Our main mission is to make it easier for children to hear the sounds of languages beyond their mother tongue before synaptic pruning has a chance to settle in which makes learning other languages later in life more difficult. Synaptic pruning is a metaphor for describing the maturation of cognitive intelligence and behaviour in children in terms of “weeding out” the weaker synapses. In other words, the human brain will weed out the ability to make certain sounds if they are not heard or practiced often enough in early childhood. Increased exposure to the sounds of languages beyond one's mother tongue also supports our core value of inclusivity, meaning, we want it to be easier for children to engage in cultural exchange especially when they are immigrating or emigrating between China and North America, or welcoming newcomers to their school in their home country.

To that end, all LCEP storybooks in Mandarin and English are:

• full colour, original stories

• displayed in English, and

• in Mandarin (Simplified Chinese Characters; the writing system of Mainland China, rather than Traditional Characters; the older, more complex Chinese writing system still used in Taiwan), and

• in Pinyin (Pinyin is the official system of transcribing Chinese characters so that Mandarin learners can pronounce them: Pinyin = “to spell sound”).

The text is always arranged in a “scaffold” format, meaning Chinese Characters are on top, Pinyin is in the middle, and English is on the bottom which makes for easier learning of the pronunciation of Chinese characters for kids whose mother tongue is English and easier learning of the meaning of English words for kids whose mother tongue is Mandarin Chinese. Our FAQ page illustrates Text Scaffolding in greater detail.

We call our books not just “bilingual” but also “reversible”; unlike other bilingual books which do not show the languages in relation to each other, Little Crab Educational Press books fully support the learning of either language. This is especially true for books we offer that have an audio accompaniment (coming soon). For example, readers are able to listen to the 2nd edition of Little Byron - Xiǎo Bái Rèn - 小白任 being narrated to them in English – Natural Pace, English – Slow Pace, Mandarin – Natural Pace, and Mandarin – Slow Pace, while following along with the printed words. All LCEP storybooks include a Reading Guide, Grammar Notes, and Glossary at the back.

The Mandarin Chinese in LCEP books is not translated after the English was written but is rather “written alongside” it by the author, who speaks both languages (English - Native Speaker/Writer, Mandarin - High Intermediate speaker/reader). Native speakers of Chinese are also consulted during the editing process.

We offer several other types of books and digital products to aid with your child/children's language learning pursuits as well as your own.