World language collections
Children's books in Chinese, French, Korean and Spanish as well as a growing sample of books in many other world languages.
My First Language Kits
Bright red cloth bags filled with a selection of children's pictures books and more. We have kits in over 25 languages.
World language collections
Chinese
- picture books, novels, nonfiction and audiobooks. List of titles
- CDs with children's songs in Cantonese or Mandarin. List of titles
- My First Language Kits in: simplified with Mandarin CDs; traditional with Mandarin CDs; traditional with Cantonese CDs
French
- picture books, novels, nonfiction, audiobooks and DVDs. List of titles
- nursery rhyme books and CDs with children's songs in French. List of titles
- My First Language Kits
- TumbleBook Library is available online in the library or at home. Animated, talking picture books which kids can read or have read to them in French. Puzzles and other activities add to the fun.
Korean
- picture books and novels. List of titles
- My First Language Kits
Spanish
- Bob Prittie Metrotown, McGill and Tommy Douglas have picture books. List of titles
- all branches have Spanish nursery rhyme books and children's music CDs. List of titles
- My First Language Kits
- TumbleBook Library is available online in the library or at home. Animated, talking picture books which kids can read or have read to them in Spanish. Puzzles and other activities add to the fun.
Other world languages
In addition to the My First Language (MFL) Kits, BPL has a small but growing collection of picture books in other world languages.
Browse a list of all children's other world language books and MFL Kits.
- To limit the list, select language(s) from the drop-down menu in the online library catalog (Bibliocommons); click on "include translations" to bring up all children's titles in the language you've chosen.
- If the language you're interested isn't shown or isn't immediately displayed, click on "include translations", then "show more" to reveal the complete list of languages.
My First Language Kits
Children's picture books and more in over 25 languages. These Kits provide parents and caregivers with materials and information to support home language development and cultural identity in the early years.
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Each MFL Kit contains:
- picture books
- a translated parent resource guide
- music CDs or VCDs and informational DVDs if available
Languages:
- Albanian
- American Sign Language (ASL)
- Arabic
- Chinese: simplified with Mandarin CDs; traditional with Mandarin CDs; traditional with Cantonese CDs
- Croatian
- Farsi
- Filipino
- French
- German
- Gujarati
- Hindi
- Hungarian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Kurdish
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Punjabi
- Romanian
- Russian
- Serbian
- Somali
- Spanish
- Tamil
- Urdu
- Vietnamese
How to borrow
- My First Language Kits are loaned free-of-charge to anyone with a Burnaby Public Library card
- Kits may be borrowed for 28 days
- language selection varies by branch
Background information
This family literacy initiative is designed primarily to reach new immigrant families with young children. In addition, the My First Language Kits are a valuable resource for more established families interested in maintaining first language use at home. Your First Language: a Precious Gift to Your Child, a one-page handout specially developed and translated for this project, in included in each resource guide. It is based on two solid research bases:
- early learning is critical to later success in reading
- a strong foundation in a child's home language enhances second language development, family bonds and personal well-being
Key outcomes of this initiative include:
- support for home language development and cultural identity in the early years
- enhanced community capacity for service providers and parent mentors
- stronger partnerships between the public library and organizations providing services to newcomer families
- greater capacity for Burnaby Public Library to deliver culturally appropriate service
Burnaby Public Library gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, Province of British Columbia, in developing the original set of My First Language Kits.