Two at the Zoo / Dos en el Zoológico

Hi! I’m Ms. Gaby and below you’ll find a quick guide to use while reading the fully bilingual board book Two at the Zoo / Dos en el Zoológico.

(This book’s Spanish text is not a literal translation. The author took some creative liberties when translating the text to fit with its style. This can happen with songs and in poetry. We find the book is a good starting point for new vocabulary; the names of animals, and numbers.)

Before Reading:

• Let’s look at the front cover, we see two people, a boy and his grandfather, surrounded by different animals. Do you know which animals they are? What do you think this story might be about?
• Let’s look at the back cover for some clues.
• Do you know what a Zoo (un Zoológico) is?
• This book was written by Danna Smith, she is the author.

During Reading:

• This book has short, simple text, so as we read, we can take our time, and concentrate on pronouncing and elaborating on the key words:
  • Zoo – Zoológico
  • Grandpa – Abuelo
  • Tickets – Boletos
  • Hats – Sombreros
  • Black Bear – Oso pardo
  • Parrots – Loritos
  • Baby Gators – Lagartitos
  • Lions – Leones
  • Penguins – Pingüinos
  • Lizards – Lagartijas
  • Eagles – Águilas
  • Spiders – Arañas
  • Flamingos – Flamencos
  • Hogs – Jabalíes
  • Zebras – Zebras
  • Hippos – Hipopótamos
  • Tired – Cansado

After Reading:

• Let’s talk about what we just read/listened to:
  • So, where did the boy and his grandad go?
  • How many animals did they see? Let’s count them together! (prompt the child to echo your answers in English and Spanish)
  • Which one is your favorite animal? ¿Cuál es tu animal favorito?
  • Let’s plan a visit to the Zoo! (Have paper and pencils/crayons ready to create a list of all the things we need to prepare for a visit to the zoo)
  • Let’s play some Two at the Zoo Bingo! (download the blank template below or create one by dividing a piece of paper into quadrants, adding images or asking the child to draw the zoo animals from the story).

Give these suggestions a try and let us know how it went in a comment below!