Creating multilingual resources

7.1. Multilingual children’s books

More specifically, the multilingual children’s book My first book on bilingualism: between the Greek and Arab worlds, created by Polydromo Group, is divided in the following parts:

1. Theoretical, which aims to provide a definition of bilingualism and its advantages on a social and personal level,

2. Interactive, which invites children to fill it in with drawings, letters or words from their own languages, while encouraging them to share information from other children or families in their own contexts (neighbourhood or school)

3. Arabic, which includes the narration of two protagonists of Lebanese descent, who ‘talk’ about the specific experiences that are related to their linguistic and cultural background, giving emphasis to the point of view of the bilingual children themselves.

Through the above approaches other children and families of diverse ethnolinguistic background are encouraged to share elements that may seem to differentiate them from the dominant culture and language of the country of reception. A closer look, however, makes it obvious that children share similar perspectives and voice experiences and priorities that unite them, such as the importance of family relations and play. The promotion of sameness through difference is an important revelation for all children and families alike, one that educators are invited to capitalize on in order to create a collaborative and intercultural context for learning through languages for all children.