Harry Learns French [With CDROM]

I purchased this book for my (now 6 year old) daughter a few months ago and it's among her most favorite books. She already has some basic skills in French but even for those who do not have any French, this is an excellent pick. The presentation is good allowing any non-French speaking child to understand the meaning of the French words and phrases. Firstly, the amount of French vocabulary is decent and covers a wide variety of subjects (numbers, colors, animals, family members, activities, etc.) Secondly, as a French teacher what I love most is its inclusion of culture related items (descriptions of "boules", brief explanation of July 14th, different kinds of specialty shops, etc.). My daughter loves the presentation although my youngest thinks the characters look "mad" (it's that harder edge graphic style- not my favorite but still eye-catching). There's a "pop-up" dictionary with each section of vocabulary but the true bonus is the accompanying CD-rom- perfect for children to hear how the vocabulary is properly pronounced (although the interactivity of the cd-rom is quite limited it's still a great extra). As someone who is always collecting French language books, it's nice to see a story that's more contemporary- evidenced by the explanation of Euros as opposed to French Francs. This is a great addition to any library whether you're looking to teach your child French or just widen her knowledge of other cultures.