If there was one thing on my “to do list” in Puerto Rico that I had “to do” no matter what was to buy books in Spanish. Sure, you can buy books on-line; but truth be told there is nothing like walking into a book store to buy books! Little man, and I had a great time looking through all of the selection of Spanish books. Every time he saw one that he liked he’d say, “¡Mamá este!” (“Mommy this one!”). I had to have him pick which ones he really wanted. We were in book heaven, and I really wanted to buy them all!
I was thrilled when I came across the Spanish workbooks, and they come in three subjects per grade: “Lectura y Ortografía” (Reading and writing), “Gramática” (Grammar), and “Matemáticas” (Mathematics). I purchased the workbooks from Pre-K through 4th grade. Little one just started kindergarten, and I could start him off with the Pre-K, and continue with kindergarten.
My greatest find was the activity and coloring book “Habláme de Puerto Rico” (Tell me about Puerto Rico). It’s a summary of the history of Puerto Rico. It starts with the story of the Arawaks, and how the Taínos came to be all the way to Puerto Rico in the present day. I will use this book as a springboard for little one’s Puerto Rico history lessons.
Among our treasures you will find workbooks, the season sticker books, short stories, a book about tools, and animals, and our favorite the story of the enchanted coquí. I love the variety of the books that I purchased, and I’m confident that these will help my son in his Spanish language learning.
Now the question was how was I going to bring these back home? I could very well pack them in our luggage, but the airline has a weight restriction (books are heavy). Or I could pack them in our carry-on, but then I opted to mail them via medial mail. This is much cheaper than regular mail, or priority mail.
If you’re traveling to a country with your target language I encourage you to purchase books. You will be pleasantly surprised with your finds. 🙂 You don’t need to buy tons of books, but at least find one or two in your target language that you or your child really love.
Have you had the opportunity to travel, and purchase books in your target language? Share with me your treasures. Pin, like, comment or share!
I'm going to Puerto Rico in less than a month to visit family and I'm going to take advantage of the opportunity to buy books (we don't have textbooks or many resources at the school where I teach). Which bookstore did you go to?
Hello Frances! (We share the same name, and funny enough my Mom's maiden name is Santiago).
I'm not sure what part of the island you're going to, but I was in the North/West (Arecibo, Hatillo, Quebradillas & Manatí) The bookstore I went to was Libreria Educativa and Libreria KG both located on road #2 (carretera #2) between Arecibo and Hatillo. I also found Spanish workbooks in a store called Allways 99 in Manatí they were all 99 cents! In Quebradillas I found some books too in a place called La Granja, Bo. Terranovas also on road #2 (they sell souvenirs, dulces típicos, frituras, and books!)
Hope this helps! Thank you for stopping by!
What great finds! We stock up on books every time we travel and packing them for the return trip is always a challenge. Sounds like you are well stocked now!