Rhyming books is a wonderful tool to not only boost your child’s second language vocabulary, but also help them develop early literacy skills.
Rhyming in children’s books help kids grow in their phonological awareness (sound structure of words) which is an important skill for reading and writing.
Just think back to how often you have found your child singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Start” or “Two Tigers 兩隻老虎” to themselves in Mandarin. These easy rhymes are so so important and a wonderfully easy way to help your child pick up more Chinese.
5 Reasons Why Rhyming is Important for Young Kids
- Rhyming helps kids develop phonemic awareness which is the foundation of later reading and writing success.
- Rhymes include simple functional phrases that serves as a great on-ramp to Chinese. Many of these phrases are important because children can use these automatically in everyday conversations (ex: 兩隻老虎/Liǎng zhī lǎo hǔ: introduces measure words for tigers).
- Rhyming teaches kids the sound of language, making it an easy and non-intimidating way to pick up tones in the Chinese language.
- Repetition used in rhymes makes it easy for kids to pick up new characters and phrases.
- Classic Chinese nursery rhymes have been around for years making it a great tool to help connect your child to native speakers or relatives who learn the same rhymes from birth.
Traditional Chinese Rhyming Books for Kids
For each book, title and links to purchase are included. All books are appropriate for babies to preschoolers and up.
Special thanks to 茉莉書櫃 for her list of recommended Traditional Chinese rhyming books. Be sure to check out her full post of recommended books.
This classic children’s book is a wonderful place to start since most children are already familiar with and enjoy this book. Although the Chinese translation doesn’t rhyme as well as the original English version, it still serves it purpose of exposing children to functional phrases through simple rhymes. Repetition that’s used throughout the book is also helpful in helping kids pick up this useful question of “what do you see” in Chinese and names of various animals. Be sure to check out other books by Eric Carle translated into Chinese.
Purchase Info: U.S. Yo! Baby Shop, CA Little Kozzi
A fun book of poems about common games children play in Taiwan. Since it’s written in Chinese, the rhymes flow more smoothly. It’s also a great way for children to explore different games and pick up functional words that describe them.
Purchase Info: Books.com.tw
A fun book of poems about common games children play in Taiwan. Since it’s written in Chinese, the rhymes flow more smoothly. It’s also a great way for children to explore different games and pick up functional words that describe them.
Purchase Info: US Yo Baby Shop, Taiwan 博客來
Adorable rhyming board book series by moms raising their kids bilingual, Alice & Lily Cheng. These books are great for parents who are growing in their Chinese reading abilities. The books comes with pinyin, English translation and audio via their YouTube Channel.
Purchase Info: Maomi Books
Chinese translation of the popular English children’s series is a fun set of rhyming books for kids. The titles included in this series has more repetition and rhymes compared to the other Pete the Cat Books. These include 皮皮貓和他的神奇太陽眼睛，我愛我的白布鞋，皮皮貓和他的四顆帥鈕扣。Again, since it’s a translation, the rhymes don’t flow as well as the English version and it’s only a part of the book. But there are many phrases that are repeated making it a fun interactive read for families. My daughter and I really enjoyed these.
Purchase Info: U.S. Mr & Mrs Books, Gloria’s Bookstore
There are lots of nursery rhyme books to choose from. This has been one we enjoyed since it’s a press and play sound book that my daughter can take with her and hear the songs right away. The lyrics are included with zhuyin and also music sheet if you want it play it on the piano. Learning classic Chinese nursery rhymes through books like these is a great way to connect with native speakers or relatives since most native speakers grow up singing these songs.
Purchase Info: U.S. Yo Baby Shop
Simplified Chinese Rhyming Books for Kids
For each book, title and links to purchase are included. All books are appropriate for babies to preschoolers and up.
This popular nursery rhyme sound book is a wonderful resource for children learning Chinese. Many parents I’ve coached said their kids love their Bao Bao books and reaches for them all the time. The book includes both Eastern (Chinese translations of) and Western nursery rhymes plus pinyin and English translations to help parents be able to sing along as well.
Purchase Info: U.S. Amazon
Press and play sound books are a great way to expose children to Chinese nursery rhymes. The lyrics are included along with hand motions. Learning classic Chinese nursery rhymes through books like these is a great way to connect with native speakers or relatives since most native speakers grow up singing these songs.
Purchase Info: SG My Story Treasury
Adorable little rhyming board book by a bilingual mom that includes pinyin and English translation on their website. Be on the look out for more books from her!
Purchase Info: U.S. The Bund Books Site
The Chinese translation of the popular English children’s series is a fun set of rhyming books for kids. The titles included in this series has more repetition and rhymes compared to the other Pete the Cat Books. These include 我爱我的脏鞋子 I Love My White Shoes, 我的无敌大纽扣 Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, 反正就是很开心 Pete the Cat and his Magic Sunglasses. Since it’s a translation, the rhymes don’t flow as well as the English version and only a part of the book rhyme. But there are many phrases that are repeated making it a fun interactive read for families. My daughter and I really enjoyed these.
Purchase Info: U.S. Jojo Learning, Amazon
This fun interactive board book series is a great way to engage kids in learning Chinese and picking up useful terms. Since it’s translated from English, sometimes the rhymes don’t flow as well. Text includes pinyin.
Purchase Info: U.S. Jojo Learning
This wonderful series of books introduces Chinese characters to kids through fun rhymes and beautiful illustrations. It’s originally written in Chinese so the rhymes here flow really well. Text includes pinyin.
Purchase Info: SG My Story Treasury
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