Review | The Complete Book of Starter Spanish + The Complete Book of Spanish

I have owned both of these books before and used them both extensively. I would like to go ahead and do a review of these very nifty little books.

The Complete Book of Starter Spanish is marketed as suitable for grades PreK - 1 while The Complete Book of Spanish is marketed as suitable for grades 1-3, I'd say that they are roughly fair but really I'd say that the two books range PreK- 2, depending on the exposure of each child. Some of the activities in Start Spanish might be to complex for 3 and 4 year olds so you'd need to adapt it to their level, for instance, letting them paste or place the missing part of a pattern there instead of expecting them the draw it themselves.

Both books are primarily vocabulary though The Complete Book of Spanish (Gr. 1-3) does include some basic grammar and phrases. Personally, I really liked The Complete Book of Spanish because it was such a gentle, doable introduction to Spanish for the English speaking child. I used it with a little girl who was 7-9 during the times that we used it. She mastered the vocabulary easily and we had fun playing with the simple cut out pictures and having "Spanish time" during school breaks when she had more time.

I can read and speak Spanish with a fairly respectable accent, so the lack of pronunciation guides didn't bother me in the least. The pictures were big, colorful, clear and vibrant. This book was enjoyed and cherished and used until it practically fell apart in our hands. I called up the little girl I used this book with and she, at 11 years old, still remembers about 75% of the vocabulary that we learned and about the el vs la words and how to tell if words are el or la words. I used this books as the spine of our Spanish studies.

There is nothing in either of these books that couldn't be gleaned or collected from around the internet for free, but you'd have to print (in color, or color after wards) the pictures and invest time into it. Both of these books are very reasonably priced and are fantastic spines to begin Spanish with a young or eager student in the PreK-5th grade range. Its a light load, which means it will get done if you allow yourselves to be responsible for getting it done.

And for roughly $20, its hard to argue with the value. If you only get one, I suggest the Complete Book of Spanish. NOT Starter Spanish. They cover virtually the same things but Starter Spanish lacks grammar and spends a lot of time and pages on the alphabet that isn't really all that useful.
I can speak Spanish on a basic level and can converse spontaneously with Spanish speakers I encounter at school, the store or on travels yet I can't rattle off the alphabet in Spanish and it has never hindered me.


I give The Complete Book of Starter Spanish a 7.5 out of 10.
I give The Complete Book of Spanish a 9 out of 10.

Both books include a bibliography of books you can find at the library to enrich or expand on each topics vocabulary, Starter Spanish includes a pronunciation key in the glossary. Both books are very accessible to learners from ages 3 and up with a little adaptation as needed.