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Journal of Early Childhood Literacy

2024, Vol. 0(0) 1–34

The balance of Spanish and © The Author(s) 2024

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in bilingual picture books DOI: 10.1177/14687984241257400
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Christine E Potter 
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso, USA

Marissa A Castellana
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, USA

Matthew D Guerra
Department of Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso, USA

Viridiana L Benitez
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, USA

Abstract
Bilingual picture books offer rich sources of dual-language input, but little is known about
how different types of books provide opportunities for children’s learning across lan-
guages. Building on research describing Spanish-English Codeswitching books (which
present languages intermixed), we assessed the quantity, diversity, and complexity of
input in Translation picture books (which included the full text in both languages) and
compared the two types of books. Translation books included balanced use of English and
Spanish and varied in the frequency of switching. Across both book formats, English input
was similarly complex, but Translation books presented larger amounts and more
complex input in Spanish. Additionally, the two types of books included frequent yet
different patterns of language switching, offering dense exposure to an important feature
of bilingual experience. Thus, bilingual books could provide children with input distinct
from what they encounter in either spoken language or reading activities in a single
language.

Keywords
Bilingual picture books, bilingual language development, language switching, biliteracy,
multilingualism

Corresponding author:
Christine E Potter, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W University Ave, El Paso,
TX 79968, USA.
Email: cepotter2@utep.edu
2 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

Introduction
To become proficient in two languages, bilingual children need rich and varied
experiences with both of their languages (Marchman et al., 2017; Pearson et al.,
1997; Place and Hoff, 2011; Thordardottir, 2014). Bilingual language skills
have been linked to the frequency, balance, and contexts that surround ex-
perience with each language (Hurtado et al., 2014; Paradis, 2011; Welsh and
Hoff, 2021). Moreover, children’s experience can rarely be neatly separated by
language, and they must learn how and when to use their languages together
(Byers-Heinlein and Fennell, 2014; Oller et al., 2007). Therefore, providing
bilingual children with diverse and complex input that supports learning across
languages increases the likelihood that they will develop robust skills in two
languages. One activity shown to support language development is reading
storybooks (Bus et al., 1995; Duursma et al., 2007). We compared the language
input found in two different types of Spanish-English picture books to un-
derstand the learning opportunities that may be available to bilingual children.
In both spoken and written language, bilingual experience is diverse; children
rarely receive fully balanced experience (David and Wei, 2008; Hoff et al., 2012;
Marchman et al., 2017; Pearson et al., 1997). In particular, there is often greater
support for the majority language in the community (Gathercole and Thomas,
2009; Giles and Watson, 2013; Hoff et al., 2021), and this can be especially
pronounced in literacy and education (e.g., Luo et al., 2021). In the United States,
even in communities where Spanish (the most common non-English language in
the U.S., U.S. Census Bureau, 2022) is widely used, children tend to have more
exposure to English as they enter school (Eilers et al., 2006; Gutiérrez-Clellen
et al., 2009; Hurtado and Vega, 2004; Welsh and Hoff, 2021). As a result, many
bilingual parents seek opportunities to build their children’s skills in Spanish in
addition to English (Gonzalez-Barrero et al., 2021; Read et al., 2021a).
One accessible source of enriching input is children’s books. Storybooks are
often recommended as a tool for supporting children’s language development,
including exposing them to new words and concepts (e.g., Breitfeld et al.,
2021; Bus et al., 1995; Flack et al., 2018). The text of picture books includes
more diverse vocabulary and more complex sentence structure than typical
spoken language (Cameron-Faulkner and Noble, 2013; Montag et al., 2015),
and participation in shared reading can boost children’s language knowledge
(Duursma et al., 2007; Fitton et al., 2018). Children who are read to regularly
tend to have larger vocabularies (Farrant and Zubrick, 2012; Sénéchal et al.,
2008), providing additional evidence that the input offered during reading
interactions may be supportive of learning language.
Potter et al. 3

For bilingual children, reading can offer experience in either or both of their
languages, and young bilinguals display learning from both single- and dual-
language literacy activities (Brouillard et al., 2022; Méndez et al., 2015; Read
et al., 2021b; Restrepo et al., 2013). However, bilingual books have been
suggested to be especially beneficial for dual language learners, as they may
provide experience well-matched to what a bilingual child ultimately needs to
learn, namely the ability to understand and communicate in both of their
languages individually, as well as to integrate their knowledge across languages
(e.g., Agosto, 1997; Domke, 2018). Thus, there is a growing need to un-
derstand how bilingual books present both languages in text, an initial step to
determine how to best provide literacy and educational opportunities specif-
ically for dual language learners (e.g., Hammer et al., 2014).
Studies have begun to examine how books might provide input tailored for
bilingual learning. To meet growing demand in the U.S. where the number of
Spanish-speaking children is growing rapidly (Migration Policy Institute,
2019), books designed for Spanish-English bilingual children have become
increasingly common (Chaudhri and Torres, 2022; Gonzalez-Barrero et al.,
2021), and research suggests that bilingual children enjoy and benefit from
reading bilingual books (Brouillard et al., 2022; Hu et al., 2012; Naqvi et al.,
2013; Read et al., 2021b; Tsybina and Eriks-Brophy, 2010; Zaidi, 2020).
However, bilingual books differ in how they present two languages together
(Domke, 2018; Jeffers, 2009; Semingson et al., 2015), and it is not yet clear
whether and how different types of bilingual books offer different experience
with each of two languages.
Specifically, for families in the U.S. looking to read in Spanish and English,
there are two dominant formats for bilingual books (Chaudhri and Torres,
2022; Gonzalez-Barrero et al., 2021). We term these categories Codeswitching
books, where two languages are presented intermixed, and Translation books, where
the same narrative is presented in each language (see Figure 1). Recently, we
analyzed the text of Codeswitching books, as those books represent a uniquely
bilingual experience (Benitez et al., 2022). Results revealed that Codeswitching
books contain primarily English words and include frequent switching between
languages (Benitez et al., 2022), reflecting differences from child-directed
spoken language (Bail et al., 2015). Thus, while they may not include many
words in Spanish, Codeswitching books could still offer input that allows
children to learn words in both languages and conventions about how lan-
guages are used together.
While Codeswitching books are becoming popular (Chaudhri and Torres,
2022), Translation books, which contain the full text in each language
4 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

Figure 1. Illustrations of pages from Codeswitching and Translation books. Examples of how
English and Spanish text tended to appear in (a) Codeswitching and (b) Translation books.

(Gonzalez-Barrero et al., 2021), are more common. Thus far, most studies
examining children’s learning from bilingual book reading have focused on
Translation books across a variety of language pairs (e.g., Brouillard et al., 2022;
Naqvi et al., 2013; Quirk et al., 2024). While it may be assumed that
Translation books provide equivalent input across languages, translations can be
imperfect, and it may be especially challenging to capture cultural references or
wordplay, which can be central to children’s literature (Lathey, 2015; Netley,
1992). Therefore, one important goal of the current study was to test whether
Spanish-English Translation books actually provide similarly rich text across
languages.
In addition to understanding how Translation books present each language, it
is important to consider similarities and differences in language use across
Codeswitching and Translation books. In bilingual environments, children
encounter their two languages used together in multiple ways. At one extreme,
children could encounter their two languages from different people in different
contexts (e.g., De Houwer, 2007; Ronjat, 1913). Alternatively, children may be
immersed in fully bilingual environments where people switch languages freely
(e.g., Byers-Heinlein, 2013; Place and Hoff, 2011). While children become
bilingual across many contexts, it is debated if there are optimal conditions for
bilingual development and whether language switching impedes or benefits
learning (Byers-Heinlein et al., 2017; Byers-Heinlein and Lew-Williams, 2013;
Place and Hoff, 2016). Here, we describe the input in Translation books (where
all content is presented in both languages) and contrast that input to that of
Codeswitching books (where the two languages are intermixed) to understand
Potter et al. 5

whether and how these books differ in the way that they present English and
Spanish text, as well as how they demonstrate switching between the two.
Describing how different types of bilingual books present text in two languages
can yield insights into the opportunities that children may have to learn from
the text in these books. A better understanding of the structure and linguistic
content of these books could ultimately inform efforts to provide research-based
recommendations to support children’s learning of two languages from bi-
lingual literacy activities.

Current study
We began by constructing a new corpus of children’s Spanish-English
Translation picture books, comparable in targeted age and accessibility to
the corpus of Spanish-English Codeswitching picture books described by Be-
nitez and colleagues (2022). We first analyzed Translation books separately and
asked how Translation books present English versus Spanish. We examined the
quantity, diversity, and complexity of English versus Spanish text in Translation
books. We then explored how the languages were presented together. We
considered how languages appeared on the page, including which language
was presented first and if they were presented in alternation. In addition, we
investigated the frequency and types of language switching, comparing
switching within and between utterances. We predicted that we would find
balanced use of English and Spanish across measures of quantity, diversity, and
complexity. We also predicted that English would be presented first more often
across books, based on earlier findings that bilingual books often emphasize
English (Benitez et al., 2022; Domke, 2018). Finally, we predicted that switches
would occur almost exclusively between utterances, with few, if any, within-
utterance switches.
We then compared Translation and Codeswitching books. We tested for
global differences in the quantity, diversity, and complexity of input. Since
Translation books present the same content twice, we predicted they would
provide more total text. However, because we were comparing books for
children of similar ages, we did not expect to find significant differences in
overall diversity or complexity of input. We then tested for language-specific
differences across book types. Because Codeswitching books have been shown
to have imbalances, we predicted that relative to Translation books, Co-
deswitching books would present richer English input, but fewer words and
less complex input in Spanish. We also considered differences in language
switching. We expected Codeswitching books would include more frequent
6 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

switches overall and in particular, more within-utterance switches than

Translation books.
Our final question evaluated books’ content. We conducted exploratory
analyses to investigate whether the two types of books emphasized different
themes. We examined the most frequent nouns in English and Spanish and
coded each book for the presence of content culturally relevant to Spanish-
speaking communities. Translation books can be books that were originally
published as a monolingual book and translated to create a bilingual book. In
contrast, because Codeswitching books embed one language in another, this
type of book may be more likely to be designed specifically for bilingual and
bicultural audiences. Therefore, we predicted Codeswitching books might have
a greater focus on content related to Spanish-speaking cultures.

Materials and methods

Sample
We constructed a corpus of 45 bilingual picture books that included the full
narrative text in both English and Spanish. Books were selected from a larger list
of 286 Spanish-English bilingual children’s books readily available in the U.S.
market, compiled via a search conducted in June and July 2021. For more details
about how the search was conducted, see Benitez and colleagues (2022). The
complete list of books is available on OSF: https://osf.io/cbx3u/. The sample
size was chosen to match the full set of Codeswitching books described by
Benitez and colleagues (2022).
On the original list, 234 books were classified as Translation books, and 197
included information about target age. We coded target age by calculating the
mean of the suggested reading age range and rounding (e.g., a book for 3- to 6-
year-olds was coded as target age 5). We selected books to match the age
distribution of the larger list (M = 4.89, SD = 2.20; see Appendix A for full list).
Our final Translation corpus included a wide age range: target age 1 (N = 1),
age 2 (N = 10), age 3 (N = 3), age 4 (N = 5), age 5 (N = 5), age 6 (N = 12), age
7 (N = 6), age 8 (N = 2), and age 10 (N = 1). Twenty-one books were
originally published in a bilingual format, 20 were originally published in
English with bilingual versions created later, and four books were published
simultaneously in English and bilingual formats.
To make appropriate comparisons between the two types of bilingual books
(Codeswitching vs Translation), we created age-matched subsets of each
corpus. In the full corpora, Codeswitching books (M = 5.7, SD = 1.2) had a
Potter et al. 7

higher mean target age than Translation books (M = 4.8, SD = 2.1; t (68.17) =
2.5, p = .02). With this age discrepancy, we would be unable to determine
whether any differences could be attributed to the type of book or differences in
the intended age (i.e., books for older children would be expected to be longer
and more complex). We therefore removed six books from each corpus to better
equate target age. In this comparison subset, there was no significant difference
in mean target age (Codeswitching: M = 5.56, SD = 1.23, Translation: M =
5.23, SD = 1.91; t (64.89) = 0.92, p = .36). In the results, we note which
analyses were performed using the full corpus versus the age-matched subset.

Transcription and coding

Books were transcribed using the Computational Human Articulatory Theory
(CHAT) conventions via the Computerized Language Analysis program (CLAN;
MacWhinney, 2000) by four trained bilingual coders. All coders were fluent in
English and had moderate to native proficiency in Spanish. Coders transcribed
text as written, adhering to utterance boundaries and spelling. Narrative text and
dialogue were transcribed as input from a single source (see Benitez et al., 2022
for transcription procedures). Background text (e.g., text in illustrations) was
included only if it pertained to the storyline. Following CHAT standards,
transcripts were organized by utterance. Punctuation that signaled a stop
(period, exclamation point, or question mark) or a switch between character
speech and narrative text (quotation marks) was used as an utterance boundary.
CHAT conventions require a default language, and for consistency, English was
always the primary language. Thus, any use of Spanish was marked. Utterances that
contained only Spanish words were tagged, and when utterances included both
English and Spanish words, coders tagged each individual Spanish word. Proper
nouns included in English sentences (e.g., Abuela) were marked as switches, but
names (e.g., José) and words that have been adopted into English (e.g., churro) were
not coded as switches. However, names and borrowed words were classified as
Spanish when they occurred in Spanish utterances. All words were transcribed as
written, even when they were close variants (e.g., abuela/abuelita, dog/doggy).

Measures
Language use measures. We used CLAN to compute measures of quantity, di-
versity, and complexity, as well as frequency and type of language switching. We
calculated all measures separately for each book and aggregated across books.
8 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

Measures of quantity included number of word tokens (total words) in English

and Spanish, and number of English-only, Spanish-only, and mixed-language
utterances. Measures of diversity were number of word types (total unique words)
in English and Spanish, and type/token ratio (total number of word types divided
by total word tokens) in English and Spanish. Complexity was assessed by the mean
length of utterance (average number of tokens per utterance; MLU) for each type of
utterance (English-only, Spanish-only, or mixed-language).

Measures of the use of English and Spanish together

Language presentation. We coded (1) whether English or Spanish appeared
first, (2) the format in which translations were presented: after each sentence or
in blocks (e.g., several sentences of narrative text in one language followed by
the translation of those sentences), and (3) whether translations were presented
on the same page or across pages.

Switching. We coded switching within and between utterances. Definitions of

switches were operationalized using CHAT conventions as well as some theoretical
proposals on codeswitching (see Muysken, 2000) that separate the use of the
primary (English) versus secondary language (Spanish) following the Matrix
Language Frame model (Boumans, 1998; Myers-Scotton, 1997). Utterances that
included words in both languages were classified as mixed-language and counted as
one within-utterance switch, regardless of how many alternations there were be-
tween languages. We also calculated MLU and the number of English versus Spanish
words within mixed-language utterances. To code between-utterance switches, we
identified Spanish-only utterances and counted a switch whenever the preceding or
following utterance was of a different type.

Content measures
Frequent words. To test whether Translation and Codeswitching books focused
on different topics, we explored whether the same words appeared equally often
across the two types of books. Prior results with Codeswitching books suggested
different words tended to appear in English versus Spanish, with family words
being especially frequent in Spanish (Benitez et al., 2022), so we measured
frequencies separately for each language and calculated frequencies across each
corpus. We excluded function words and focused on the five most frequent nouns
in English and Spanish. To capture the use of different concepts, we collapsed across
close variants (e.g., plurals, diminutives) of individual words (e.g., mom, mommy,
and mother were all grouped together). This measure was designed to assess the
frequently mentioned concepts in each language in each type of book.
Potter et al. 9

Culturally relevant content. We coded each book for cultural content relevant
to Spanish-speaking communities, such as culturally specific food/drinks, attire,
or phrases. Two bicultural coders from a Mexican-American community in-
dependently coded all books and then compared their coding. Discrepancies
were resolved through discussion.

Reliability
Coders were trained and given practice tagging both within- and between-
utterance switching by transcribing two Codeswitching books that had pre-
viously been transcribed and checked by experienced coders. Once coders
achieved high reliability, they transcribed the books in our sample. After
transcription, we randomly selected six books to test inter-rater reliability.
We calculated reliability across six measures: number of utterances, number of
word tokens, number of word types, MLU, number of Spanish word tokens, and
number of Spanish utterances. Krippendorff’s alpha (Krippendorff, 2011) revealed
high inter-rater reliability (above 0.8) on all measures, with an average score of
0.977 (MLU = 0.992, total utterances = 0.904, total tokens = 0.996, total types =
0.997, number of Spanish tokens = 0.995, number of Spanish utterances = 0.977).

Results
In the first section, we describe the results from the full Translation corpus (N =
45). In the second section, we compare the input provided by Codeswitching
versus Translation books, using the age-matched subsets (N = 39 each).
Comparisons were conducted using chi-square goodness of fit tests and
paired and independent samples t-tests. Prior to analysis, all variables were
checked for normality. Several variables violated normality assumptions with
high skew and/or kurtosis. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were conducted on the
variables that violated normality assumptions. All analyses were conducted in R
version 4.0.5. Data and analysis scripts are available at https://osf.io/cbx3u/.

Use of English and Spanish in Translation books

Measures of language use
Overall text characteristics. On average, Translation books included 657.7
tokens (SD = 576.4, range: 108-2047) of which 289.5 were unique word types
(SD = 217.5, range: 41-768). The mean type/token ratio was 0.49 (SD = 0.13;
10 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

range: 0.20-0.75). Translation books presented an average of 95.7 utterances (SD =

88.5; range: 20-394) and had an average MLU of 7.4 (SD = 2.9; range: 2.3-14.0).

Quantity measures across languages. First, we compared the total number of

word tokens in English and Spanish by conducting paired t-tests (Figure 2). As
predicted, the number of tokens did not differ by language [English: M = 331.8,
SD = 284.5; Spanish M = 325.9, SD = 293.5; t (44) = 0.90, p = .37]. We next
examined the total number of utterances in English versus Spanish (excluding
mixed-language utterances). The number of utterances also did not differ by
language [English-only: M = 46.7, SD = 41.4; Spanish-only: M = 46.9, SD =
43.5; t (44) = 0.20, p = .84].

Figure 2. Comparisons of English vs. Spanish in Translation books. Means and standard errors for
number of (a) word tokens, (b) utterances, (c) word types, and (d) mean length of utterance
across English and Spanish text in Translation books. Dots represent individual picture books.
Asterisks indicate significant differences (*p < .05).
Potter et al. 11

Diversity measures across languages. To evaluate the diversity of words in each

language, we compared the number of word types and the type/token ratio for
English versus Spanish. Translation books presented significantly fewer word types in
English (M = 141.4, SD = 104.5) than in Spanish (M = 148.1, SD = 113.9; t (44) =
2.42, p = .02). In addition, type/token ratio was significantly lower in English (M =
0.48, SD = 0.14) than in Spanish [M = 0.51, SD = 0.14; t (44) = 2.69, p = .01].

Complexity measures across languages. Finally, we assessed utterance com-

plexity by comparing MLU for English-only versus Spanish-only utterances.
MLU was similar across languages [English-only: M = 7.2, SD = 3.0; Spanish-
only: M = 7.3, SD = 2.8, t (44) = 0.43, p = .67].
In sum, we found that as expected, Translation books in this sample generally
offered input of similar quantity and complexity across languages, but un-
expectedly included more unique Spanish words.

Use of English and Spanish together

Presentation of text. To understand how English and Spanish were used together,
we began by examining the order in which the languages appeared in each book,
following prior studies (Daly, 2018; Domke 2018). We conducted a chi-square
goodness of fit test to determine if the proportion of books for which English was
presented first versus the proportion of books for which Spanish was presented first
differed from the expected proportion (50/50, i.e., each language was equally likely
to appear first). Results showed that the proportion of books for which English was
presented first was higher than expected (30/45 books, χ2 (2) = 8.839, p = .01). To
better understand patterns of presentation, we separated books by original language
of publication. Among books originally published in English, 15/20 presented
English first. Similarly, for books originally published in the Translation format, 15/
21 presented English first. In contrast, the four books simultaneously published in
English-only and Translation formats all presented Spanish first.
We then considered how languages were presented within each book.
English and Spanish could appear in alternating sentences (one sentence in a
single language immediately followed by the translation of that sentence in the
other language, see Figure 1(b)) or in blocks (several sentences in a single
language, then the translation) on the same or across different pages. 15 books
presented translations in alternating sentences, 17 books presented languages in
blocks, and 13 books used a hybrid format. For most books (28/45), both
languages were consistently presented on the same page. Five books always
presented translations on different pages, and 11 books presented translations
both within and across pages. One book presented the full narrative in Spanish
12 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

followed by the English narrative. These results illustrate the heterogeneity in

how text appears in Translation books, but most books included frequent
alternations between languages.

Switching between languages. To further describe how the languages were used
together, we evaluated the frequency and types (within- or between-utterance) of
language switches. Comparisons were conducted via Wilcoxon signed ranks tests.
Translation books included an average of 23.0 between-utterance switches (SD =
24.1, range: 1 - 162). Approximately 32% of utterances occurred in a different
language than the prior utterance, and the vast majority of switches occurred be-
tween utterances (Figure 3).
Interestingly, although most books did not include within-utterance switches,
22% of Translation books (N = 10) included at least one mixed-language ut-
terance. None of the books originally published in English or published si-
multaneously in English and a bilingual format included within-utterance
switching. Instead, all books that included a within-utterance switch were
originally published in a bilingual format, and nearly half (10/21) of books
originally published in a bilingual format included at least one within-utterance
switch (M = 9.30, SD = 14.8, range: 1- 48). These mixed-language utterances
tended to be long (Mean MLU = 11.0, SD = 5.2, range: 1.5 - 18.2) compared to
single-language utterances and contained primarily English words (English: M =
9.9, SD = 5.2; Spanish: M = 1.1, SD = 0.2). Spanish words in mixed-language
utterances tended to be nouns, typically referring to people (e.g., mamá, abuela) or
culturally relevant places and things (e.g., loterı́a, barrio, see Supplemental Table).

Figure 3. Frequency of switching between languages in Translation books. Frequency distribution

of the number of books that included (a) within-utterance codeswitches and (b) between-
utterance switches. Dashed line represents the mean.
Potter et al. 13

To summarize, Translation books in our sample provided relatively balanced

use of English and Spanish, but there were subtle differences in both diversity
and presentation. These books also included frequent switching between
languages, but there was variability across books in how switching occurred.

Comparisons of Codeswitching and Translation books

Comparisons of overall quantity, diversity, and complexity across book types
Global quantity. To compare the total amount of text in Codeswitching versus
Translation books in our sample (N = 78), we collapsed across English and
Spanish (see Figure 4). The number of total tokens did not significantly differ
across book types [Codeswitching: M = 540.3, SD = 323.5; Translation: M =
729.2, SD = 588.8; t (76) = 1.76, p = .08]. Likewise, the number of total

Figure 4. Comparisons across Codeswitching and Translation books. Mean counts of (a) word
tokens, (b) utterances, (c) word types, and (d) mean length of utterances across book types,
divided by language. Error bars indicate standard errors of the mean when appropriate. Note that
only utterances could be classified as Mixed-language; word tokens and types were always coded as
English or Spanish.
14 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

utterances did not differ significantly [Codeswitching: M = 83.9, SD = 52.9;

Translation: M = 102.1, SD = 92.7; t (76) = 1.07, p = .28].

Global diversity and complexity. We examined lexical diversity and syntactic

complexity across each book type, again collapsing across languages. On av-
erage, the number of unique word types did not significantly differ across book
types [Codeswitching: M = 245.3, SD = 103.7; Translation: M = 318.5, SD =
220.4; t (76) = 1.88, p = .06]. In addition, type/token ratio was similar
[Codeswitching: M = 0.50, SD = 0.12; Translation: M = 0.49, SD = 0.12; t
(76) = 0.40, p = .69], and MLU did not differ [Codeswitching: M = 7.48, SD =
4.6; Translation: M = 7.8, SD = 2.6; t (76) = 0.32, p = .75].

Use of English versus Spanish across book types

Quantity. On average, there was no significant difference in the number of
English tokens across book types [Codeswitching: M = 475.6, SD = 323.8,
Translation: M = 368.2, SD = 289.6; t (76) = 1.55, p = .13]. However,
Codeswitching books included significantly fewer Spanish tokens (M = 64.7,
SD = 38.4) than Translation books [M = 361.0, SD = 300.8; t (76) = 6.10,
p < .001]. The number of English-only utterances did not differ significantly
[Codeswitching: M = 47.7, SD = 44.9; Translation: M = 49.7, SD = 43.4; t
(76) = 0.21, p = .84], but Codeswitching books presented significantly
fewer Spanish-only utterances (M = 8.4, SD = 9.9) than Translation books
[M = 50.0, SD = 45.7; t (76) = 5.56, p < .001]. See Figure 4.

Diversity. Codeswitching books presented significantly more English word

types (M = 208.8, SD = 101.9) than Translation books [M = 155.6, SD = 105.3;
t (76) = 2.26, p = .03; see Figure 4]. On the other hand, Codeswitching books
presented significantly fewer Spanish word types (M = 36.5, SD = 24.0) than
Translation books [M = 162.8, SD = 115.8; t (76) = 6.67, p < .001]. In
contrast, type/token ratio did not differ for either language [English: Co-
deswitching M = 0.49, SD = 0.13; Translation M = 0.47, SD = 0.12, t (76) =
0.61, p = .55; Spanish: Codeswitching M = 0.58, SD = 0.23; Translation M =
0.51, SD = 0.13; t (76) = 1.86, p = .07].

Complexity. There were language-specific differences in MLU across book

types. For English-only utterances, MLU was significantly shorter in Co-
deswitching books (M = 6.2, SD = 2.8) than Translation books [M = 7.5, SD =
2.6, t (76) = 2.14, p = .04]. Likewise, Codeswitching books had a significantly
shorter MLU for Spanish-only utterances (M = 1.7, SD = 1.3) than Translation
Potter et al. 15

books [M = 7.7, SD = 2.7; t (76) = 12.52, p < .001]. In contrast, MLU for
mixed utterances was similar [Codeswitching: M = 9.1, SD = 5.7; Translation
books that included mixed utterances: M = 11.0, SD = 5.2; W = 136, p = .21].

Language switching across book types

To understand differences in how books presented changes in language, we
compared the use of both within- and between-utterance switches. In Co-
deswitching books, 38.6% of utterances (SD = 22.0%) contained within-utterance
switches, and there were between-utterance switches for 8.3% of utterances (SD =
10.8%). In contrast, Translation books included within-utterance switches for 1.6%
utterances (SD = 4.2%) and between-utterance switches for 29.2% of utterances
(SD = 15.3%). Direct comparisons of the frequency of codeswitching across book
types revealed that Codeswitching books included significantly more within-
utterance switches [Codeswitching: M = 27.8, SD = 14.9, Translation: M =
2.8, SD = 5.5, W = 96, p < .001], but fewer between-utterance switches [Co-
deswitching: M = 5.7, SD = 5.7, Translation: M = 22.3, SD = 25.3; W = 1367.5, p <
.001]. While both types of books included frequent changes in language, the type of
switching that occurred most often differed (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Comparisons of language switching across Codeswitching and Translation books. Means
and standard errors for the number of (a) between-utterance switches and (b) within-utterance
switches found in Codeswitching and Translation books. Dots represent individual picture books.
Asterisks indicate significant differences (***p < .001).
16 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

Differences in content across book types

Frequent words. We analyzed the nouns most frequently presented in each type
of book (see Table 1). Consistent with findings involving a larger corpus
(Benitez et al., 2022), Codeswitching books in this sample mentioned different
concepts in English and Spanish. The most frequent Spanish nouns referred to
family members (e.g., abuela, mamá), while the most frequent English nouns
related to routines (e.g., day, time).

Table 1. Five Most Frequent English (top) and Spanish Nouns (bottom) Found in Codeswitching
Books (left side) and Translation Books (right side).

Top English nouns in Codeswitching books Top English nouns in Translation books

Frequencya Percentageb Frequencya Percentageb

Day (Days) 48 (54) 0.3 Mother (Mum, Mommy, 37 (74) 0.5

Mummy, Mom,
Mothers, Mama)
Time (Times) 46 (48) 0.2 Day (Days) 38 (39) 0.3
Home (House, 23 (44) 0.2 Home (House) 23 (33) 0.2
Houses)
Mama (Mummy, 20 (42) 0.2 Fish 31 0.2
Mommy,
Momma, Mom,
Mother)
Mouse (Mice) 22 (36) 0.2 Grandma (Grandmother, 25 (29) 0.2
Grammy)

Top Spanish nouns in Codeswitching books Top Spanish nouns in Translation books

Frequencya Percentageb Frequencya Percentageb

Abuela (Abuelita) 75 (95) 3.8 Mamá (Mami, Madre, 60 (121) 0.9

Madres)
Mamá (Mami, 47 (81) 3.3 Abuela (Abuelita, 56 (64) 0.5
Madre) Abuelas)
Papá (Papi, Padre, 34 (56) 2.3 Papá (Papi, Padre, Papás, 31 (49) 0.4
Padres) Padres)
Niño (Niños) 31 (34) 1.5 Vez (Veces) 25 (47) 0.3
Tı́a (Tı́as) 29 (32) 1.3 Dı́a (Dı́as) 36 (40) 0.3
a
Total number of tokens appearing in the age-matched corpus. Numbers in parentheses include all close variants
(italicized), not just the primary token.
b
Percentage of total word tokens in that language in that corpus, calculated including all close variants.
Potter et al. 17

Translation books did not display this same stark contrast, but there were subtle
differences in how often the most frequent words occurred, even for books that
were supposedly direct translations. In Translation books, family names were
frequent in both languages, especially words referring to mothers and grand-
mothers. However, the absolute frequency differed, and both mamá and abuela were
more frequent than their English counterparts. In addition, some words occurred
more often in one language than the other, which may reflect the inexact nature of
translation, as well as cross-linguistic differences. For instance, some words are part
of compounds in one language (e.g., a veces vs sometimes), which could change counts.
Together, these results indicate that Translation books tended to include similar
topics across languages but were still more likely to present family words in Spanish.

Culturally relevant content. On average, Codeswitching books (23/39 books)

were significantly more likely to include indicators of content relevant to
Spanish-speaking communities compared to Translation books (9/39 books),
χ2 (1) = 6.12, p = .01. All Translation books that did include Spanish cultural
content were originally published in a bilingual format.
These content analyses showed that the two types of books contained overlap
in the words that appeared frequently, but there were different patterns in how
particular words and concepts were emphasized. Notably, Codeswitching books
had an even greater tendency to use Spanish words for specific topics and more
consistent focus on Spanish-speaking communities and culture.

Discussion
In this study, we described and compared the text found in two types of Spanish-
English bilingual picture books. Our first goal was to characterize the quantitative and
qualitative features of the text in Translation books that included the full narrative in
both English and Spanish. Our second goal was to compare how Translation books
differed in the presentation of English versus Spanish from Codeswitching books.
We found that Translation books offered relatively balanced use of English and
Spanish, with subtle cross-linguistic differences in the diversity of word use.
Furthermore, Translation books included frequent language switching between
utterances. Compared to Codeswitching books, Translation books contained greater
quantity and diversity of Spanish text, while Codeswitching books included larger
amounts and more variety of mixed-language input. Moreover, while both types of
books presented frequent changes in language, switches occurred in different forms.
Thus, we suggest that different types of books offer different input in each language
and that this input is distinct from typical patterns of spoken language.
18 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

Input provided by Translation books

Our first aim was to describe the language content of Translation picture books,
currently the most common type of Spanish-English bilingual book. In contrast to
English-skewed input described in prior studies (Benitez et al., 2022; Domke,
2018; Gomm et al., 2017), Translation books in our sample offered more
equivalent input across English and Spanish. Thus, reading these books could
allow children to simultaneously build their skills in two languages (Marchman
et al., 2017; Pearson et al., 1997; Place and Hoff, 2011). In fact, the only
significant difference we found between languages in Translation books was that
there were more unique word types in Spanish. This difference is likely due to
grammatical properties, such as inflectional morphology (e.g., Spanish nouns,
adjectives, and articles include marking for plurality and grammatical gender, and
verb forms reflect tense, person, and mood, leading to different forms of the same
root word; Lang, 2013; Moreno-Sandoval and Goñi-Menoyo, 2002). Still, the
fact that Translation books present more word types in Spanish suggests that there
may be more information available to learn in Spanish within these books.
Despite balance in quantity and complexity, it is worth noting that the two
languages may not have identical status; none of the books were originally
published in Spanish and translated to English, and English tended to appear
before Spanish, a finding that is consistent with prior research (Daly, 2018;
Domke, 2018). Having English regularly appear first in bilingual text poten-
tially reflects and/or reinforces expectations that English is the culturally-
dominant language for literacy activities in the U.S. (Benitez et al., 2022;
Cha and Goldenberg, 2015; Hoff et al., 2018; Torres, 2007). Thus, while
Translation books in our sample provided a similar quantity of text across
languages, they may convey other messages about the relative importance of
each language. Future studies could explore what children perceive about the
value and function of English and Spanish in the context of reading Translation
books.
Our second question concerned patterns of language switching in Trans-
lation books. Across the sample, switching between utterances was common,
and switching within utterances was less frequent, but still present. The ten-
dency for language switches to occur mostly at utterance boundaries is also
characteristic of child-directed speech, but spoken language typically includes
less switching than we observed in Translation books (Bail et al., 2015; Kremin
et al., 2022). On average, there was a change in language after approximately
every third utterance, meaning between-utterance switches were more than
twice as common as have been reported in one-on-one interactions with
Potter et al. 19

Spanish-English bilingual dyads in the U.S. (Bail et al., 2015). However, just as
there are individual differences in spoken language (Bail et al., 2015; Byers-
Heinlein, 2013; Carbajal and Peperkamp, 2020; Kremin et al., 2022; Vaughan-
Evans et al., 2020), we found variability in the frequency of codeswitching
across books: many books included even more frequent switching, while one
book included only a single switch.

Comparison of Codeswitching versus Translation books

Our second aim was to compare Codeswitching versus Translation books. After
controlling for differences in intended age of audience, the two types of books
offered similar total amounts and complexity of linguistic input. Interestingly,
because Translation books included the same content across languages, this
equivalence actually indicates that Translation books offered roughly half the
narrative content of Codeswitching books, suggesting that perhaps the stories
are simpler. Nevertheless, the lack of differences in overall quantity, diversity,
and complexity suggests Codeswitching and Translation books have the po-
tential to provide children with similarly rich input from which to learn vo-
cabulary and grammar.
Although the overall complexity of text was similar across Codeswitching
and Translation books, the composition of that text differed. Research has
reliably demonstrated that children’s language knowledge and processing ef-
ficiency is linked to the amount of input that they receive in a particular
language (Hurtado et al., 2014; Marchman et al., 2017; Legacy et al., 2016;
Oller et al., 2007; Place and Hoff, 2011; Potter et al., 2019; Thordardottir,
2014). Thus, the differences that we observed in how these bilingual books
present English versus Spanish input could have meaningful implications for
children’s experience. Somewhat surprisingly, there were no significant dif-
ferences across book types in the amount or diversity of English text. However,
English-only sentences were longer in Translation books, perhaps because the
most complex utterances in Codeswitching books included mixing. Differences
in Spanish text were more striking. Compared to Codeswitching books,
Translation books included five times as many words and utterances in Spanish.
Likewise, Translation books had more complex Spanish-only utterances, but
there was no significant difference in Spanish type/token ratio across book
types. This lack of difference suggests that type/token ratio may reflect linguistic
properties (e.g., use of inflectional morphology) that remain consistent across
different types and amounts of child-directed text. More generally, these
comparisons emphasize that books in our sample would not offer the same
20 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

experience across languages, given that Translation books include greater

quantity and complexity of Spanish text than Codeswitching books.
Just as they provide different exposure to the languages individually, Co-
deswitching and Translation books presented different patterns of switching. In
Codeswitching books, most switches occurred within utterances, while in
Translation books, switches tended to occur between utterances, which could
introduce differences in comprehension efficiency. Interestingly, while
switches in spoken language are influenced by production demands, such as the
tendency to include challenging information later in the utterance (Johns and
Steuck, 2021; MacDonald, 2013), these constraints may be less pronounced in
text. Bilinguals are sensitive to the placement and predictability of switches
(Beatty-Martinez et al., 2018; Salig et al., 2023), and studies of children’s real-
time comprehension suggest that some switches introduce greater processing
demands than others (Byers-Heinlein et al., 2017; Kremin et al., 2023; Morini
and Newman, 2019; Potter et al., 2019). In both word-learning tasks and
reading interactions, bilingual children have been shown to be equally suc-
cessful in learning novel words when they are presented with frequent al-
ternations in language or when they learn first in one language and then the
other (Brouillard et al., 2022; Tsui et al., 2023). These findings suggest that the
presence of switches does not appear to interfere with learning. In fact, it has
been suggested that codeswitches in books can boost bilingual children’s
learning of new words (Read et al., 2021b). However, it remains less clear
whether exposure to particular types of switching is helpful, harmful, or
unrelated to bilingual children’s broader language and cognitive development
(e.g., Bail et al., 2015; Byers-Heinlein, 2013; Byers-Heinlein et al., 2017;
Carbajal and Peperkamp, 2020). Given that both types of bilingual books
included frequent and distinct use of switching, future studies could test
whether children benefit more from reading interactions where languages are
separated or integrated.

Language input across book types

While Codeswitching and Translation books differed in the locations where
switches tended to occur, there were still consistent patterns in how English and
Spanish were used together. In both book types, mixed-language utterances
almost always consisted of primarily English sentences that included a Spanish
word or two; English words were hardly ever incorporated into Spanish
sentences. This asymmetry reveals that even in books purported to include the
same content across languages, there are differences in how English and Spanish
Potter et al. 21

are used, potentially signaling to children that some topics are more relevant for
one language (or culture) (Gutiérrez-Clellen et al., 2009). For example, the use
of Spanish for certain concepts (e.g., family members) is consistent with the
possibility that bilingual picture books may be designed to celebrate cultural
heritage and values important to Spanish-speaking communities, such as
familism (e.g., Sabogal et al., 1987; Stein et al., 2014).
In addition, the use of Spanish words in English sentences, but not the
reverse, could imply that it is more appropriate to use codeswitched words in
some contexts than others. Interestingly, the insertion of Spanish words into
English sentences is not consistent with patterns in children’s spoken language;
young Spanish-English bilinguals in the U.S. are more likely to switch into
English when speaking Spanish than to use Spanish words while speaking
English (Greene et al., 2013; Gutiérrez-Clellen et al., 2009; Montanari et al.,
2019; Ribot and Hoff, 2014; Tulloch and Hoff, 2023), again suggesting
English and Spanish are used differently in text versus speech. Switching
practices vary both within and between bilingual communities, and it may be
more or less accepted to mix languages together (Anderson and Toribio, 2007;
Hoff, 2020; Kircher et al., 2022; Montanari et al., 2019; Tulloch and Hoff,
2023). Thus, by including language switches at different levels, bilingual books
can expose children to language conventions, in addition to linguistic and
cultural content.

Limitations and future directions

While book text can offer a valuable source of input for children, the books
themselves are only one part of the reading interaction, as parents may not
read text exactly as it appears. In particular, for Translation books, they are
many possibilities: parents may read text as it appears in the book, thereby
alternating between languages frequently; they may read the book in a
single language and skip the other language; or they may introduce their
own translations (Gonzalez-Barrero et al., 2021). Thus, the text of books
may provide a starting point for children to hear and practice two languages,
but transcripts of published text are unlikely to represent the full shared
reading experience. Caregivers and children often engage in conversation
during reading (see Read et al., in press), and for bilingual families, that
extra-textual talk can occur in either or both languages (Bauer, 2000; Garcı́a
and Kleifgen, 2020). Recent studies suggest that parents’ and children’s
preferences, goals, and proficiency influence bilingual families’ language
choices in reading (Quirk et al., 2024; Read et al., 2021a), but to our
22 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

knowledge, no study has directly tested how language switching within the
text affects switching in extra-textual talk. Future research can determine
how different types of books influence children’s exposure to, or production
of, language switches. New studies can also explore how families use
different types of books to shape the child’s language environment.
The current study focused on books aimed at Spanish-English bilingual
children, a large and underserved population that stands to benefit from research
that outlines specific factors that promote the development of cultural and lin-
guistic knowledge (Bedore and Peña, 2008). However, the patterns we found in a
sample of Spanish-English bilingual books marketed in the U.S. may or may not
generalize to other language pairs or settings. For instance, research has compared
both families’ attitudes and the frequency of language switching across Spanish-
English bilingual communities in the U.S. and French-English bilingual com-
munities in Canada. In a Canadian context where both French and English are
used for education and official purposes, parents do not typically report major
concerns about their child learning two languages (Quirk et al., 2023), and they
have been found to switch between languages less often than Spanish-English
bilingual caregivers in the U.S. (Bail et al., 2015; Kremin et al., 2022). It is
possible that books written for different communities would reflect these pri-
orities and conventions, and future studies could compare the books available for
young children across a wider range of languages, scripts, and cultures. Inter-
estingly, while Translation books could feasibly be created for any combination of
languages, Codeswitching books may work best for languages that share a similar
writing system and for communities where codeswitching is more widely ac-
cepted, and future studies could consider how different types of books may be
more or less appropriate for children learning different types of languages.
Finally, it is also important to acknowledge that while we attempted to
describe books that would be available to families, there is likely to be wide
variability in individual children’s access to these or other similar materials, and
we did not analyze every book that they might read. The local libraries that
provided many of the books in this study were located in areas with large
populations of Spanish speakers, and these types of books may not be found in
all communities. Even if the books are available, this study does not tell us how
many families are choosing to read these books, and more importantly, we do
not have any measures of children’s learning. Going forward, new research
could directly assess the experiences that children have with different types of
books and test whether reading different books allows children to build their
knowledge in one or both of their languages.
Potter et al. 23

Implications
Bilingual language input is not the sum of two monolingual environments, and
research on spoken language has made significant progress in describing how
bilingual children may have different experiences with each of their languages
(e.g., De Houwer, 2007; Hoff, 2020; Marchman et al., 2017). However, much
less is known about how children experience their languages through literacy
materials and activities, despite the fact that early literacy experiences are con-
sidered foundational for school (Barnes and Puccioni, 2017; Castro and Barrera,
2019). The current study offers new insight into the diversity of child-directed
text in bilingual picture books and has implications for assessing what children
could extract from these books, including lessons about vocabulary, language use,
and cultural values. Our study provides a framework through which to evaluate
bilingual books across language pairs and communities in future investigations.
Finally, our study motivates future research that could examine how bilingual
parents, teachers, and children interact with the text in bilingual picture books.

Conclusions
Overall, the current study provides evidence that “bilingual books” are not a
uniform category, nor is one type of book likely to be definitively more
supportive of dual-language learning. Like monolingual books, the bilingual
books that we analyzed offer input that is linguistically distinct from everyday
child-directed spoken language (Bang et al., 2022; Cameron-Faulkner and
Noble, 2013; Montag et al., 2015; Salo et al., 2016), suggesting these books can
provide meaningful and distinct learning opportunities. However, our results
also illustrate that global measures may gloss over differences in the input that
children receive across their languages, and it is important to consider specific
targets for learning when evaluating how books can be used to facilitate bi-
lingual development. In addition, our findings emphasize that bilingual picture
books may offer children dense and varied experience with a key feature of
bilingual environments: language switching. Thus, a variety of bilingual picture
books can offer tools for exposing children to concepts, constructions, and
conventions that are not found in monolingual books or speech, thereby
presenting new opportunities to promote bilingual learning.
24 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

Acknowledgements
We thank members of the ASU Learning and Development Lab and the UTEP Children’s
Learning Project, especially Lavender Probasco, Diana Morales Juarez, Diego Estrada,
and Mayew Quijas.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by a grant
from the James S. McDonnell Foundation.

ORCID iD
Christine E Potter  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9580-3919

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at https://osf.io/
cbx3u/.

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Appendix A

Publication
Book Author Publisher year Original language

A Disfrazarnos!/We Leonard Atlantic Gareth Stevens Pub 2017 Bilingual and English
Play Dress-up! (A
Jugar!/Ways to
Play)
A Movie in My Pillow/ Jorge Argueta Children’s Book 2001 Bilingual
Una Pelı́cula en Mi Press
Almohada
¡A Que No Me Bernard Most HarperCollins 1998 English
Alcanzas!/Catch Publishers
Me If You Can!
About Fish Sobre los Cathryn Sill Peachtree 2002 English
Peces A Guide for Publishers
Children/Una guı́a
para niños
Be Bold! Be Brave! Naibe Reynoso With All Press 2019 Bilingual
*Bebé, Vamos a Stephan Lomp Workman 2018 Bilingual and English
Comer!/Baby, Let’s Publishing
Eat! Company
(continued)
Potter et al. 31

Continued

Publication
Book Author Publisher year Original language

Brown Bear, Brown Bill Martin Jr/Eric Doubleday and 1967 English
Bear, What Do Carle Company
You See?/Oso
Pardo, Oso Pardo,
¿Qué Ves Ahı́?
Book Fiesta! Pat Mora HarperCollins 2009 Bilingual
Celebrate Publishers
Children’s Day/
Book Day
Celebramos el Dı́a
de los Niños/El Dı́a
de los Libros
Buenos Modales en la Gloria Santos Powerkids Pr 2017 Bilingual and English
Biblioteca/Good
Manners at the
Library (Buenos
Modales/Manners
Matter)
Calm-Down Time/ Elizabeth Verdick Free Spirit 2010 English
Momento para Publishing
Calmarse
Carlota Shares her Maria Rosana Lil’ Libros 2021 Bilingual
Secret/Carlota Mestre
Cuenta su Secreto
Cinco Monitos Eileen Christelow HarperCollins 1989 English
Brincando en la Publishers
Cama/Five Little
Monkeys Jumping
on the Bed
*¿Dónde Está la Mem Fox HMH Books for 2004 English
Oveja Verde?/ Young Readers
Where Is the
Green Sheep?
Don’t Eat Me, Kyle Sullivan Hazy Dell Press 2018 Bilingual
Chupacabra!/¡No
Me Comas,
Chupacabra!
*Es Hora de Dormir/ Mem Fox HMH Books for 1993 English
Time for Bed Young Readers
(continued)
32 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

Continued

Publication
Book Author Publisher year Original language

Guacamole: Un Jorge Argueta Turtleback 2016 Bilingual

Poema para
Cocinar/A
Cooking Poem
(Bilingual Cooking
Poems)
Happy within/Feliz Marisa J. Taylor Marisa J. Taylor 2021 English
por dentro
*Huggy Kissy/ Leslie Particelli Candlewick Press 2012 English
Abrazos y Besitos
*I Love You Sun, I Tomie dePaola G.P. Putnam’s Sons 1994 English
Love You Moon/Te Books for Young
Amo Sol, Te Amo Readers
Luna
*I Will Love You Caroline Jayne Cartwheel Books 2016 English
Forever/Te Amaré Church
por Siempre
Jack and the Carol Ottolenghi Brighter Child 2001 English
Beanstalk/Juan y los
Frijoles Mágicos
Just because I am: A Lauren Murphy Free Spirit 1994 English
Child’s Book of Payne Publishing
Affirmation/Solo
porque Soy Yo: Un
Libro de
Afirmaciones para
Niños
Kiki can!/Kiki puede! Susie Jaramillo Encantos 2022 Bilingual
La Divina Catrina/Oh, Aracely De Arte Publico Press 2020 Bilingual
Divine Catrina Alvarado
La Oruga Muy Eric Carle World Publishing 1969 English
Hambrienta/The Company
Very Hungry
Caterpillar
(continued)
Potter et al. 33

Continued

Publication
Book Author Publisher year Original language

Let’s Be Friends/ Rene Colato Holiday House 2021 Bilingual

Seamos Amigos: In Lainez
English and
Spanish/En Inglés y
Español (My
Friend, Mi Amigo)
The Life of/La Vida de Patty Rodriguez Lil’ Libros 2018 Bilingual
Selena
Little Bunny - I Like… Alexandra Alexandra 2014 English
, El Pequeño Hasi - Dannenmann Dannenmann
Todo lo Que Me
Gusta
Lupita’s First Dance/ Lupe Ruiz-Flores Pinata Books 2013 Bilingual
El Primer Baile de
Lupita
Malty the Blue Tiger/ Kelsey Kloss Rincon Point LLC 2018 Bilingual
Marita la Tigresita
Azul
My Colors, My World Maya Christina Children’s Book 2007 Bilingual
Mis Colores, Mi González Press
Mundo
Papá, Por Favor, Eric Carle Simon and Schuster 1986 English
Bájame la Luna
(Papa, Please Get
the Moon for Me)
Pablo y el Tiburón/ Rachel Cheung/ BookLocker.com 2020 Bilingual
Pablo and the Marina
Shark Moreno Earle
Playing Loteria/El Rene Colato Cooper Square 2006 Bilingual
Juego de la Loterı́a Lainez Publishing LLC
¿Qué Hacen las April Jones Prince HMH Books for 2006 English
Ruedas Todo el Young Readers
Dı́a?/What Do
Wheels Do All
Day?
Quiero a mi Mama Laurel Porter- Dutton Books for 1991 English
Porque…/I love Gaylord Young Readers
my Mommy
Because…
(continued)
34 Journal of Early Childhood Literacy 0(0)

Continued

Publication
Book Author Publisher year Original language

Rainbow Weaver/ Linda Elovitz Children’s Book 2016 Bilingual

Tejedora del Marshall Press (CA)
Arcoiris
Sally and the Kevin Marx Kevin Marx 2021 English
Microscope/Sally y
el Microscopio
There It Is! ¡Ahı́ Está!: Marta Almansa Marta Almansa 2020 Bilingual
A Search and Find Esteva Esteva
book in English and
Spanish
Thumper Finds an Laura Driscoll Disney Press 2009 English
Egg/Tambor
Encuentra un
Huevito
Una Visita Al Celeste Bishop Powerkids Pr 2016 Bilingual and English
Zoológico/A Visit
to the Zoo
(Lugares En Mi
Comunidad/Places
in My Community)
Un Pequeño Libro Samantha Ruby’s Studio 2011 English
Sobre Counter/Abbie
Sentimientos: A Schiller
Little Book About
Feelings
Feelings: Spanish
English Bilingual
Edition
What Can You Do Carmen Tafolla Tricycle Press 2009 Bilingual
With a Paleta?/
¿Qué Puedes
Hacer con una
Paleta?
*What Is Your Marcela Lion and Archer 2020 Bilingual
Favorite Color?/ Klinsrisuk Books
¿Cuál Es Tu Color
Favorito?

Note. Asterisks denote books included in the full Translation corpus, but excluded from the age-matched subset
used in comparisons with Codeswitching books.