During my childhood, I attended a Chinese school, dedicating eight years of Friday nights throughout elementary and middle school to the pursuit of learning Cantonese—speaking, reading, and writing. Despite my efforts, my parents seldom conversed in Cantonese at home, and resources for Cantonese language learning were scarce, causing me to struggle in retaining what I acquired in class. I often wish that Curio had been accessible to my parents back then, as it would have greatly assisted me in my early Chinese language education.
ABOUT CURIO BILINGUAL BOOK BOXES
Curio firmly believes in the significance of compelling narratives. Their subscription book club, designed for young bilingual children, centers around kindling curiosity, empathy, and cultural awareness through captivating stories from around the world.
Curio’s boxes offer personalized content in Spanish, Traditional Chinese, or Simplified Chinese, catering to children aged 0 to 10+. Subscribers receive a quarterly package tailored to their child’s age, containing 3-4 award-winning picture books, reading guides, and YouTube audio read-alongs.
Hera Li, the Founder and CEO of Curio, observed that enjoyable screen-free foreign language immersion was hard to come by. Often, available books were overly simplistic and failed to transcend basic phrases like “The dog barked at the cat.” To bridge this gap, she founded Curio, a platform that places award-winning global children’s literature into the hands of American families seeking to cultivate Chinese or Spanish language skills in their children.
Curio’s boxes celebrate the beauty of languages, stories, and customs from both one’s heritage and the diverse world. To facilitate bilingualism, Curio collaborates with a team of bilingual educators who thoughtfully curate and create personalized content, tailored to each child’s interests.
THE BENEFITS OF CURIO BOOKS AND RESOURCES IN FACILITATING CHINESE LANGUAGE LEARNING
To illustrate how Curio contributes to children’s Chinese language learning, Hera kindly provided me with a customized box containing books in Simplified and Traditional Chinese for children aged 4-6 and 7-10. I was impressed by the personalization evident even before I opened the box.
A bright yellow speech bubble sticker adorned the exterior, adorned with Chinese characters and my name, making it a delightful experience for any child who would instantly recognize that the box was intended for them!
Inside, I discovered a cheerful yellow card containing company information, charming graphics, and a personalized message from Hera.
My box included three distinct books, featuring examples of Simplified and Traditional Chinese books along with their corresponding reading guides. (Note: Subscribers choose either Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, or Spanish, and also select the age group that matches their child.)
The reading guides display a thumbnail photo of each book’s cover, facilitating easy identification of the guide for each book.
The book provided for children aged 4-6 depicted a lion holding a rabbit by its ears. Although my limited knowledge of Chinese prevented me from reading the title and characters within the book, the overview on the right side of the reading guide offered a helpful summary.
From the overview, I learned that the book revolved around a lion and a rabbit, featuring a challenge issued by the King of the Jungle to the little rabbit. The overview highlighted themes such as bullying, the importance of intellect over strength, and the significance of collaboration. The inclusion of a summary encourages caregivers to engage children in discussions about their reading material, fostering bilingualism, even if the conversation occurs in English.
The follow-up questions on the right side of the reading guide serve as comprehension queries. Additionally, for non-Chinese-speaking caregivers, the answers to these questions are provided. The range of questions is well-suited for the 4-6 age group, encompassing both simpler and more challenging queries. This allows families to select questions that align with their child’s age and comprehension level. For instance, younger children may enjoy finding real-life examples of objects similar in size to the lion or the rabbit, while older children can tackle questions requiring them to identify the origins of animals that competed against the lion on a map.
The upper right corner of the reading guide contains a glossary with six vocabulary words. What’s commendable is that the Chinese characters are accompanied by phonetic pronunciations and English translations.
While this isn’t a suggestion from Curio, I believe it would be a fantastic activity for children learning Chinese to search the book for instances of each vocabulary word and count how many times they appear. Children aged 4-6 can pick a word, open the book, and search for the corresponding character as they re-read the book, reinforcing their vocabulary. As children become more familiar with the text, they’ll be able to spot characters more swiftly—an indication of growing comprehension and fluency.
The lion and rabbit book also included a reading guide in Chinese. In contrast, the Traditional Chinese book I received for children aged 7-10, titled “Little Neighbor,” did not come with a corresponding reading guide in Chinese. Instead, it was accompanied by two copies of the reading guide in English. I believe this might have been an oversight, as Curio offers resources for all their books through
the Learning Resources Library on their website.
The Learning Resources Library also provides audio read-alongs for each book included in the boxes.
The reading guide for “Little Neighbor” featured an overview of the book, six vocabulary words in the glossary, and four follow-up questions. What I found particularly noteworthy was the emphasis on questions that encouraged helpfulness, inclusivity, and fostering others’ well-being. These soft skills are crucial for character development in children of all ages.
The box also included delightful extras, such as stickers and coloring pages featuring Curio’s characters—cat, rabbit, unicorn, and bear—which were also present on other branded items in the box. Beyond being fun, the coloring pages offer an excellent opportunity for young children to refine their fine motor skills. Tracing the words “hello” in Spanish or the Chinese characters can aid in the development of emerging writing skills, especially for children aged 4-6.
The stickers I received included positive messages in both Spanish and English, each paired with one of Curio’s four animal characters. I appreciate that even families receiving the Chinese box receive materials in Spanish, fostering exposure to multiple languages and encouraging a global perspective from an early age.
CURIO: A SYNOPSIS & SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS
Launched in May, Curio is a valuable addition to the array of subscription boxes available for children. The meticulously curated books and resources are particularly beneficial for families who wish to encourage their children to learn Chinese or Spanish, even if they are not fluent in the language themselves. These beautifully illustrated picture books kindle a love for reading in a different language, while the reading guides encourage caregivers to engage their children in meaningful discussions about the material, promoting a passion for bilingual reading.
Curio offers three age-appropriate subscription boxes to aid children in learning Chinese or Spanish:
- Bud Box (Ages 0-3): Focuses on phonics and builds recognition of syllables, words, and sounds.
- Sprout Box (Ages 4-6): Features chronological stories with poetic and more complex concepts.
- Bloom Box (Ages 7-10): Includes imaginative stories with thought-provoking lessons.
With a subscription cost of $54.95 per box, Curio delivers exceptional value through its high-quality books, which are often challenging to find elsewhere, along with educational support materials that foster bilingualism. By signing up for their email list on their website, you can also enjoy a 20% discount on your first box.
Curio boxes are available for purchase on their website, either for your child or as a gift. Boxes are shipped every 90 days, and subscriptions can be canceled or modified at any time.
