Stories from Mexico/Historias de Mexico, Second Edition

I have had trouble finding side-by-side readers appropriate for my level. (I would say I am at an intermediate to advanced-intermediate level) This book is perfect for my level, in fact, the best I have found so far. The stories are normally around three to four pages long and interesting. Another book I would recommend is "First Spanish Reader."

Great book, interesting stories and legends from Mexico. Intermediate level Spanish, or a little above. The short 2-3 page stories are a good introduction to some of the legends of Mexico. I enjoyed having the side-by-side translation; it made it easier to understand the full translation. not just word by word text. Highly recommended.

This is a fantastic book for Spanish review and practice. Very easy to check yourself and translate vocabulary because of the accurate English translations. The stories give you cultural insight,as well.

Stories from Mexico/Historias de Mexico is a wonderful book for improving Spanish reading skills. In fact, the other two books in the series, Stories From Spain and Stories From Latin America are equally great. Each book makes wide and varied use of vocabulary so that each one of the books teaches new words. The translations are usually extremely faithful, which is important when the point is to build vocabulary knowledge and not literary beauty. These books are even great for teaching English to Spanish speaking ESL students. While spending my summer in Costa Rica I used Historias de Mexico with one of my English students and she loved it. The stories are short, so one does not become frustrated and they are very entertaining. Buy this book! I would LOVE to see a professional recording come out on this series.

Because the stories are ancient stories that reflect themes still used in modern Latin America the reading is interesting for older readers while still being easy enough for beginners and intermediates. Reading is much more pleasurable when, in difficult sections, one doesn't have to go searching through a separate dictionary. Translations are not literal and therefore instructive in phraseology. I found this to be a refreshing alternative. I can suggest a new magazine out called Mi Gente which also does English and Spanish side by side on current Latin American issues.