Dual language edition: Very Hungry Caterpillar

Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar has long been a favorite of parents and children in the U.S. and in countries around the world. But did you know that Eric Carle speaks German and actually grew up in Germany? He moved to Germany at age 6 and stayed throughout high school. Read more about Eric Carle on his website at http://www.eric-carle.com/

The dual language English/German version of The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Die kleine Raupe Nimmersatt) tells the story of a little caterpillar who eats his way through an assortment of yummy treats throughout the course of a week. Kids can count along and actually see through the holes in the page that the caterpillar makes in the apples, oranges, blueberries, etc.

Kids will get experience with days of the week, counting to six, fruits and other foods, and the simple past tense.

This book makes a great present for new parents or those just starting out with German as it's simple to compare text with English and German side by side. This book is also available in boardbook (German only) format.

Go to Die kleine Raupe Nimmersatt. The Very Hungry Caterpillar (English/German) on Alphabet Garten.

So many books, so little time

I have been looking for convenient ways to let everyone know about all the great new German books coming in and decided what better way to do so than to start a blog! As you may know, Alphabet Garten is a home-based business so time is precious around here. :) But we do spend a lot of time reading the books we sell - so now hopefully we can tell you in a more informal way what we like about them.

Anyway, to the books!

Max und der Ball


Since we have our own Max and he loves balls, this book is very popular right now in our house! In fact, "ball" was one of his first word - a nice bilingual one at that. Both the English and German sides of the family can take credit.

This book is great for toddlers like Max because he really understands the whole book. It's about Max and how he doesn't want to share his ball with the cat. Here are a few sentences:

Max will den Ball haben. Die Katze faellt runter. MIAU MIAU. Max nimmt den Ball.

I have been searching for books at this level for months! We do have some at this level (notably Bobo Siebenschlaefer) but the vocabulary is often too much for elementary age beginners. So I'm pleased to have found this series. It's perfect for kindergarten and first grade!

The sentences are short and he likes the pictures. It's illustrated in a classic children's literature style. I've ordered several more in the series.