Best Bilingual Portuguese-English Books for Babies and Toddlers
If you want to raise bilingual children, curating a library of quality literature in both languages is absolutely necessary. In this post, we share seven of the best bilingual Portuguese-English books that are gorgeously illustrated, linguistically robust, easy on the pocketbook, and readily available.
Raising Bilingual Children Series, Part 1
I wish that finding bilingual books in the USA were a bit easier.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of many authors, educators, and publishers, there are a plethora of Spanish-English titles on school and bookstore and library bookshelves. But languages outside of this common pairing are few and difficult to find in good quality.
When we had our first son, we wanted to stock our home with plenty of bilingual titles that both Mommy and Papaí could read aloud. We figured that hearing the same story in two languages would help develop our little guy’s understanding and linguistic skills.
So we searched for some to add to our baby registry and found a handful. Of that handful, probably 50% had quite negative reviews: the translation was not accurate…or the text was awkward in Portuguese…or the illustrations were uninteresting and dated…
Sigh.
That was 2018. Thankfully, in the three years since then (I’m writing this post in mid-2021), we have found a few more books to add to our family library, and we have made our list of top favorite bilingual books based on our son’s affection for his livros.
Best Portuguese-English Bilingual Books
We have put together a list of the best bilingual Portuguese-English books to help you.
These books hold appeal for young children in general, not just boys or girls. The vocabulary is helpful, the pictures are gorgeous and engaging, and the read-aloud time is priceless.
The publisher of several of the books on this list, Star Bright Books, has a vast variety of languages and titles available directly on their website. You might want to bookmark their page and check it occasionally if you are in a bilingual resourcing position or are a bilingual parent.
Are you ready to stock your bookshelves? Let’s go!
1. Best Bilingual Portuguese-English Books: Kitten’s Adventure / As Aventuras do Gatinho by Michele Coxon
This is the one book that we can guarantee on any given day our son will ask us to read aloud–usually at least four times. The gorgeous illustrations feature farm animals (cows, birds, pigs, horses, chickens, mice, insects, and–of course–cats). We love that our son is learning the names for animals (a very age-appropriate group of vocabulary) in both Portuguese and English. Making animal sound effects is obviously required, and we take advantage of the opportunity to teach these sounds in both languages, too.
2. Best Bilingual Portuguese-English Books: Clams All Year / Mariscos o ano todo by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
An endearing tale of annual family traditions. The text was a bit long for our son when he was one (or even two) years old, but it serves perfectly for a bedtime read-aloud or a simple picture walk (link to article) through a book. Sometimes, I read (or summarized) snippets from each page to fit within my toddler’s attention span. As children grow, the book can grow with them to include the entire text.
3. Best Bilingual Portuguese-English Books: Good Night, Little Sea Otter! / Boa Noite, Lontrinha do Mar! By Janet Halfmann and Wish Williams
Oh. My. Word. The illustrations in this book! I don’t know who appreciates them more: me or my son. Each page is teaming with beautiful sea creatures in vivid and magical colors. I especially love the underwater scenes. The text is rather long (similar to Clams All Year), but it includes animal sounds and lots of “goodnights” to liven it up. At such an inexpensive price, this book is a gem for both sight and ear.
As of this post, the Portuguese-English version is not available on Amazon.com. However, you can order directly from the publisher (Star Bright Books) or through eBay.
4. Best Bilingual Portuguese-English Books: Hip! Hop! / Upa! Upa! by Catherine Hnatov
High-contrast pictures and simple text make this book especially appropriate for two years and younger. We began reading this book with our first soon after he came home from the hospital. The sounds and clear illustrations fascinated him.
5. Best Bilingual Portuguese-English Books: The Toddler’s Handbook by Dayna Martin
This–next to Kitten’s Adventure–is one of our son’s favorite books still to this day. It is one of the absolute best bilingual Portuguese-English books for building vocabulary.
The idea is simple: a vocabulary book. But the photographs are engaging, and our little guy loves to “read” the book because he can easily recall the vocabulary words for each picture.
My only quibble with this particular title is that the alphabet is organized solely according to the English word (“A for alligator), while the Portuguese word (jacare) seems to just take second place. I would prefer that the alphabet have a word in English and a word in Portuguese that begin with the letter being named, even if those words are not referring to the same object.
There are many languages available. I wish the author and publisher would develop more in the series to be bilingual, because I would snatch them all up.
6. Are You My Baby? / Você é o meu bêbe? by kathleen rizzi
Who doesn’t love a lift-the-flap book, especially when it involves baby animals? The search of mommy animals for baby animals (and vice versa) can be fascinating for a toddler, and my son still loves any books with this quest. Animal sounds in both languages accompany the text.
As of this writing, this book is only available used through Amazon.com. I suggest searching on the StarBright Books website for this book, as it is too cute to miss.
7. My first Bilingual Book: Home / Casa
This simple picture walk through a house provides bilingual kids with the vocabulary they need to talk about everyday objects. My son loved matching the items in the illustrations with his real-life objects. It also is a good book for color studies, though the colors aren’t named in the book itself.
There are multiple topics available in this board book series: animals, clothes, colors, etc. We have not yet had the privilege of getting our hands on these books, but we would love to have them on our bookshelf someday.
You can buy this (and other bilingual Portuguese-English board books) directly from Milet Publishing’s website. There are also a few of the books available through Amazon.com. And you can find a similar book here.
Concluding Thoughts
Truly, a library of good literature is essential to raising a bilingual child literate in both languages. We applaud you on your dedication to giving your child the gift of dual-lingualism, and we cheer you on your journey.
Hopefully this list helps you to find some quality resources that your family can use for years to come.
Have other book recommendations? We are always on the lookout for more books to add to our home library–especially if they are in Portuguese and English. Share your beloved book titles in the comments below!
Until Next Time,
