books are really simple. They have one short sentence per page which will help with vocab building around the theme of the book. The gorgeous illustrations then provide a great base for open ended discussion ... so far Poppette and I have been reading 'Bear in Sunshine' as I am, little by little, teaching her about the weather.

Whilst on the topic of weather.... Poppette astounded me when she woke up this morning .. as Papa carried her into the lounge, she pointed to the window and said (for the first time ever) 'pleut' i.e. il pleut (it's raining) and boy was it... the UK is practically submerged under water right now :D

La Passion du Papier.... My New Guilty Pleasure

As if I needed another excuse to spend money on building my bilingual resource mountain!!!

Just over a week or so ago, I stumbled upon La Passion du Papier and there's been no turning back. They stock bilingual books in several language pairs and also some great wall friezes.... I particularly like the weather frieze.

Originally, I had steered away from bilingual texts for reasons I can no longer recall. However, having received my first shipment, I can honestly say that it's a fantastic way to allow for both Maman and Papa to read comfortably to Poppette without the need for on the hoof translation one way or the other.

Now I'm just counting down the days until our weather wall frieze arrives. Poppette really seems to love learning about the weather and can already point out the sun and the snow so i'm looking forward to adding to this knowledge with such a beautifully illustrated tool.

George Saunders just landed on my doorstep.....

George Saunders is arguably the most well known non-native bilingual parent of them all. His book "Bilingual Children: From Birth to Teens" is held in the highest of esteem and has become somewhat of a bible for many people who are considering or who have already begun bilingual parenting.

Born in Australia, both George Saunders ("GS") and his wife speak English as their first language. GS also speaks German (and French) and, due to his great interest in language, linguistics and bilingualism, decided to raise his three Australian born children to be bilingual (English/ German). His book chronicles the process and contains a wealth of information and advice.

I have hunted high and low for this book. It is out of print and sells for a king's ransom. I thought all my Christmases had come at once when the local librarian found a copy on the library catalogue... only to see his crest fallen face moments later when he realised it had been nicked six years ago.

Oh well... King's ransom or not... I just have to read this book.

It arrived this morning. I can see me not getting much sleep this week as I try to cram all 258 pages in during Poppette's downtime.

Au Dodo Poppette

Despite always thinking that we would be one of those families that didn't pay too much attention to routines, now that Poppette is almost seven months old (boy how time flies), we have come around to the realisation that we could all do with a little more sleep in this house and that perhaps a routine might just be the way forward!

Common wisdom has it that babies thrive on routine and that the constant repetition of actions in the same order each night before bed might just make a baby catch on to the fact that they are supposed to go to sleep at the end....

Apparently, until the routine is etched into your baby's head, you should also make sure you read them the same story each night. For this part of our routine we have a great book which I can't recommend enough. It's called Au Dodo Les Animaux [C'mon animals it's time for bed ] and is a soft cloth book with a furry cover. The book is entirely in black and white and has pages which crinkle and little flaps on each page for your baby to lift up.

The story basically takes you through a young child's bedtime routine with each animal doing a particular activity e.g. getting undressed, putting on pyjamas, brushing their teeth, having a glass of water, having a story etc Each page has a short sentence on it which rhymes e.g. "Petit éléphant se brosse bien les dents" [Little elephant gives his teeth a good clean].

Poppette really seems to enjoy this story (or at least crinkling and chewing the pages) which ends with all the animals in one big bed and the line "Au dodo les animaux" and of course we always add "Au dodo Poppette".

She seems to be catching on - touch wood.