My six-year-old son and five-year-old daughter started with Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley; while Kait looks more comfortable with the camera, we sense a slight hesitation on Vikas' part, which he soon overcomes it with his lively expressions and Hindi words like daanav and not bhoot for monster or daravna for scary. In Ten Shiny Snails by Ruth Galloway, we had no clue that snails were called ghoghen in Hindi, so perhaps it is a great way to brush up on our own Hindi. It's a counting book, so my younger one had more fun listening to this. So far, we've read five books with the Sharmas and we like how the videos are simple with no fancy fringes (sounds, for instance) attached. Just like the good-old-fashioned way of storytelling.

Interestingly, all the books they read are considered classics in the United States; though we may not have heard of these tales in India. There are usually one to two sentences per page; the pictures are colourful and expressive, and the language is simple. Obviously, bilingual reading cannot be done with just any book and there must be a lot of research to find just the right ones. We're thinking that's probably where Kait's expertise as a teacher comes into the picture.

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