At the beginning of this summer, I set out to see how many Spanish picture books about the ocean I could find. I already had in mind a few from my post a couple years back (30+ Kids Books in Spanish for July), but I wanted to see what else was out there, and what else had maybe been published since 2018 when I wrote that original Spanish booklist for the summer.
I ended up with some great finds! I plan to share with you all my discoveries from independent online Spanish bookstores, to Scholastic, to Usborne.
First up for today are the Spanish books about oceans from Usborne (now sold by Paper Pie)!
What I love about Usborne:
- they ship SO quickly (at least in my experience)
- they have many Spanish options
- if you sign up as a consultant, you get 25% back on purchases which helps you save a little money!
What you may not love about Usborne:
- their books are translations from original English editions
- they do not focus on Hispanic culture and heritage
- the characters in their books are not as diverse as they could be (although I think they are working to improve this?)
Here’s what we got!
1001 cosas que buscar de vacaciones —This is a seek-and-find book. The website says it’s for ages 6+ but I feel like younger kids would like it too as long as an adult was there to help them read it.
This one is a great vocabulary builder for beginning Spanish learners. Each page spread has a super-detailed illustration of summer-themed scenes, and around the edges there are items singled out with the quantity of each you can find hidden in the picture.
**This title replaces 1001 cosas que buscar en el mar which I can no longer find on the Paper Pie (formerly Usborne) website. We own the ocean seek-and-find in Spanish, but this summer vacation one seems like a good substitute.**
Mares y océanos—I really love this lift-the-flap book! On Usborne’s website it says for ages 5 and up, but this book has more text than the one above, so an adult or bigger kid will need to be near by to read for the younger ones. I counted and there are 15-25 factoids on each page spread. This one is going to be great for me to get some good scientific vocabulary under my belt around the subject of marine biology!
Here’s one of the facts so you can get a feel for what level of reading it is: “Los chorlitejos picotean insectos entre las piedras. Como los huevos que ponen son moteados, pasan desapercibidos entre las piedras.”
Secretos de la costa—This little treasure might just be my favorite! I don’t know. Maybe it’s a tie between this one and the ¡Mira debajo! one. Either way, if you haven’t experienced Usborne’s “Shine-a-Light” series, you will want to snag this book! Each page has a secret image that you can illuminate by shining a light from behind the page you’re looking at.
This one is all about tide pools and the creatures that inhabit them.
Below is another ocean-themed book Paper Pie has available. We haven’t purchased it yet, but you might enjoy it!
If you’re looking for some pretty, Spanish, beach/ocean-themed flashcards – check out the ones from Bilingual Beginnings!
Are you learning about the ocean this month? Tell us what resources and books you’re enjoying in the comments!
