Over the years we’ve received many emails inquiring about bilingual, specifically Spanish language, storytime resources. Though I grew up in California and took over four years of Spanish in high school I don’t program in Spanish in my current job. But that doesn’t stop the librarian in me from wanting to do the research! I’ve compiled all of the websites, books, and songs I could find on this topic. If you know of something I missed, please leave a comment so I can add it in! I view this post as a living document that will constantly be updated as new resources become available.
Looking for languages other than Spanish? Dana wrote a guide to Multilingual Storytimes.
Courses
- Bilingual Storytime at Your Biblioteca – Register now! Runs November 5 – 30th, 2018
- Infopeople’s Survival Spanish for Library Staff – Includes online workbook and audio tracks
Professional Development Books
- Once Upon a Cuento: Bilingual Storytimes in English and Spanish by Jamie Campbell Naidoo and Katie Scherrer
- Every Child Ready to Read® @ your Library® Toolkit for Spanish-Speaking Communities by ALSC
- Dígame un cuento / Tell Me A Story: Bilingual Library Programs for Children and Families by Elida Guardia Bonet, Paola Ferate-Soto, Josefina Rodriguez-Gibbs, Nohemi Lopez and Maricela Moreyra-Torres (available for free online!)
- ¡Hola, amigos! A Plan for Latino Outreach by Susana G. Baumann
- ¡Bienvenidos! ¡Welcome!: A Handy Resource Guide for Marketing Your Library to Latinos by Susannah Mississippi Byrd
- The Bilingual Book of Rhymes, Songs, Stories and Fingerplays: Over 450 Spanish/English Selections by by Pam Schiller and Rafael Lara-Alecio
Webinars
All of the webinars listed here are free.
- Bilingual Storytimes: Reaching Through the Language Barrier
- Before Bilingual Storytime: The Outreach Bridge to Engaging Latino and Spanish-speaking Families
- Bilingual Storytimes: Building Early Literacy and Community
- Planning, Doing, and Sustaining a Successful Bilingual Storytime
Songs and Rhyme Videos
- K Librarian: YouTube channel with storytime songs in Spanish by a Youth Services Librarian
- StoryBlocks in Spanish: Part of the Colorado Libraries for Early Literacy project featuring song and rhyme videos
- Washington County Rimas in Espanol: A playlist of 31 videos of rhymes and songs in Spanish
- Alina Celeste: YouTube channel with songs for kids in Spanish
- Burnaby Public Library’s Spanish songs and rhymes: Song and rhyme videos part of the Embracing Diversity project
- Basho and Friends: Original content by performer and educator Basho
Websites
- Bilingual Resources by Utah State Library: Includes sample scripts and tips for bilingual storytime
- Reforma: Bilingual Storytime Resources
- Earlier is Easier in Spanish: Includes excellent information about early literacy development in Spanish
- Colorin Colorado: A bilingual site for educators and families with English language learners
- Every Child Ready to Read Spanish Video Clips in Spanish: Early literacy tips in Spanish
- Latinxs in Kid Lit: Includes reviews of books written and illustrated by Latinxs
Blog Posts
- Spanish Resources from Saroj Ghoting: Includes handouts for parents and lots of other good early literacy resources
- Es Divertido: A blog where people share books and songs for bilingual storytime
- Miss Mary Liberry – Mary is a children’s librarian who shares ideas for Spanish Storytime
- Kid approved themes for Spanish and bilingual storytimes
- Titles for a Tune-Filled Bilingual Storytime
- Bilingual Storytime: What Is It? How Do I Do It? Will Anyone Come?
- Bilingual Storytime Resources: Holly wrote a blog post with a bunch of different resources, including her own storytime plans. You can also see her songs and rhymes.
- ¡Bienvenidos! Outreach and Publicity for Spanish Speakers
- Hispanic Heritage Month Music and Movement Program
Please feel free to leave a comment with advice, tips, or resources related to running a bilingual storytime program! If you know of resources for bilingual storytimes in languages other than Spanish and English let me know and I’ll create a separate section at the end of the post for those.
Hi girls,
I find your website, and all you do ,very interesting.
My name is Federica Dal Bosco, I’m Italian and I’m EFL preschool and primary school teacher with the passion for music. I’m also a singer and songwriter, when it is possibile 🙂
I’m working as a English/Italian teacher , but I’m also attending a Master at the University of Urbino (Italy) and writing my final thesis on bilingual pedagogies in dual language preschool classrooms.
Keep up the good job.
Cheers.
Fdb
Hi chicas !!!
I am currently working for a library in CT and starting my bilingual story time next month, so all the info here has been really helpful!
Muchas gracias and wish me luck!
Buena suerte! So glad this guide has proven useful 🙂
Hi!! I’m a bilingual Latinx person and just starting bilingual storytimes in PA. Mind if I pick your brain? I’m looking for good and preferably long lists of bilingual books for preschoolers, but having some trouble so far!
Ojala te fueron bien los tiempos de cuentos en 2018!! x) y buena suerte hoy tambien :p
Gracias!
Besides looking through the links listed above I’m afraid I won’t be of much help. Lindsay Delaney who has a blog shared that a few publishers/sources to check including Arte Publico/Pinata books, many scholastic picture books, and Blue Apple Books’ Hola English series have dual language text. You can check out her blog here: https://meetlindsay.wordpress.com/
Thank you! I’ve meant to reply this for a while now. 🙂
I learned some great songs in Spanish with Long Beach Public Library.
It’s so great to have so many sources of songs and rhymes in other languages thanks to virtual storytimes. Thanks for sharing Long Beach Public Library’s channel!
Thank you for sharing the link to this! I was looking for a virtual story-time that is in both English and Spanish.
Thank you! I’ve definitely been using Long Beach Public Library’s channel. As well as José-Luis Orozco for more lovely songs: https://www.youtube.com/user/JoseLuisOrozco7/videos
And it can take a while finding the right song sometimes, but I’ve gotten better at looking up songs in Spanish by theme and then shortening/modifying them as necessary to be more digestible for younger participants during storytime.