¡Los Clásicos! The Importance of Classical Children’s Literature in Spanish Language Arts

Those figures do not even account for students whose first language is English who are also enrolled in these programs. This growth underscores an urgent need: For students to thrive, bilingual teachers need high-quality materials for Spanish Language Arts. Publishers must provide materials that meet students’ and teachers’ needs. Otherwise, teachers try to develop and implement their own materials, which is piecemeal and time-consuming. Educators must advocate for high-quality materials. To do so, they need to understand the importance of and deepen their exposure to classical children’s literature in Spanish. 

Yet most U.S. bilingual educators—unless they lived in a Spanish-speaking country, or went to school in Spanish—have limited exposure to these delightful traditional texts. This is true even for those who spoke Spanish at home. 

What Do We Mean by “Classical Children’s Literature” in Spanish?

Consider examples such as the poem “A Margarita Debayle” (by Rubén Darío), the fable “Los cangrejos” (by José Joaquin Fernandez de Lizardi), or the narrative “Las medias de los flamencos” (by Horacio Quiroga). Such texts meet these criteria:

• Represent a wide range of genres and styles. They include stories, poems, plays, songs, riddles, and wordplay—any type of text young children in a Spanish-speaking country would typically encounter. They are beautifully and playfully crafted, often written by celebrated literary figures across the Spanish-speaking world. 
• Transcend eras. Such texts have timeless value. Many were written centuries ago, yet are “alive” in present-day classrooms. For example, during assemblies, students in Spanish-speaking countries often recite poems from celebrated authors, such as “Cultivo una rosa blanca” by José Marti.
• Have inspiring literary qualities. Such texts have rich themes and complex characters and feature a writer’s distinctive voice and style.
• Reflect universal themes and, as importantly, reflect cultural values. They convey values such as learning from mistakes. They also reflect nuances specific to many Spanish-speaking countries. For example, all cultures value family. But in Spanish-speaking cultures, the focus is on intergenerational and extended family beyond the nuclear family. Stories often show children taking the initiative to assist their families and solve real-world problems.

Spanish Language Arts programs should incorporate the rich tradition of classical children's literature, written originally in Spanish from around the Spanish-speaking world. Such texts delight readers with compelling stories and vivid language, and also serve as models for readers and writers. And, importantly, they are of the culture—representing the vast range and diversity of cultures, communities, and contexts in the 33 Spanish-speaking countries around the globe.  

Peek into a First Grade Bilingual Classroom 

In a first-grade class, the teacher introduces “El lagarto está llorando,” a poem by Federico García Lorca. The repetition, rhythm, and rhyming provide important lessons about the Spanish language in the context of an amusing incident. Later, children recite the poem chorally for a school assembly, giving them practice in fluency and prosody.

Sadly, many bilingual programs are bereft of such classical children’s literature. Publishers often rely on translations or on a few authors who live in the US, who mostly write in English. Texts tend to be superficial, lacking the variety, structure, syntax, and richness students would encounter in classical children’s literature In Spanish. 

Why Incorporate Classical Children’s Literature in Spanish

Incorporating classical children’s literature has myriad benefits for children’s language, literacy, and identity development: 

1. Develop reading competence. Reading such texts develops students’ comprehension. They build background knowledge, are challenged to identify arguments and ideas and apply teachings to daily life (Rodriguez, 2017).
2. Promote cognitive development. In classical children’s literature, authors do not make all their points explicit, so students need to deduce and infer. Consider, for example, these proverbs or sayings from Don Quixote (some still used today): “El que a buen árbol se arrima, buena sombra le acobija”. “La ingratitud es la hija de la soberbia”. “No es de estima lo que poco cuesta”. 
3. Offer excellent models for oral and written language. Such authentic literature reflects the discourse styles, syntax, and vocabulary based on various Spanish-speaking cultures, and is appropriate to the genre. Students learn to incorporate such language in their own speaking and writing. 
4. Teach important life lessons. Such texts convey universal truths (for example, the poem “Cultivo Una Rosa Blanca” by José Martí focuses on the importance of friendship, peace, and forgiveness). They contain great human archetypes (such as Don Quixote, who pursued idealistic goals). And they impart values—teaching us about ourselves and each other, helping students become critical of the world, and inspiring them to advocate for what they believe in.  
5. Reflect students’ cultural heritage. Classical children’s literature promotes students’ sense of identity and pride. They see themselves reflected, and also see an authentic representation of broader Latine values, cultures, and contexts reflected. 

Texts matter. They matter for students’ linguistic, personal, and cognitive development. As Suriani (2005) stated, “Rather than adhering to specific methods, the activation of a child’s linguistic abilities stems from choosing the appropriate texts that produce challenging linguistic situations which compel a child to actively and critically resolve cognitive conflicts.”³ And they matter for students’ emotional, social, and identity development. As one educator proclaimed (during ELSF’s recent user testing), “It is necessary for students to know they come from a great literary tradition.” 

An Invitation

We encourage all bilingual educators and publishers to use ELSF’s Spanish Language Arts Benchmarks of Quality to evaluate whether materials have the supports your students need. We also offer these invitations:

Bilingual educators and districts leaders: 

1. Seek out classical children’s literature in Spanish to augment existing curricula. 

• Find materials being used in Spanish-speaking countries (e.g.,  https://libros.conaliteg.gob.mx/primaria.html from the Mexican Ministry of Education, or https://textosescolares.clic.ws/ensenanza-general-basica/ from the Ministry of Education in Chile). 
• Connect with students’ families for recommendations.
• Attend children’s literature conferences in Spanish-speaking countries (Mexico, Spain, Argentina)

2. Urge district leaders to advocate publishers to incorporate classical children’s literature in Spanish.

Publishers of bilingual instructional materials and resources in Spanish: 

1. Commit to building expertise in classical children’s literature in Spanish.
2. Incorporate such literature into all Spanish Language Arts instructional materials at all grade levels. ELSF can partner with publishers to improve your offerings. Click “Get in Touch” at the bottom of our website.

An Aspiration 

We can transform bilingual learners’ experiences by exposing them to classical children’s literature in Spanish. These stories, poems, plays, songs, and riddles are crucial for all students’ authentic Spanish language development—they offer rich models for reading and writing, so students grow to express themselves beautifully, confidently, and eloquently in Spanish. In addition, this literature inspires native Spanish speakers to tap into a deep linguistic and cultural heritage. And it challenges students not of the culture to recognize that great writers exist, and have always existed, throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Such literature broadens all students' views of who creates, and is reflected in, compelling literature: all of us. 

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¹ Isaiah. (2023, August 28). How to Grow Bilingual Teacher Pathways: Making the most of U.S. linguistic and cultural diversity. The Century Foundation.

² Rodríguez, C. (2017). La educación literaria a través de la lectura de los clásicos. Santiago de Compostela, España: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.

³ Suriani, B. (2005). Fundamentos didácticos en la construcción del Curriculum de Lengua del Primer Ciclo de EGB. Fundamentos en Humanidades, VI(11), 95–110. (Translated from the original Spanish)

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