Friday Frida Favs: “Counting with - Contando con Frida” Book Review

“Counting with - Contando con Frida” by Patty Rodriguez and Ariana Stein is the perfect first Frida Kahlo themed book for any child. It's a board book, making it durable without worrying about your child tearing the pages out. It's illustrations are simple and well designed without overwhelming your little reader. Better yet, your child is learning two languages, words and numbers, while unknowingly learning about Frida Kahlo. This book embodies what we love in our household, Frida, reading, and teaching Lily Spanish.

“Counting with - Contando con Frida” is actually one of my favorite Frida Kahlo themed books. If I didn’t have Lily I would have probably purchased it for myself. What I love about this book is the objects used to represent the numbers are related to Frida’s life. For example, for the number 5, there is five framed portraits of Frida which are based off of her paintings. Frida is well known for painting self-portraits of herself. Frida’s paintings “Self-Portrait with Loose Hair”, “The Two Fridas”, “Frieda and Diego Rivera”, “Self-Portrait as a Tehuana”, and “The Wounded Deer” inspired the ones illustrated to help represent the number five.

“Counting with - Contando con Frida” is published by Lil’ Libros (which means little books in Spanish), a company which publishes other amazing bilingual books with Mexican themes and educational concepts. Other great titles they sell are “La Llorona” which teaches counting down numbers, “Loteria” teaches first words based on the Mexican game Loteria, “Lucha Libre” (Mexican wrestling) teaches anatomy, “Zapata” teaches colors based on Emiliano Zapata’s life, and “Guadalupe” teaches more first words based on the Virgin Mary’s life. Lil’ Libros is currently in the works to release two more books, “Cuauhtemoc” and “Un Elefante!” We are looking forward to adding them to our Lil' Libros bilingual book collection.

We were introduced to Lil’ Libros books last year, when Lily received “Counting with - Contando con Frida” and “Loteria” from my friend Maria. We have been hooked to Lil’ Libros books since then. I got Lily “Guadalupe” for her Easter basket this year and purchased other titles for my nephews for Christmas. You can purchase Lil’ Libros books and prints on their website, here and on Etsy, here. You can follow them on Instagram, here. They usually have sales during the holidays and you can get their discount code if you follow them on Instagram. I have seen “Counting with - Contando con Frida” books in Target stores, but not on Target online.

I’ve always loved reading. I was in a bookclub called, “The Bookies” for a few years. I started reading to Lily from day one and I’ve seen how rewarding it is for both of us. She has books everywhere. She has a basket with books in our bedroom and in the living room and a bookshelf in her bedroom. Lily will choose a book over watching cartoons anytime. She knows how to say book in English and Spanish. “Counting with - Contando con Frida” book has helped her learn how to count to two.

Sign ups are still open for Viva La Frida Craft Swap. If you haven’t signed up, there is still time. If you get paired up with someone with a little one, Lily and I highly recommend buying “Counting with - Contando con Frida” for them. It will be a gift both child and parent will enjoy, promise! Also, don't forget to swing on by The Morose Bee blog to see what Emily as posted for Friday Frida Favs.

Happy FRIDAy everyone!