Hello inspired readers,
I hope 2023 has been a great year for you, and the holiday season provided much needed rest and family time.
This has been an active year for me, parking my daytime accounting career to focus all my attention on building VietCan Books. During Christmas break, in between spending quality time with my family, I analyzed our data to see which books were your favorites. I'll also add our favorites to the lists!
Our Top 10 Bilingual Books!
This interactive book series can reproduce movements such as the image of a hatched egg, a soccer player, an excavator raising and lowering, a whale spraying water. This sturdy board books set is of the finest quality on the market and is perfect for age 0-6.
An extremely affordable boxset of small board books with topics - it's the perfect addition to your baby's very first bilingual book shelf.
3. Bilingual Vietnamese Animal Flashcards | Thẻ flashcards song ngữ Anh Việt chủ đề động vật
This set receives a lot of attention at our in-person markets. These poker size 2.5 x 3.5 inches learning cards feature adorable animals that kids love interacting with. I have used these versatile cards for:
1. Zodiac animal activities during Tet
2. 3-part Montessori matching activities
3. Sorting them by land-air-water
4. Four Seasons & 4 senses: Bilingual 4-book Set | Xuân Hạ Thu Đông - Song Ngữ 4 Mùa & 4 Giác Quan
Explore Flavors of Spring through Caterpillar's sense of smell from all things spring, including Vietnamese New Year (Tet).
Listen to Sounds of Summer through Cicada's sense of hearing, bringing renewed energy and joy.
Inspect all the Colors of Autumn through Pigeon's sharp eyes, autumn is multidimensional colorful canvas, a visual feast for the eyes.
Imagine the Tastes of Winter through Ant's family, where unique Vietnamese winter food will leave you salivating.
5.
While all books from Gemma's Library by Vietnamese mama-author Chau Nguyen Bui are very popular with our readers, this one was our top seller! Who doesn't love everyday objects that also teaches the Vietnamese alphabet, in sturdy board book form!
6. Bilingual Colors of Tet | Màu của Tết - song ngữ Anh Việt
Beautifully written and illustrated, this bilingual Tet book by Tiny Wrist is a rare and quality book depicting our most celebrated Vietnamese holiday. The sticker set is so so adorable!
7. Set Mở ra là thấy Tết (phiên bản miền Nam) | Bilingual set: Open to See Tết (SouthVietnam)
Open a jumbo lucky envelop to reveal a Tet book, 6 beautifully designed lucky pockets, a sticker set featuring Southern Vietnamese Tet food, and a vibrant regional map of Vietnam. Open the bilingual book to read about and pore over images of warm Tet days in Southern Vietnam filled with yellow apricot blossoms, and traditional dishes eaten during Tet.
8. If You Give A Mouse a Cookie-bilingual | Nếu Bạn Cho Chuột Cái Bánh Quy-song ngữ
The translation of this English classic is exceptionally done. And getting both the English and the Vietnamese version makes this book an awesome addition and an easy decision to make!
9. The Very Hungry Caterpillar - Bilingual | Chú Sâu Háu Ăn - song ngữ
The delightful repetition of this book works great in both English and Vietnamese. Stay tuned for restock updates of our gorgeous matching lacing set.
10. Bilingual The Kindest Fairy Tales | Truyện Cổ Tích Tử Tế
While the cover is winter/Christmas-themed, this book is fantastic for year-round reading of 4 rewritten classic fairy tales featuring kinder life lessons: no one needs to get hurt to learn a lesson.
Stories included:
1. Three Little Pigs - The three little pigs do not boil water, waiting for the wolf to climb up the chimney to boil it. The three little pigs boiled water to...drink tea.
2. Little Red Riding Hood - Little Red Riding Hood and Grandma were not eaten by the wolf. The wolf is also not hunted by the hunter, shot dead and disemboweled.
3. The Little Match Girl - The Little Match Girl was not alone in freezing to death in the cold winter night. The world in which she lives is one kind world.
4. Hansel and Gretel - The two brothers were not abandoned in the forest many times by their parents, nor did they need to fight and rob the witch's treasure to be loved by their parents.
Our Top 5 Vietnamese Books!
1. Harry Potter Tiếng Việt Trọn Bộ 7 Tập
As the majority of our readers prefer bilingual, simpler Vietnamese books, I'm so happy that many of our readers can read this much Vietnamese! I love watching kids squeal in delight when they see this set at our in-person markets.
2. CÁ VOI ĐÊM BÃO VÀ NHỮNG CÂU CHUYỆN KHÁC - BOXSET 4 QUYỂN
(Translation of The Storm Whale, The Storm Whale in Winter, Grandma Bird and Grandad's Island by author-illustrator Benji Davies).
As the Storm Whale's original English version celebrates with 10th birthday, this book has earned many awards and boasts 40+ language translations. The Vietnamese version is impeccable. Sparse in words, yet each word packs a punch in conveying a story that squeezes your heart and tear ducts. With captivating images, all 4 books should be on your child's bookshelf.
3. 123 thổi nến mừng sinh nhật
This book cleverly uses the story of a child's birthday party with many animal guests to introduce 29 letters of the Vietnamese alphabet. While most alphabet books are single words, the 29 letters are incorporated into sentences, making this the unique selling feature of the book.
4. Trạm Dừng Cuối Ở Phố Chợ - Vietnamese translation of Last Stop on Market Street
Addressing the issue of race and class, this book also tackles big topics of kindness, empathy and gratitude through the eyes of a young boy with the guidance of his grandma. I'm both surprised and happy that we need to restock this soon!
5. Mãi Yêu Con - Vietnamese translation of Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
With over 15 million copies sold worldwide, it's not surprising this Vietnamese version is in our top 5 most purchased books. The unique feature about this book is the art is a Vietnamese adaptation which I don't normally see in other translated books.
Honorable Mention. Em Làm Việc Nhà
Translated from Japanese, I love that this book involves the whole family in housework, with gender-neutral language that debunks the stereotype that housework should only be done by moms.
My Favorite 5!
It's hard to narrow down from 500+ books we carry, but these books hold a special place in my heart, in no particular order:
1. Một Đã Là Nhiều, Translation of One is A Lot
Muon Thi Van is one of my favorite children's book author. Her style is so short and concise, leaving the audience in awe how she manages to tell one-of-a-kind stories with so few words. When the Vietnamese translation came out, I was over the moon, as the translation fully captures the essence of the book, which I found impossible to do on my own.
2. Chúng Mình Tôn Trọng Cơ Thể Và Cảm Xúc Của Nhau
Original Title: Let's Talk About Body Boundaries, Consent and Respect: Teach children about body ownership, respect, feelings, choices and recognizing bullying behaviors.
The title is a mouthful - hitting all pertinent topics for young children. Amazingly, my daughter and I have been reading this book since she was 2, and it's simple enough to for her to follow along. More important, she has gained essential skills in dealing with real life issues and conflicts with other kids.
3. Cuốn Sách Khổng Lồ Về Cơ Thể Người - translation of The Big Book of The Body
This book again breaks down complex, invisible concepts of how various parts of the body work into easily understandable words and images. Of course, it needs to sustain a child's attention too, which is why the massive beautiful foldout pages of this book are perfect!
4. Múp Míp Mê Mẩn Múa May (translation of Brontorina)
I just realized all my favorite books are well-translated books with life lessons that I want to teach my daughter. The Vietnamese translated title alone is such a pictorial, depictive and clever transcreation - injecting loads of creativity and cultural knowledge to deliver the same concepts in Vietnamese. Dream the impossible, put your heart into it, and watch barriers crumble as you gain the support of those around you is the powerful message from Brontorina.
5. Giáo Dục Giới Tính Nhi Đồng - Con Trai Con Gái Khác Nhau Ạ?
I strongly believe that gender equity starts at home. This is a surprising and delightfully progressive book in Vietnamese on gender education that debunks gender stereotypes right out of the gate:
👍 Boys don't necessarily wear blue, and girls don't necessarily wear pink
👍 Boys aren't automatically more athletic than girls in the playground
👍 Toys are gender-neutral
👍 All feelings and emotions are valid, no matter the gender.
As the new year quickly approaches, I wish you every success in your bilingual journey with your family!
Happy 2024!
Tam Nguyen