German/English books for 5 yr old?

[Newtoday]

English is L1, she is slowly starting to learn German.

In Ireland and so she won't learn to read fully until age 6-7, so I'll be reading with her.

Thank you!

Hi,

What do you want to do, read to her, read with her or teach her to read in German?

If she doesn't know German at all, I would try more picture books, there are lots who exist in both language like Julia Donaldson. She knows the story so less of an irritation that she can't understand much.

A good option to learn German are music CDs of nursery rhymes or Rolf Zuckowski, most children in Germany know him.. DVD of characters she knows in English can help her hearing it without needing to know the plot.

If she wants to learn to read, Leserabe is a good choice, it comes in stages, matching the German school system. Amazon.de has lots and I also got them via Amazon.co.uk to save postage. There are also books like "Parent read - child read" where you and the child take turns in the sentences.

Thank you. I don't want to teach her to read yet, though those are great options for the future.

I'd like to read to her and help her pick up some german words and phrases.

I've a PhD in second language acquisition and bilingual education but with my daughter I just want us to enjoy reading together, with her picking up some words and phrases. Reading isn't something I will push and as a result she loves books, I read to her every night and have done since she was tiny, so I'm sure it'll be fun to use her imagination and get a few german words in that way.

That's why I'd rather have personal recommendations. We've lots of german books at home, but books designed for this purpose would be great.

Do you have a kindle? Amazon does books & apps in foreign languages. I use them regularly with my kids. You can even get some basic pre- school apps in different languages. (You have to check which languages are supported & change in "setting".) They are great for teaching words or phrases.
BUT be aware, some are better than others- unless you are fluent in the choice language I'd stay well away!

Ok, then I would try to get some bi-lingual books. I know you get for example Dora the explorer in Spanish/English, I am sure Amazon has something like this German/English. That may be easier to get her to hear words. Or get a picture dictionary and just teach her words for fun.

It also depends a lot on your goal. It may sounds harsh but a PhD is not necessarily the same as living a bi-ligual life, a lot of words are connected with culture and come because the parent knows it from its own life. I had terrible trouble learning lots of "Children-English" when DD was born, it took a while and I still have times when a word is missing.

There is great Usborne German/english kids book, where u press the buttons and learn the words (speaker says the words). Very good! My daughter can do on her own, but does it with French.

Sounds great mamabear can you provide a link? Thank you!

Ah, found it!

Ah just, saw you asked for the link. Glad you found it. My daughter likes to sit with the book before she goes to bed and presses the button. She repeats the word after she hears them. I only wish they had more books like these! It helps for someone who does not speak the language and it also gives the child some independence to learn the language a bit if they want to before bed etc. I hope your DD likes it. My daughter is 5 in a few months so I think its a good age for the book.