Bella's Big Hair: A Birthday Adventure
Listen to the rainbow
Once upon a time, before stories lived on screens, they lived somewhere else. They lived in the sound of the rain, the rustle of the trees, the flap of a bird's wings, and in the pictures every child painted inside their own mind. Bella's World is an invitation to find that place again.
Bella's Big Hair: A Birthday Adventure
Our audiobooks
Each audiobook opens a window to a world of adventurous stories where kids meet new friends and discover foreign languages. Professional voice actors, original music, and cinematic sound design help children follow the story even in a language they don’t yet understand, while naturally picking up new words and gradually learning to make sense of the language on their own.
A language journey
Stories that make new languages feel familiar.
Our video books
Bella’s stories are also available as beautifully illustrated video books, inviting children to read along as they listen. Together, the illustrations and sounds create a familiar world that makes exploring new languages and cultures feel less like learning, and more like setting off on another adventure.
Did you know?
Stories are one of the most natural ways to discover a new language. When children listen to a Bella adventure in another language, the familiarity of the sounds helps them follow along, even if the words are new.
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Words for the World™
If you’re exploring Bella’s World together, choose the side written for you.
For grown-ups
Bella was created by multilingual author Bethany McAllister, inspired by her Cuban-American mother who encouraged her to travel the world and learn foreign languages.
Bella is the kind of child every young reader can recognise in themselves. Curious, observant and full of wonder, she discovers the world one unexpected encounter at a time.
Through simple but evocative storytelling and beautifully illustrated adventures, children hear new languages and learn different traditions together with Bella. Along the way, they discover that the most meaningful gifts are often the friendships and stories we bring home with us.
FOR KIDS
Somewhere, another child has a story you've never heard before. They know games you've never played, places you've never seen, and traditions that have been part of their family for years!
Bella has a wonderful habit of finding these stories wherever she goes, and she never comes home empty-handed. She brings back friendships and little treasures to remind her of the people she's met.
If Bella ever came to visit you, what would you give her?
Learning a language is like learning to sing
Hearing another language through familiar stories gives children opportunities to get used to its sounds and rhythms even before they can fully understand or speak it.
Why start early?
Children don’t always know which languages will spark their interest until they hear them. Bella gives them the chance to discover new languages simply by enjoying stories.
For families interested in raising multilingual children, this means exposure can start naturally. A child doesn’t need to sit down for a lesson to begin discovering how another language sounds.
Little ears are ready for a world of languages
Early childhood is a remarkable time for discovering language: babies are born able to distinguish hundreds of sounds. As they grow, their brains gradually become more specialised in the ones they hear around them.
Did you know?
Researchers at the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences describe babies as “linguistic geniuses” because, early in life, they can distinguish the sounds used across the world’s languages.
Our audiobooks are like Movies for the Mind
For blind and visually impaired children, stories don’t need pictures to create a vivid world. Bella’s audiobooks use professional voice acting, original music and cinematic sound design to bring characters, places and adventures to life through sound.
In a childhood full of screens and fast-moving content, there isn’t always much room left for imagination. Bella’s children’s audiobooks offer a different kind of experience: thoughtful storytelling and soundscapes draw children into each adventure without overwhelming them, leaving space for imagination and curiosity.
