Bao Bao Learns Chinese Vol. 1, Chinese Books for Kids, Chinese New Year Gifts, Chinese Baby Book, Mandarin Chinese Board Books for Children, Chinese Learning Book, Bilingual Book & Musical Toy

My first reaction to this book was, “OMG, how awesome! I wish this book was around when my son was a baby/toddler!”Let me tell you why this book is so amazing – it’s not just a book, it’s a: (1) board book; (2) song book with music and singing; (3) book with some of the most popular Chinese nursery rhymes and translated American nursey rhymes that you all know; (4) interactive toy; and (5) a bilingual book in English, Chinese and Pinyin pronunciation – all rolled into one awesome book! What a wonderful concept!The author/singer is a mommy who created this book for her baby – she has a beautiful soothing voice and the songs brought me back to my childhood as well as when my son was a baby/toddler. Music is so important for babies and children. It has been shown that listening to music helps children develop the ability to decode auditory data and sharpen their auditory memory - abilities which are fundamental to language comprehension. This book will help your kids learn Chinese without it feeling like a lesson.The songs in this book are written in English with the Chinese and Pinyin pronunciation next to each phrase. Even if you can’t read Chinese, you can still sing along with the author by reading the Pinyin pronunciation. You will understand what you are singing/reading because the English is right there for you. This is also a fun and easier way to learn how to read the Chinese characters, too. As an added bonus, because this book is so sturdy and the song buttons are easy to push, your little ones can read/play with this book by themselves! Need a break for a few minutes? Give them this book!I really can’t say enough good things about this book!

Here's an update, now that we have had the book (and the companion book by the same author) for several months. My daughter loves them just as much as when they arrived. This will be my holiday gift to all friends with babies and toddlers. No need to have any Chinese background - I would get these books if they were in another language too, though I'm delighted that my child is learning to say and sing some Mandarin, early in life.Here's my original review:Buy this book. It is hands down one of the best things I have ever found for my 14 month old daughter. She sits with it in her little hands, entranced, and pushes the buttons to play the songs. I don’t mind that she plays them many times, since they are beautifully played on real instruments and the singer’s voice is lovely (unlike the tinny sound of many ‘musical’ toys). The book itself is well made and durable, and the volume is adjustable and good at both levels, unlike other sound books that are too soft or too loud. The songs are a great mix of familiar English nursery tunes, and Chinese songs. I am learning to sing the words in Mandarin, and am thrilled that this book and its companion (the author has made two) seem to be launching both baby and mama into learning Mandarin. Thank you!!

We received this book when our baby was 6.5 months old. She enjoyed listening to it and looking at the images right away. She is now nearly 13 months old and engages with the book multiple times a day. She loves pressing the buttons and flipping the pages, and is even now starting to associate the pages with their corresponding song button. She loved the book so much that we ended up putting it in her change area, and she listens to it while we're changing her diaper and dressing her - it helps calm her down but also keeps her actively engaged. One of her first words was even "Bao Bao"!We don't speak Mandarin, but we had a native Mandarin speaker come to play with her in Mandarin a few times a week when she was 7-9 months old (would have continued, but the Coronavirus lockdown started), and she would sing these songs along with our baby, and found them to be accurately translated - as well as songs she remembered from her own childhood.We really enjoy the songs in this book, too, and have started being able to sing some of them - our tongues get tied on some songs and words, still, but it's fun to try to sing along!We also have the French Nursery Rhymes book from Cali's Books (which our baby also loves), but the Bao Bao book is much, much, much better quality in both construction and battery / button life, as well as in the length of the songs (Bao Bao songs are repeated twice, allowing you to actually get the hang of them, while Cali's Books songs are cut short). We've had to change the batteries of the Cali's Books one twice in the same time frame, while the original batteries in the Bao Bao book are still working perfectly.

Lovely songs. Kids love it!