What's New

Cover image of the book How Totsuwa Became Cherokee by Virginia Hamby and Christy Kate Bennett in English and Cherokee language. A red cardinal bird is surrounded by green leaves, the title "How Totsuwa Became Cherokee" above, in Cherokee and English.

The Northern Cardinal Has Landed

June 2021 sees the launch of our latest dual language book, How Totsuwa Became Cherokee, published in collaboration with Cherokee Nation. Totsuwa is a young cardinal bird that notices a red spot on his feathers one day. Where did it come from? What does it mean? Distressed and confused, he turns to his grandfather for help, and is sent on a journey to discover who he truly is. The book will be available from mid-June, but you can read a little about it on our blog by clicking on "More Info", or email us regarding pre-orders. More Info

In this photograph, a young boy of African decent is stood in front of a map of the world, holding a turquoise PENpal, a talking pen device developed by Mantra Lingua that enables him to listen to and add sound to books, drawings and other objects.

FREE PENPAL AND CLASSROOMPEN COURSE

We are now offering an in-depth course for free to anyone buying our talking pens, the PENpal and ClassroomPEN. The course is based on video-tutorials, with helpful comments, and some quizzes if you want test your knowledge. Click on "More Info" to go to the course page on our site and read more. When you order a pen, you get free access to the course. If you already have a pen, email us on info@mantralingua.com to receive an invite to the course. More Info

Cover image of the book The Biscuit Moon

Spotlight on the Biscuit Moon

In the midst of a year that was full of contention across the globe, you probably missed one of our more recent titles. The Biscuit Moon is set on the African continent, where Buffalo is struggling to find sustenance in the drought. When he stumbles across a precious pool of water, he is overjoyed to see a huge, white biscuit in the middle! But he's not the only one that wants the biscuit...
We have published this book in an extraordinary 33 languages (with more to come), and if you are using it in the classroom we also have extensive teachers' notes for you to download for free. Just click on "More Info" to explore this book and watch the "Look Inside" video. More Info

Mungo Makes New Friends comes to Dundee!

Ex-EAL teacher and first time writer Gill Aitchison showcased her new book, Mungo Makes New Friends, at readings around Dundee. Gill read to children in a Dundee Nursery and Primary school, followed by a reading at the Largo Library.

Mungo Makes New Friends is a sound enabled, dual language book, currently available in 20+ languages. Using Mantra Lingua's ClassroomPEN and Bluetooth Speaker, Gill was able to enhance her book even further, bringing sound, and different languages, to paper. Children can also record their own voices and save the sounds 'in' the images. Gill said:
"The highlight was when I used the PEN to read the book in Polish to a group of Polish Nursery children, and then got them to create some sound spots, they were beaming."

Gill is passionate about inclusion in schools and Mungo is a great resource for encouraging an understanding of diversity and acceptance. The book is supported by a number of resources which encourage collaboration and participation.
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Mungo Makes New Friends - English and Polish version

NEW BOOK! Mungo Makes New Friends

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Written by ex EAL Scottish teacher Gill Aitchison, and beautifully illustrated by Jill Newton, Mungo Makes New Friends is a book set in the Scottish Highlands. Join Mungo in his lonely field as he is surprised by new friends!
As the seasons change, Mungo’s new friends must go on a great adventure to keep up with him as he travels to his winter stable.

This story will resonate with any newcomer and with extensive teacher’s notes, this title is rich in modality and resources: ebooks and dual language books with spoken languages, Kamishibai Storytelling Theatre and Kamishibai Story Props for self expression, role-playing and translanguaging.

A book filled with friendship, sharing and suspense, sure to be loved by children and adults alike.

Watch the video to meet author Gill Aitchison and illustrator Jill Newton.
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Pinocchio and the Real Boys

“Pinocchio always did as he was told, even if others made him do bad things. Until one day, they went too far. Pinocchio began to think for himself and learn to take responsibility for his actions.”

This classic tale is lovingly re-told and boldly illustrated by Magda Brol, multi-lingualism advocate, in her debut picture book for Mantra Lingua. Magda was born in Wroclaw, Poland, where she graduated with a degree in Business and Environmental Sciences. After a few years working in the City of London and the birth of her two little girls, Magda turned her passion for drawing into a job and her bold, quirky images delight and intrigue her audiences.

Pinocchio and the Real Boys is PENpal sound enabled where the text is read out loud, page by page, in English and the home language. Pinocchio is available in 24 dual language books: English with Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Mandarin, Nepali, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Romanian, Somali, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Urdu, or Vietnamese.

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New Arrivals Starter Pack

Our new Starter Packs are a quick start for the new pupil with little or no English. The Starter Packs come in 33 language options and in two age groups: 4 to 7 and 7 to 10. Each pack has a PENpal fully loaded with all the language audio files, a dictionary, and three story books, all in their own storage box. There is nothing simpler or more comforting to an EAL pupil than to switch on PENpal and listen in their home language.

Priced £110 makes a saving of £18.50!
Languages include: Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Czech, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Kurdish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malayalam, Mandarin, Nepali, Panjabi, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovakian, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

With PENpal's recording function, the pupil can also practise English Pronunciation, and leave their recordings on the pages; a great way to build confidence in speaking.

The PENpal in each language pack is already loaded with audio files for all books in the specified language. This includes not only the books in the pack, but all books from our list that are available in that language. For example, the PENpal in the Polish Starter Pack will be preloaded with over 70 audio files representing 70 books in Polish. That way, if you choose to buy any more Polish books from us, you will already have the audio loaded onto your PENpal, ready to go.

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A Day with Grandpa

A Day with Grandpa is a brilliantly illustrated book by Fiona Rose, winner of the prestigious D&AD14 award for new illustrators. Written in rhyme, this 'read, point and explore' book will raise more questions than it answers...

The book addresses two important issues - the relationship between children and their grandparents, and the steady increase of dementia - in a sensitive yet quirky way. It will soon be available in dual language editions printed in English with Polish, Bulgarian, Czech, French, Lithuanian, and Spanish. It is also TalkingPEN-enabled, and the audio files can be downloaded using our free software FreeLINK. At 28 x 28 cm, this beautiful softback book can be enjoyed by children alone, or with a loved one.

Take your child by the hand and enter an enchanted world where everything is possible for a day. Every page bursts with magical images that add extra meaning to the poetic story of a child and his grandad. Click 'read more' to gorge yourself on some of the wonderful illustrations, and see the magic for yourself!