18 stories to create

Gâteau à la crème ou tarte aux pomme? Mardi Gras ou Halloween?

Corto and his parents have moved to New York City for his Mommy’s job. Everything is different here: the streets are very wide, lined with buildings that reach the sky, his school doesn’t have a cantine, and no one has heard of Carnival!

On the other hand, Tina has recently moved to Boulogne, near Paris, with her Daddy, Mommy, and little brother, Willie. She misses Boston a little, but this new city full of trees is so pretty! Plus, she has lots of new friends here.

On their respective sides of the Atlantic, Corto and Tina will discover a new culture and language.

Playing on the sounds and music of the words in each language, Nadine Brun-Cosme offers sweet stories of the children’s everyday lives that resonate just as well in French as they do in English!

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The stories in this album start in one language (French for Corto, English for Tina) and finish in the other.

The language at the beginning of the story is that of the child’s personal and everyday life with the family.

As soon as they interact with other characters in their new setting —classmates, a teacher, or even a market vendor— the story switches into the language of the new country (thus, English for Corto and French for Tina).

The transition happens through a pair of words that sound the same in both languages —for example, boule and bull, paille and pie, phare and far—creating a linguistic pivot point in each story.

This album is meant for children who are familiar with both French and English to ensure optimal understanding!