The Frenglish Boy / Le Garçon Franglais: Bilingual Children's book in English and French (Proud to be bilingual)

I love the illustrations in this book and I would have loved to be able to read it to my, now grown up, bilingual children. The story highlights the difficulties of being different (bilingual and influences by two cultures) but also its advantages and values. I thinks the book could appeal to both French and British bilingual young readers. The French translates perfectly in English and vice versa but the fact that it is not a word for word translation makes me wonder how valuable it would be for non bilingual young readers in terms of language learning.

A cute billingual story for children in both English and French. Nice illustrations and the storyline has a nice message - to be proud of being part of two different cultures. I believe it is suitable for children up to 12 years old, ideally who are billingual. It is a shame that the language is not simplified so that it can be used in a language classroom. Myself not being neither French nor English native speaker, I have struggled with certain vocabulary and was disappointed not to find the equivalent word/sentence written in the same way. I am aware that this is not always possible, although I think it would make it easier for learners to identify these words in both languages, make connections and therefore learn the language.

Being a Languages teacher I have read and enjoyed all of Natalia Simons’ books. They are nicely illustrated and send a nice message to the reader.However, the story & message are similar in all books about the Spanish, Mexican and French children. Next, I would like to see a different book in the future with either a different story or with a focus on one cultural aspect such as Bastille Day in France or Day of the Dead in Mexico etc.

This is a lovely story which will ring true with anyone who speaks more than on language. It clearly describes the way you feel when toiling to understand and be understood in another country, while also showing why breaking down such language and cultural barriers is worth the endeavour.The story is accessible for children, describing the emotions you can feel when communicating and experiencing different cultures and languages.I think this story book could be used very effectively in schools to encourage positive transitions from primary to middle/secondary school and a more positive outlook on foreign language learning. As a French Secondary teacher, I will use this book for paired reading, which means senior French students will read the French sections of this story with their junior counterparts who will receive their support to read the English sections.This book could be a very versatile tool in schools for improving literacy, cultural understanding and language uptake. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is a lovely book which tells the story of a bilingual child living in England and visiting his family in France. I really liked it as the story is really close to my personal experience. I am from the south of France and my husband is from London just like the parents in the story. I read it to my daughters as it would have been too advanced for independent reading (they are 4 and 5) and it helped showing them that there are plenty of other children who are bilingual and reinforce the benefits of speaking French. It's also based around family and friendship. The illustrations are beautiful and help understand the story better. Some of the key words are in bold in both languages which makes them stand out. I look forward to reading more from this collection with my family.

Storyline with a nice message about growing up bilingual; and lovely illustrations.

Fantastic book for little bilingual children!!It addresses common problems met by bilingual/bicultural children: the fact that the child can express themselves with more difficulty in their minority language, that what they commonly eat can be mocked by others, etc. The mockery by children is each time followed by reassurance from different adults who point out the benefit of being bilingual and bicultural.This book provides several discussion points. Although featuring a frenglish boy, the themes discussed are universal.I got this book for my 8 year-old son who speaks French and English. Although he has not been confronted to the problems featured (probably because we live in a very multicultural area), he was able to recognise and appreciate the benefits of speaking different languages!Highly recommended!

Another winner from Ms Simons. Sensitively written. Wish I'd had something like this when I was teaching - EFL/ESOL etc. My grandchildren love these books, enjoy reading them, plus understand the back story of "feeling different". What a treasure, thoroughly recommend to all.