No somos amigos: A Spanish Children’s Book with Only 38 Words
Feb 01, 2024
Children’s books seem like they should be perfect for beginning Spanish students.
Big illustrations. Short pages. Simple stories.
There’s just one problem: the Spanish often isn’t simple at all.
A children’s book written for a native Spanish speaker is written for someone who already speaks Spanish. Give that same book to a beginning language learner and the “easy” book can suddenly be packed with unfamiliar vocabulary and structures.
That’s the problem we wanted to solve with No somos amigos.
64 pages. Only 38 unique Spanish words.
That’s not a typo.
No somos amigos is a full-color hardcover children’s book with 64 illustrated pages, but the entire story is built from just 38 unique Spanish words.
The goal was to get the best of both worlds: a real story with gorgeous illustrations, but language that a true beginning Spanish student can actually access.
So what is No somos amigos about?
No somos amigos is a prequel to our music video Diego y sus amigos.
Diego and Tomás are stuck together on a boat in the middle of the ocean. They share the same food. They share the same supplies.
Unfortunately, they do not share the same opinions about navigation.
The result is a goofy little story about two people who don’t get along, can’t seem to agree on where they’re going, and nevertheless have to figure out how to move forward together.
If you already know Diego y sus amigos, there are some extra rewards in seeing how these two ended up together. But the book works as a standalone story, too.
A Spanish children’s book actually written for beginners
We wrote the book at Novice Low, which means the simplicity isn’t an accident or something you have to discover after buying it. Beginner accessibility was the point from the beginning.
And although the language is simple, we didn’t want the story to feel babyish. The humor is meant to work for younger readers, teenagers, and adults.
That distinction matters to me. Simple Spanish doesn’t have to mean a boring story.
And yes, there’s a glossary
You betcha.
Even with only 38 unique words, beginning readers are still going to hit language they don’t know. The book includes a Spanish-to-English glossary so students have help when they need it.
Most readers can get through the entire book pretty quickly, which makes it especially useful for independent reading without asking students to commit to a full novel.
How might you use it in Spanish class?
The obvious use is independent reading. It’s short enough that students can finish the whole story without the experience turning into a multi-week project.
It can also live in a classroom library as an unusually accessible option for true beginners, or serve as a companion to Diego y sus amigos if you already use that story with your students.
Mostly, though, I wanted to make the kind of beginner Spanish book that I always wished there were more of: very little language, but still an actual story.
Looking for another ultra-accessible Spanish book?
A couple of years after No somos amigos, Juan Carlos Pinilla and I made our second children’s book, Mundo de pan.
Somehow, we went even lower.
Mundo de pan tells a complete 52-page story using just 33 unique Spanish words. Like No somos amigos, it’s written at Novice Low and designed to give beginning Spanish students the experience of actually finishing an entire book.
Learn more about Mundo de pan →
One thing to know: it’s a physical book
No somos amigos is not included digitally in the Wooly subscription. It’s a hardcover print book, available through the Señor Wooly store.
Want to see No somos amigos?
The store page has the current book details, availability, and purchasing options.
See No somos amigos →
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