Simple French books for beginners (and tips)

These are example of books that we use in the early years and suitable for beginners.

1/ Books with words in English and French

There are a few on Amazon. We enjoy this one. It is a scene in the center and all around it are items that can be found in the scene with their name in English and French. Then if you click on this link, you can listen to the words being pronounced.

We also enjoy this book a lot (I got it second hand from marketplace!) and the reason for that is because (most of the time) the word given in English and French is also used in a sentence given in English and French. This is a step further to learning just words since you see how the word is being used and you could have your child learn some of those sentences altogether instead of just learning words.

By doing a quick search on Amazon, I saw that you could buy from the USA other books such as this one with 1000 French words or my first French book, or this book of words in French.

2/ Books bought in a French library for alphabet and words

You could buy books directly from France teaching words, just like you can find in the USA books with words in English that are targeted towards toddlers learning to speak. Nevertheless, these books won’t have any English in them but they would likely have pictures to illustrate the items. You can also find bilingual books English-French from France.

We do have a few of these and the reason is that usually when learning the alphabet, the word used to illustrate the letter A in English doesn’t translate into a word starting with a A in French and vice versa. This is the reason why I created this document for you to have. It is my own alphabet with words starting by the same letter in both English and French. I find this approach way less confusing for the child! Especially if you teach him the alphabet sounds in English and French out of the same book.

I also like to have a few different books because the French culture isn’t displayed if I use a book in English containing only English words. For example, the bakery, the food items, the landscapes, etc.

Here is a selection of some books you could use, some of them we own and others I just looked them up for you to have more to choose from :

• L’imagier du Père Castor : la référence des tout-petits : there are many books from père castor and you can see them by scrolling at the bottom of the page. We currently have one of those but a very old version that we got used in the USA. This book is only in French
• L’imagerie des bébés français-anglais : this book is bilingual French-English and it seems to have words written in both languages but I do not own it myself
• Mes 100 premiers mots : this is only in French
• Cherche et trouve des tout petits – chez les animaux : we love this collection of books. If you scroll to the botton of the page you’ll see many other similar to it. We actually have the nursery rhymes one. It has the words written in French only but they are fun because the child has to find the item in the page (search and find), so you can ask in French “Trouve ça” (find this) and the child has to say “ici” (here) when he points at it. It’s simple but it’s such an easy way to slowly use French and speak French, not just pronounce words. You could also say “Où est le cheval?” while pointing at it (where is the horse) and your child should answer “il est là” (he is here). Once you tell them how to answer the question once, they pick up on it very quickly. Even if you just taught your child to say “ici” (here) while pointing at an item he found. That’s what I do sometimes. They have too many cute books to link them all, for example the colors, the seasons, what shines at night, at the farm, the jobs…
• Apprendre l’anglais facilement – Livre sonore : this is a book with words in English and French and audio. I have never used it, it is a recent one published in 2024
• T’choupi : mon imagier français – anglais : this is a book with words in both languages
• Les légumes : there are multiple books from this collection, the words are only in French

3/ Books bought in a French library with audio

These books are some favorites. They have little buttons in them where the child can click and listen to the songs. My toddler did pick up songs and lyrics from these books (in addition to listening to them through our speaker).

We don’t own all of them but I will list quite a few to help you see which books I am talking about.

• Mes premières chansons – Livre sonore : we have this one and it has extract of basic nursery rhymes
• Mes premières chansons volume 2 – Livre sonore : we have this one and it’s more nursery rhymes
• Mes premières comptines – Livre sonore : more nursery rhymes
• Mes premières chansons du Nord – Livre sonore : we have this one because I am from Northern France and was curious to see which songs they shared. Those are northern French songs.
• Mes premières chansons bretonnes – Livres sonore : we do not have this one (or not yet)
• Mes premières comptines volume 1 – Livre sonore
• Mes premières comptines volume 2 – Livre sonore
• Mes premières comptines volume 3 – Livre sonore
• Comptines et jeux de doigts – Livre sonore
• Mes premières comptines à danser – Livre sonore

This selection of links is already really good, nevertheless if you want even more to choose from you can write “ Livre sonore” in the search tab of that website and you will say everything that is currently available.

4/ Using what you already have

We all have a book in English with pictures and words ? Well, one thing you can also do is using an online dictionary, take a sharpie and search the words. Then you can write them down in that book in French under the English word. It works just fine to remind you to read in French to your child. You can also write down the phonetic or “how the word sounds” so that you’ll be able to pronounce the words properly as you see them. Practice will make perfect overtime. If you don’t know how to pronounce a word, you can use google translate for example or you can use this website which I really like. You just type your word, select French and listen (and repeat!).

I have this book from Alphaprints for which I did just that.

5/ Getting some books in French that aren’t too difficult

Difficulty is going to look different for everyone but to get a smooth gentle start into French books in French entirely; you could get some simple books for which you likely already have the English version.

Good examples are listed below, I won’t translate the title, I’ll let you click on the links and I’m sure you’ll guess right away :

• Devine combien je t’aime
• Ours brun, ours brun, dis-moi ce que tu vois ?
• La chenille qui fait des trous
• Frédéric (a little more advanced)

Many Usborne books are exact translations of each other in English and French. If your child loves a Usbrone book you can likely find its French translation.

6/ Buying some books in French for French toddlers

Those books unlikely have English translations but they are simple and could be a good place to start for yourself as well. You can practice reading to your child (you are the one learning to read and listen and everything while your child only takes the listening in to stick to Gouin’s method). Now keep in mind we might be at the edge of twaddle with some titles sometimes. I provide you with information and let you decide where you draw the balance line for your own family.

• Petit ours brun : many books in this collection
  • Range ses jouets
  • Conduit le tracteur
  • Se brosse les dents
  • Aime compter
  • Fête son anniversaire
• L’ âne trotro
  • A la plage
  • Fait dodo
  • Font une cabane
  • S’habille
• T’choupi
  • Fait de la musique
  • Dort chez papi et mami
  • A la ferme
  • Fait du vélo
• Les Drôles de Petites Bêtes 
  • Victor le castor
  • Roméo le crapaud
  • Benjamin le lutin
  • Léo le lérot
• Read an album
  • La petite poule rousse
  • Roule galette (a little more advanced)

7/ English books with a few French words

This is a little bonus section because it’s really more for the fun of it than the use. Though if you use these books well, you could learn the few French words found in them and then use these words.

The Escargot books

I am sure there are more than these but we really enjoy the escargot books over here. There are four books and a teddy, we have 3 out of the 4 books at this time and enjoy them.

• Escargot
• A book for Escargot
• Love, Escargot
• Escargot and the search for spring
• Escargot doll

Remember that you don’t need all these books, you just need a few and using them over and over again so your child learns from them naturally. For some books you might find videos on YouTube of people reading them as well! I also made an audiobook playlist on my account here.

I hope these direct links will make it much easier for you to see all that is available in order to add French into your household and homeschool. Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter and keep an eye on the blog. I will be sharing soon about TV shows online available to listen to French for kids!

Keep in mind this list is far from exhaustive, there are many more books to choose from, there are some harder than others, and there are some you might enjoy and others less.