Sina's Busy Day / Luka Looks
This easy to read, two in one, Samoan/English bilingual picture book is a learning delight for young readers. The content of each story clearly identifies Samoan keywords that range from everyday greetings to specific items and household rooms. Supported by age friendly illustrations that offer a further glimpse into the Samoan culture through the clothing, home decor and colour palette.
The joint page glossary is a vocabulary, pronunciation, and consonant guide to help the reader/s through the learning content.
This book is a suitable start for learning basic entry words to the Samoan language. It is a great cognitive thinking and learning option for independent reading, while also being a good read aloud option. I think the short length of each story put together is sufficient for learning so as not to overload the reader.
In the library space I would certainly use this book as an interactive story time option and would recommend it to all ages of readers, especially young readers wanting to learn more about the Samoan language and culture.
Title: Sina’s Busy Day / Luka looks
Author: Dahlia Malaeulu
Illustrator: Darcy Solia
Publisher: OneTree House
ISBN: 9781990035142
RRP: $25.00
Format: Paperback
Date of Publication: April 2022
Ages: 2 + years
Themes: Easy learning language, Samoan language
Would this book work as a read aloud? Yes
Reviewer: Molly, Assistant librarian, Kaipara Libraries Dargaville
How are you recommending this book? Recommended
What’s the book’s opening sentence? “Talofa Lava!” says Sina to everyone. “Manuia le aso!” says Sina’s mum. /Luka is looking for Teddy. Where can he be? Luka looks in the umu kuka. Can you see Teddy?
You can buy this book here.