Back on Track

New reviews coming soon! I'll be importing my work from the past two years, but in the meantime,
I'm reclaiming my small place on the web.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Children's Book Review

Bonjour L'Enfant!: A Child's Tour of France
by Danna Troncatty Leahy
ISBN-10: 1425965210
Review by Heather Froeschl

Children's books that are engaging and a learning tool? But of course! In Danna Troncatty Leahy's children's book, "Bonjour L'Enfant!" the youngest of children can become fascinated with France and learn a French word, or two, or fifty!

Young Michael shares his scrapbook and explains how he and his parents, his little sister Elizabeth, and his teddy bear Globe, travel to France, dance and sing by the River Seine, and eat French foods. They visit the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum, see the Tour De France, and admire Monet's Garden. Through it all, Michael engages the reader by naming the French words for colors, numbers, and days of the week and enticing children to say them too. Important conversational words such as yes, please, thank you, and the much needed French fries, are also included. Michael happily shares his adventures and gently broadens the worldview of children everywhere.

Leahy's "Bonjour L'Enfant!" is a delightful expedition into the great unknown for children to explore. Seeing the world as a bigger place than our own little environment, with people who are excitingly different and foods that are deliciously new (or comfortingly the same), is a great benefit to children, whether in preparation for a trip of their own or for the simple pleasure of reading. The book offers a more formal lesson in language in the back, with pronunciation and meanings of the words mentioned through out the story. With illustrations that are colorful and engaging, and characters that are fun and likeable, this second in a series of children's books is a delight. The series is sure to be a hit with parents and children alike.

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