It is not often that you find an authentic Spanish language book that will teach both grammar and connection in a comprehensible way. In fact, this may be the only friendship book that does just that! Las aventuras de Marie y Leelee is a Spanish children’s book about two friends, their adventures, and memories. But the cherry on top is that it is written in the imperfect tense… and in a very basic and comprehensible style. It makes the perfect friendship book to add to your classroom library and your past tense lesson plans.
One of the best ways to acquire a language is through reading. I strongly encourage the use of children’s books in the Spanish classroom, even for high school students. Children’s books use a lot of imitation (acting out), and single repetitive words. For a list of children’s books to teach grammar in Spanish class, check out this blog post.
Friendship Book: Las Aventuras de Marie y LeeLee
Las Aventuras de Marie y LeeLee is written by Lisa Cortez, a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist and author living in San Diego, CA. This is her first book, and it is a tribute to her best friend Marie, who passed away from cancer. Some of the sales from the book are being donated to a volunteer organization that Marie was involved in called New York Cares.
Meet Marie and Leelee, best friends who love spending time together. From swimming in the lake to running in the snow, these friends spend their days laughing, talking, and having fun. It is truly a heartwarming story that students will connect with.
Review of Las Aventuras de Marie y LeeLee
When I first read this book, I couldn’t help but smile. What a sweet book about friendship! The story is uplifting, positive, and filled with adventure. Marie and Leelee’s adventures aren’t super extravagant, but there is beauty in everyday life and making memories with your best friend.
And on top of such a cute story about friendship and adventure, the illustrations are beautiful and colorful. Your students will love looking at the brightly colored images as they read this book.
Imperfect Tense Spanish Children’s Friendship Book
But let me tell you my favorite part about this book – it is ALL in the imperfect tense! Finding simple, authentic resources in the past tense in Spanish can be a challenge.
I’m a huge proponent of using children’s books in the world language classroom to teach grammar. Students will acquire the sentence structure and tense through repetition. Children’s books are known for repetition. In fact, Lisa Cortez specifically wrote this book with this in mind!
Some other books that do this are: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Si le das una galletita a un ratón) with the future tense. Green Eggs and Ham (Huevos verdes con jamón) uses direct object pronouns. And Las Aventuras de Marie y Leelee uses the imperfect tense. And since the past tense usually takes students a while to master, any additional authentic input for students to acquire the language is a win!
And boy oh boy does this book make teaching the imperfect easy! The sentences are simple, repetitive, and relatable for students. You’ll find phrases like “les encantaban salir a comer” “”les encantaban divertirse,” “tenía,” “había,” iban,” etc.
I can envision my classes writing their own versions of this story about adventures with their best friend and what they did when they were younger.
Interview with Author Lisa Cortez
I had the privilege of interviewing the author, Lisa Cortez about her writing process and the inspiration for her friendship book. Here is our conversation:
What inspired you to write “Las Aventuras de Marie y LeeLee”? Do you have a favorite memory with your friend that inspired the book?
Marie was such an incredible person, who had a way of spreading happiness to everyone she met. I wrote this book as a way to continue to spread her joy and to share how our everyday activities were transformed into lasting memories through the beauty of our friendship. I hope that it will bring smiles and joy to all who read it!
What was your favorite part of writing this book?
My favorite part about writing this book was reminiscing about all the wonderful times Marie and I shared.
What are some strategies to stimulate language development that you included in this book?
Imitation is a key building block in language development. I included strategies to build this skill through all forms of imitation. There are opportunities for movement imitation where kids can act out the actions in the book (for example, running, jumping, skiing), opportunities for sound imitation (for example, “quack”, “meow”) and simple, repetitive words and phrases to provide opportunities for word and phrase/sentence imitation.
How can Spanish teachers use your friendship book in their classroom?
Spanish teachers can use this book as a way to not only teach vocabulary and grammar in a fun and meaningful way, but also to teach early literacy skills and social-emotional learning.
What do you hope readers will take away from this book?
I hope this book will remind readers of special relationships they have in their own lives and I hope they will have so much fun reading it!
How can readers learn more about you/connect with you?
I always love hearing from readers and receiving pictures of kids reading the book! My website is https://learningwithmarieandleelee.com/ and Instagram is @theadventuresofmarieandleelee.
I am an advocate for Spanish language books, and this one is no exception. I highly recommend reading Las aventuras de Marie y Leelee with your own children at home or with your students in the classroom. It is a friendship book that belongs in every Spanish classroom.
If you purchase this book, I may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.
