Must-Read | Bilingual My Home {我的家} Picture Story & Activity Book Set + {Giveaway}

We love books. Even when overseas, we like to browse at the local bookstores and perhaps lug back 3-4 new books home :) We're trying to raise Lil Pumpkin to be a bilingual child that's able to communicate effectively in English and Mandarin Chinese. Sometimes I'd throw in a bit of Japanese as well, just for fun :P

Books are definitely important in any learning process, and especially so when learning languages. Recently, we came across My Home {我的家}, which is a set of bilingual {English/Chinese} books written by local authors, Rayne Ngoi and Cheng Pei Yee, and illustrated by Wang Lu Bo. It comes in a set of 2 books - a picture storybook and an accompanying activity book.

A unique feature of My Home is that it is written in Singapore content. In the books, kids {and adults!} will find many items and places that they can associate with in their daily lives in this country. Since English is Lil Pumpkin's stronger language, it helps her to improve her Chinese skills. However for those parents looking to strengthen their child's English skills, these books are very useful too as equal emphasis is placed on both languages.

In the picture storybook, readers go on an adventure with Jason and his faithful dog, Blackie, through the brightly coloured pages to investigate every room in his HDB flat to find a playmate. Written in English and Chinese with hanyu pinyin, each page also contains many little flaps {some contain rather funny secrets} which can be lifted as you read to your child.

Do you find yourself speaking Chinese but mixing it with English because you didn't know how to say the words in Chinese? For example, do you know what's "community centre" or "see-saw" in Chinese? Well, we forgot and found the local content of this book very useful in teaching how to say and write the names of items and places found in a typical home and HDB neighbourhood in Singapore.

It's highly entertaining and Lil Pumpkin knows how to read some of the Chinese words herself actually {yay!!} thanks to her enrichment classes and the boy's nightly revision with her. A great book to snuggle up to in bed, we usually spend about 30mins to go through all 40 beautifully-illustrated pages. 

This bilingual activity book, also fully coloured, complements the picture book "My Home", and is written to cater to the learning of 2 to 6 years olds. It contains vocabulary practices, hanyu pinyin learning aids, picture flash cards, interactive games, DIY handicraft, stickers and more, to make the process of learning a fun and enjoyable one.

Some of the exercises are still too advanced for her since she's not able to spell or write a lot of Chinese characters yet. However, this set will still entertain her even when she's older so we'll definitely re-visit those exercises later. I'd probably laminate the flash cards and writing exercises in the book, so that they will last longer and we can use them repeatedly.

Have a look at the review vlog I did with Lil Pumpkin to see the actual picture story and activity books. Was quite fun to do one with her, although she didn't really like to sit still and let me do all the talking hahaha. If the video isn't working, see it on Youtube here. 

Just for my special blog readers and friends only, I have THREE My Home {我的家} Bilingual Book Sets to give away! Definitely a fun and exciting way for kids to learn English AND Chinese at home!

Giveaway Method: Random Draw

1. Be a Sakura Haruka Facebook page fan

2. Be a Read with Me Mommy Facebook page fan

3. Like & Share this Facebook photo and tag a friend. Make sure your post is public!

4. Leave me a blog comment telling me your best tip to learn Chinese + email add. For those unsure of how to comment, choose "Name/URL" option then add your name and comment. If you prefer to send me your email add privately, leave a comment for the other answers then contact me at sakuraharuka {at} live {dot} com.

THREE random winners will be chosen. Just complete all 4 simple steps!

Details:
* Open to Singapore residents only.
* Ends Monday, 10 Mar 2014 2359hrs {Singapore time} 
* Incomplete or inappropriate entries will be deemed invalid and will not be included.
* Winners will be announced by Sunday, 16 Mar 2014 on this blog post and notified via email. Winners have 3 days to reply, or the prize will be redrawn.
* Sakura Haruka is not responsible for any prizes lost, damaged or misplaced in the mail.

UPDATE: The giveaway has ended. The winners are Sharon Ng, Ruby Lee and Serene Seah. Stay tuned for more blog giveaways on Sakura Haruka! Check out my current readers promos too. Thanks for your support!

P.S. Bonus Round is now open on my Facebook page here. 2 more sets to giveaway!! Ends Sat 15 Mar 14.

* Disclosure: Read with Me Mommy provided My Home Book Set for review and giveaway. No monetary compensation was received, and all opinions are my own.

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