Hi!

...just wondering...

we have a bit of unique language situation in our household... our baby boy ( now almost 2) gets english, spanish, some french and italian, and some catalan from me, and gets some japanese from his grandmother ( who is japanese)... my spanish is pretty good, but my catalan is really bad.

he's doing really well with the languages, especially spanish, and i really want to offer the next level to him so he sees that it's not just me and his grandmother speaking all these languages to him.

does anyone know of a way to get the types of children's DVD and books you can typically find in street kiosks in Spain. i'd really like to start putting on cartoons in castellano and catalan that i've seen in the newstands there in Spain, but have not found anything similar at all here in the USA...

i've checked all over the internet, including ebay, albris books, baby einstein, rosetta stone, etc., and many other google searches, but just have not found anything like what i'm talking about.

in particular, i remember a really cool series called ' Marco' that my friends show to their children ( in Spain).. Marco is actually an italian cartoon, but was available in many european langages.

any tips or suggestions are *highly* welcome!

thanks!
andrew

Marco is a Japanese cartoon based on an Italo-argentine novel that was dubbed into many different languages. It's great, but I don't think it is at all developmentally appropriate for a 2 year old (It's got some very heavy, tragic storylines). Heidi is another Japanese cartoon (based on the Swiss novel) that was hugely popular in Europe. It's much better for smaller kids (4 or 5 would be idea--there are some quite sad parts in the middle episodes). I believe there is a Latin American dub of Heidi, as well. Both series consist of 52 half-hour episodes. You can download them online via torrents or emule. La Abeja Maya is the cartoon that is directed toward the 2-3 year old set.

thanks, madridmadridmadrid, you set me straight on where Marco was made...

aside from pirating illegal copies of these cartoons thru torrents, does anyone have ideas of where to buy these legally?

megia, I don't think we have any message board members here living in Barcelona/Catalunya but I would imagine that yes, that the street kiosks newstands, those which also sell some DVDs, that they'd sell cartoons in Catalán & Spanish (selectable). Quite possibly they're available here too in Madrid.

Just yesterday I walked by and stopped at one of these kiosks just browsing their movies/DVDs and did notice they had some cartoons but I didn't pull them out to take a look - because I don't buy cartoons. But next time I pass by I'll make a point to look.

But the bigger question is DO YOU HAVE a DVD player which plays European/PAL/REGION 2 DVD disks??

Saludos, MadridMan

There's a shop practically next door to the Circulo de Bellas Artes , here in Madrid that specializes in books/dvds in Catalan ..It's quite a big , well-run shop and I would guess they offer a mail order service of some kind . I may pass by it today so will note down the name and look into it .
Maybe they even provide for customers abroad .

I don't think you can (legally) get the kiosco versions of Heidi and Marco outside of Spain because they are licensed only for distribution via the newspapers. There used to be box sets for them at FNAC, but I think those are only available when they aren't being distributed in a newspaper. A lot of kids progamming works like this since there's no real market for it outside of Spain. Maybe you could try ebay, but you would still have to deal with them being euro-region DVDs.

Both Heidi and Marco were part of a series called World Masterpiece theater that never got released in the US (instead we 70s kids got the violent Japanese telebasura...). A lot of anime geeks love these series because Hayao Miyazaki, who has gone on to become one of the best animated filmmakers ever, worked on them.

This is great info, guys! Thanks a TON.

Madrid Man! You mean you don't watch cartoons!? jejeje... just kidding. I also thought about the format thing too after I wrote this original post... In which case I'd have to rip the DVD from the PAL format to our region here in the USA - which can be done... Anyway, I didn't say it

My son will probably be 5 the next time I'm in Barcelona, unfortunately, so I was trying to find a workaround. I'll still ask my buddies in Spain for help, as well, and let you all know what I end up doing... They'll probably just send me some stuff in the mail.

Steve, that sounds like a *great* find! I'll have to remember that next time I'm in town... Do you think they have a website, or is it a Mom-n-Pop shop?

MMM, it's the boxed sets that I remember checking out... It was intriguing to see all the cools kids stuff they have in those... I did look at ebay and didn't find anything of the sort, but I could easily have overlooked something. Fascinating how important Heidi and Marco are to the anime crowd... Unfortunately, we won't be showing any Japanese kids cartoons to our boy. You should see what the kids cartoons teach :o Literally, one cartoon I saw on television in Japan ( for ages 5-8 probably) was featuring the main characters peeking up little girls skirts and showing their friends their new tricks... It was our friend's favorite cartoon and he was 5. nice

Thanks again, everyone!

Yeah, I know what you mean, Megia. There are some great cartoons that are and were made in Japan, but they send the trashiest junk to the US (sadly, I think it's because it's what sells). Heidi and Marco are completely different. Great storytelling, slow pace, well-developed characters, and surprising deep philosophical undercurrents. But Marco should definitely wait until he's quite a bit older.

I know you said that you looked at a lot of places online, but I'll throw one out there just in case: Schoenhof's Europa Books is a store near me that specializes in all sorts of foreign language material from books to magazines to videos. Check out their web site , and you could also call or email them with questions about material. I always love browsing through their store to see what they have!

Following on from my last post ..And for Megia's future note .. I caught a breath of fresh air by walking up to Gran Via earlier this morning . The shop I described ( Catalan books ) is at Alcala 44 , next to the Circulo de Bellas Artes . It's called the " Blanquerna Centre Cultural " and is dedicated to all things Catalan . The bookshop is quite big . website is www.ccblanquerna.cat .And , yes, it has children's books right in the display window !

Steve .

ps Anybody in Madrid right now . In the Plaza Dali , outside the Palacio de Deportes ( where the free Feria de Tapa is taking place now ! ) , the Cercle Catala de Madrid has a small number of tents set up with Catalan drawings and paintings being sold by the artists . Maybe only today !