10 Books you should add to your classroom French library
High interest, high context, low reading level texts to engage your French students!
Do you have a classroom French library?
Is your library full of current, age-appropriate, linguistically accessible texts for the students in your classes?
Do your students really use your French library for independent reading and learning?
If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, this blog post is for you!
Choose from this list of high interest, lower-reading-level texts to refresh your classroom library and engage your French learners. Most are available through online retailers, and some have Kindle versions! I selected these books using the criteria in this blog post on how to build a great classroom library in any language.
Do you need ideas structuring and assessing independent reading using your amazing classroom library? Click here!
Now, in no particular order, here are 10 great books to add to your classroom French library!
Title: Pokemon L’Encyclo
ISBN: 978-2017142492
There’s always at least one student in every class who is a Pokemon fanatic, and this 300 page encyclopedia of all things Pokemon is custom made for that kid! Learn general vocabulary including ‘feu’ ‘sol’ ‘ténèbres’ ‘poison’ along with specialized phrases like ‘le pouvoir de contrôler le temps’, ‘une dimension parallèle à la nôtre’ and ‘une queue impressionnante’. As a bonus, the student who studies this authentic text is likely to be more proficient in Pokemon vocabulary than the teacher. In two languages.
Title: Le Ciel et L’Espace
ISBN: 9782745992215 Note: Kindle version available
This beautifully illustrated book is written for children ages 8-11 and includes and introduction to earth science topics such as plate tectonics, the water cycle, the solar system, etc. Most teens will be familiar with these topics from their science classes, providing lots of context to learn French vocabulary such as “les taches solaires”, “une étoile filante” and “le lancement d’une fusée”
Title: Plus Vite plus Haut Plus Fort
ISBN: 9782070666034
This is one of my favorite books for novice students. It’s an encyclopedia of record breakers in most any category you can imagine, from athletes to animals to geographical features. The beautiful photographs combined with bulleted facts and lots of visual support make every page an engaging, accessible target language source. With a huge variety of topics, this book has something for everyone.
Title: Crapule, Tome 1 / Crapule Tome 2
ISBN: 978-2800174006 / ISBN: 9791034733576 Note: Kindle version available.
Crapule is a very cute bande dessinée series about the misadventures of Crapule, a mischievous kitten. The story lines are realistic; Crapule’s owner makes observations and provides all the speech. The animation style and subject matter are engaging for teens. Crapule is accessible for language learners because each page is a stand-alone comic with 4 frames and the series is very visual.
I removed a few pages from this book due to some cartoon nudity that would be distracting to my middle schoolers.
Chi, une Vie de Chat, Tome 1 / Tome 2 (there are 12 volumes)
ISBN: 978-2723478380 / ISBN: 978-2723478458
Another comic series about a cat, Chi involves longer story lines. This series uses very simple language is more fictional; the cats are the main characters and we read their ‘speech’. Because Chi speaks with a lisp, intermediate learners will enjoy the puzzle of figuring out what she is saying in phrases like “Z’en peux plus!” and “Z’en ai zamais eu….”
Title: A la Découverte de la Belgique
ISBN: 9782875460202
This book contains all the typical information you would expect in a book about a country: history, geography, demographics, tourist sites, famous Belgians, food, etc. The visuals are updated with bright colors, small text blocks, and lots of visual support. This book is a fun introduction to one of my favorite French-speaking destinations (see 5 things to love about Belgium here!)
Title: Les Recettes du Monde Dans les Films D’Animation
ISBN: 978-2376972525
The recipes in this book are based on food that appears in famous animated films, such as the spaghetti and meatballs in “Lady and the Tramp”, the Gingerbread Man from “Shrek” and - of course - Ratatouille! In addition to step-by-step instructions and images of the ingredients, each recipe contains a 2-3 paragraph description of the role of the dish in the film. The reading level of this book is more challenging than others in this blog post, but many students have background knowledge of the films to draw on. This book has wide appeal for both budding chefs and movie connoisseurs in your classroom.
Title: La Galette des Rois
ISBN: 9782017015758 Notes: Part of the Sami et Julie series
Although I don’t typically include readers in my classroom library (as the subject matter typically doesn’t appeal to teenagers) I make an exception for the Sami et Julie series. These booklets for French CP and CE1 students focus on cultural topics such as “Poisson d’Avril” “Sami et Julie font des Crêpes” and the text featured here, “La Galette des Rois”. Novice students will be able to understand the simple text, and the books can be finished in one sitting. The best feature of this series is the pronunciation aid; silent letters are written in blue text, and liaison is noted with a curved blue line connecting the pronounced letters. French learners can benefit from reading the text aloud, and realizing that native French speakers have some of the same pronunciation challenges as they do is encouraging for novice speakers.
Title: Je Mangerais Bien un Enfant
ISBN: 978-2211075626
A cute, simple children’s story about a baby crocodile who wants to eat a human child. The crocodile’s parents offer him multiple other food options before the crocodile learns that children should not be on the menu. This book includes a lot of repetition, sweet illustrations, and many examples of the conditional. The story is funny and surprising, and the vocabulary is manageable for novice-high to intermediate French learners.
Title: Apprendre a Dessiner les Manga
ISBN: 9782501163255 Note: this is book 1 in a series of 3
This book will appeal to students who enjoy drawing. The extensive step by step diagrams provide students with lots of context to understand the French. Learn words like “profil”, “taille” and “regarde droit devant” or “regarde dirigé vers le droit” The tutorial format uses simple imperatives and step-by-step instructions, allowing students to learn detailed vocabulary in context.
So, those are a few of my favorites! By staying current and including a variety of high-interest, low-reading level materials, students will flock to your classroom library.
What would you add to this list? Share in the comments!
