Josy’s Little Library: Starter Books for a French Children’s Library

This whole website was inspired by a simple idea: create a collection of books for my bilingual, French-American daughter that would allow her the best of both literary worlds. Blog posts labeled “Josy’s Little Library” are discussions of English and French books that are on Josy’s ever-expanding bedroom bookshelf.

Some are for now, some for later; some are new purchases to keep up with the times, others have been dug out of my own dusty childhood collection, passed down from our ancestors, or found in second-hand bookshops across the world. Still others come from libraries in both the US and France.

French books are labelled with a French level, age level in terms of content, lexical categories that can be expanded by reading the book, and if the books have been translated into English for anyone interested in adding French literature to their own collection! And for our French audience, the same for the English ones. Don’t hesitate to contact us with your own recommendations or your own work!

In our home, we use the one-parent-one-language method with our bilingual child, meaning Dad speaks to Josy in his native French and I speak my native English. The same goes for reading. We therefore added must-have books in both languages to Josy’s library before she was even born so that each parent would have plenty of reading material in their native tongue.

It can seem ridiculous to read to children at such an early age, but we are convinced that the earlier the child hears the language, the more comfortable they’ll be with it. Plus, it’s a helper for the parents, too: they say to speak to your baby as much as you can to develop language abilities and emotional connections, but what happens when you run out of things to say? Open a book, of course! This is a big help to me, as I’m not a talker.

Note: This article has the words “Children’s Library” in the title… but I learned fluent French by mostly reading children’s and Middle Age books plus lots of cartoons and graphic novels. Seeing words in context and associated with images is the most effective way to truly assimilate foreign languages and be able to produce from memory words that you've seen in print or heard spoken aloud. After all, it mirrors the way we naturally learn languages as a child. This theory has proved effective over and over again in my EFL teaching.

With no further ado, here were our essential categories for starting Little Bilingual Baby off on her love of French and literacy, and making reading an enjoyable moment for both her and the parents:

1. Nursery Rhymes

… because music is… well, music to a baby’s ears! We enjoy this board edition with buttons to listen to each one so that I can read it even when Dad isn’t there and not pass on my less-than-perfect French accent. It’s called Mon premier recueil de comptines by Editions Milan

French level: Beginner/A2-B1

Age level: 0+

Lexical fields: Animals, instruments, nature, plants, hunting

Translated into English: Not this edition

2. Wordless Books

Scholastic has this great collection of wordless books, meaning that parents in multilingual families can invent the story they want, in the language they want. Two books in one!

French level: As you'd like!

Age level: 0+

Lexical fields: Animals, sports, nature, plants, colors, movement

3. Animals

Animals are such a fun way to introduce kids to the natural world! Our pick is Ma petite ferme by Kimane Editions, with pieces the child can detach and reassemble.

French level: Beginner, A2

Age level: 0+

Lexical fields: Animals, nature, plants

Translated into English: Not this edition

4. Fairy Tales

We have many, but the prettiest is this Mon recueil de contes, Editions Pierre du Soleil, Editions Auzou, cover by Katia de Conti / Little Golden Books. Interestingly, some fairy tales are unique to France, and I didn't learn them growing up.

French level: Intermediate/B1

Age level: 4+

Lexical fields: Animals, instruments nature

Translated into English: Not this edition

5. Books with famous characters

I’ll admit I added these ones more for me than for Josy… knowing the names of famous fairy tale, TV and movie characters is important even in adult conversations or for understanding jokes in French movies. One example of the many on Josy’s bookshelf is Winnie the Pooh, which you now know how to say in French: Winnie l’Ourson!

French level: Intermediate/B1-B2

Age level: 5+

Lexical fields: Animals, qualities, emotions, plants, verbs

Translated into English: No

6. A book with the child’s name

Once they start to recognize their name, babies can’t get enough of hearing it! We chose Joséphine by Chloé Alméras and Editions Sueil Jeunesse. This was also important because Josy only recognized her name in English at first since she had spent more time in English-speaking environments in the first months of life.

French level: Beginner/A2-B1

Age level: 3+

Lexical fields: Animals, verbs, nature, emotions

Translated into English: No

7. Something antique passed down from the family (not for baby’s hands yet!)

Of course, this will be unique to your family. We have Recueil de Rondes avec Jeux et de Petites Chansons- Charles Lebouc, which is estimated to have been published in the 19th century and has been stored in an attic ever since.

French level: Intermediate/B1-B2

Age level: 0+

Lexical fields: Toys, people, animals

Translated into English: No

8. A Book that explains why Mom and Dad speak so differently and have different traditions

Okay, we don’t have this type of book because we haven’t found the perfect one yet, but Mom is planning on writing one someday...

Is there anything you would add?

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