Mandy and Pandy Say, "Nî Hâo Ma?"

Reviews - Books for Children
Mandy and Pandy Say, "Nî Hâo Ma?" - Review
By Cynthia Kirkeby
Sep 27, 2007, 16:30 PST

An adorable little board book recently landed on my desk, called Mandy and Pandy Say, "Nî Hâo Ma?" It's not every day that a young children's board book comes with a CD, but this one did just that.

This little board book seeks to give kids a beginning understanding of some common Chinese words and phrases. The illustrations by Ingrid Villalta are simple and appealing. The cute little sun with the patterned sunrays was a favorite.

My grown kids were surprised when I popped in the CD that came with Mandy and Pandy Say, "Nî Hâo Ma?" in our car, and children's music spilled out of the speakers as English and Chinese speakers took turns with some common sentences and words. I found the music a bit distracting but my daughter thought it was fine. I also thought the Chinese speakers were rather quick in their responses. As we got to the point in the disk that they translated, "I like my family best of all," all we could do was laugh. The Chinese went by so fast that it took us five times before any of us would even attempt the Chinese.

If you are trying to expose your children to a new language or two, Mandy and Pandy Say, "Nî Hâo Ma?" is a very cute and fun way to begin. I've always thought that everyone should know a little bit of a few different languages. This cute little book starts everyone towards a bit of Chinese.

We give Mandy and Pandy Say, "Nî Hâo Ma?" thumbs up as a cute and unusual book for young kids of all ages. Although not the best it could be, this little board book is still worth the time and money. A great book for the car. Even the adults might learn a word to two in Chinese.