No Se Permiten Elefantes, early Spanish learning awesome

My Spanish is very far from fluent. However, I speak enough Spanish to communicate with lower-grade elementary students. Having said that, I also believe the full-immersion is the best way to learn a language for most students. I’ve also taught ESL for four years and know that communicating in the language that you’re learning, even when it’s beyond your comfort level is beneficial. It’s with all of that in mind that I read, and had our 12-year-old middle school student read No Se Permiten Elefantes. He’s been studying Spanish for half a year and already has a solid vocabulary base under him.

Even his 10-year-old brother, who hasn’t been studying Spanish at all, understood what the title of the book meant when I read it to him. I’ll ask both of them simple questions in Spanish and have been doing so since they were five. They also listen to a lot of Puya, Zoe, The Gypsy Kings, and Mana for what it’s worth. On Earth 2, I hope that my Spanish doppelganger is teaching their children English by listening to Journey, Mastadon, yacht rock, and Oingo Boingo.

No Se Permiten Elefantes is the very charming story about a young boy and his pet elephant. As the book opens we learn that he’s the only kid with a pet elephant. We see his brownstone, with a collection of other kids and their pets, like a fish, dogs of all colors, a bird, and a cat. However, nadie mas tiene un elefante, and this is where illustrated books like this can help emerging language learners.

“No one else has”, nadie mas tiene, that’s one of the phrases used in the book. It can also be a building block for a conversation. But the first part of mastering a second language is learning, or at least becoming familiar with the vocabulary. Our language learner could read No Se Permiten Elefantes and infer what was happening with the story. Some of the words he knew, most of them he didn’t, but he jumped into the deeper end of the second language pool and pronounced them the best that he could.

He read on as the young boy was excited about the neighborhood’s pet club and how they put the sign up at the door that says ‘no se permiten elefantes’. As the boy is walking away he meets a young girl who also has a pet that didn’t fit the club’s mold. The two friends decide to have their own club where all animals are welcome. The art is realistic, friendly and the timeless story will make readers smile in any language.

The book was originally published in 2015 and this is the Spanish translation. Great illustrated books have no time stamp and will translate into other languages easily. However, when the student’s age is far north of the language that they’re learning, the text from which they can learn is able to go younger. No Se Permiten Elefantes is a great example of that. A 12-year-old who is reading a book that’s intended for a five-year-old reader would be too simple in their native tongue. However, this Spanish translation is perfect for his emerging second language skills. It’s a great addition to the classroom or home library as an example of a book that some will be able to read with ease, others will level up to it and some will grow the vocabulary in the language that they’re learning.

No Se Permiten Elefantes is by Lisa Mantchev with illustrations by Taeeun Yun and translated by Alexis Romay.

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