Our New Favorite – Arthur of Albion

My son and I sat down last weekend and opened Arthur Of Albion, one of Barefoot’s newest titles. It is a comprehensive volume of the stories about King Arthur, The Knights of the Round Table, Lancelot, etc. I forgot how much I enjoyed these tales until I revisited them with my son. One of my favorite summer reads in elementary school was the Once and Future King and I must admit that I grew-up in a Disney house (my parents went to Disney World on their honeymoon) and loved Sword in the Stone.

You know my son really loves a book when he asks me not to sell it and keep it as our home copy. I happened to order two and was so happy to sell it at the Northampton Montessori Fall Festival last weekend. I had been meaning for a a few years to go to this event but feel privileged to have been invited to have a booth. If you’d like your order to benefit the school please enter EV 27 at check out.

Barefoot Books in ForeWard Magazine

I was featured in the ForeWard Magazine E-Newsletter in January after the Twentieh Annual Indy And Small Press Book Fair and forgot to share it. How selfish of me. Thanks Eugene!

Barefoot Books. Dawn Cordeiro and Laurie Mattaliano are work-at-home mothers who came down from Massachusetts to present this children’s line “that celebrate art and story,” with a learning experience about themselves and the world. As “stallholders” they are among hundreds of parents who attend book fairs and special events to build their own business and promote the value of the book.

The two illustrated books I bought for my granddaughters (with audio CDs bound in) are Magic Hoofbeats: Fantastic Horse Tales (978-1-84686-129-1) and Winter King, Summer Queen (978-1-84686-009-6). The first one, for middle schoolers, tells the story through words and illustrations of eight horses from countries around the world. The second one is for younger children, and beautifully describes how the seasons of winter and summer are born. Barefoot Books are beautifully designed and printed and can be viewed in their printed catalog or on-line at www.discoverbarefootbooks.com.

http://www.forewordmagazine.com/ftw/ftwarchives.aspx?id=20080109.htm#1

New Barefoot Favorites

I love discovering New Barefoot Favorites with my son. We have two new ones that I really wanted to share.

Every month, Barefoot runs an order special where you’ll get a free items if you place an order over a certain amount, usually around the $300 range. One month, I received the double CD of Giants, Ghosts and Goblins. I kept it in its packaging and displayed it at several events. My son saw it one day and asked to listen to it. Finally after the fourth time I said we could open it. I am so glad we did. We listened to it in my kitchen and ended up making cozy spot for ourselves on the kitchen floor. It stopped us both in our tracks. My son has listened to many of the Barefoot Storytime CDs but I had always read the books before. It was great to have the opportunity to hear it first. The stories are narrated by Jerry Nelson, the voice of The Count from Sesame Street.

I’ll share our other favs soon.

Barefoot Book Titles receive Starred Review

Booklist (the American Library Association’s magazine) has given starred reviews to two Barefoot Books, Listen, Listen and One City, Two Brothers.

For Listen, Listen – “Jay’s stylized pictures, with the texture of ancient frescos, are a window into a world in which the buzz of an insect and the whoosh of the wind lend surprising emotion. Illustrations filled with snowmen, anthropomorphized animals, and people running through a leaf-swept field will make children long to discover what is just over a hill or around the next bend. Capturing a summer idyll reading in a hammock with the same care as a warm evening by the fireplace, Jay invests each image with both joy and melancholy. This jewel of a book will draw children back again and again”-Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

**I have to add that I brought this book to the Reading Recovery Conference and a teacher said this book has wonderful example of Onomatopoeia. Once the other teachers heard this, it was quickly snatched up!

For One City, Two Brothers – “Framed by a story of King Solomon dealing with two squabbling brothers, this tale tells of two other, quite different brothers. They live in two villages, sharing the land between them. For years, they have divided their harvest. One abundant year, the elder brother, who has a wife and children, worries that his unmarried brother needs to save for his old age. Secretly he brings extra grain to his brother’s storehouse. Yet the next morning, the elder brother seems to have the same amount of grain as before. Meanwhile, the younger brother has been worrying, too; his elder brother has a family to be fed. He is also secretly bringing grain to his sibling, then finding his own storehouse still full. The mystery is solved when the brothers meet on the hilltop, each with a donkey laden with grain. The blessed spot where they meet becomes Jerusalem. Based on a folktale told by both Jews and Arabs, this picture book beautifully captures the spirit of brotherhood and gives both readers and listeners hope for what could be if people thought more about one another than about themselves. The accomplished folk-style artwork, in shades of verdant green, heavenly blue, and harvest orange and yellow, does more than illustrate the story; it adds an air of peace and hope to which children will respond.” -Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

Meeting Xinran

Sorry it’s been a little quiet here. Busy with the family and the upcoming Holiday season.

On 10/18, I traveled to Boston for a Barefoot Books Stallholder Conference. It was great to meet other Stallholders and visit the corporate office and the lovely store. As you might expect, the offices were bright and colorful. While in our meeting, Nancy Traversy, co-founder of Barefoot, walked by the room and I had a dorky “There she is!” moment (With myself, of course).

The most exciting part of the meeting was that we were able to meet with Xinran, the founder of Motherbridge of Love. She shared with us her story and the creation of Motherbridge.

She first explained that she has not met her birth parents and wishes one day celebrate her birthday with them. (This is where I started to get misty).

She is a very accomplished journalist who has given a voice to many of the unseen in China. She explained that she started Motherbridge so that all the girls and boys (mostly girls) that had been adopted from China would have a place to learn about their cultural heritage.

Motherbridge of Love

 

Over the next month, I will be showcasing some of Barefoot’s newest titles. The one that I am most excited about is Motherbridge of Love. This is a beautiful book that illustrates the parent child relationship in adoption.

The adopted child is Chinese but this is a universal story that any adoptive family can identify with. I had a booth at a Fall Festival this weekend and people of all different backgrounds were moved by the book. The title Motherbridge of Love comes from an organization with the same name that helps children identify with their Chinese heritage.

Barefoot Book Review Round Up

There are so many Barefoot Books and so little time. Thankfully there are many book reviewers who’ve given us their thoughts on Barefoot titles. Here are a few that I’ve found:

First Tales for Storytime on Big A, Little a
Bear in the Sunshine on Book Carousel
My Granny Went to Market on Saffron Tree
Faerie’s Gift on Curled Up Kids

Eating Our Friends

In the past few months, our house has become vegetarian. I have toyed with the idea for awhile now and I would say that I cooked 75% vegetarian beforehand, so it has not been a shock to my kitchen.

How did it happen?

My husband, meat lover, had an epiphany after listening to a song by a rockin’ kids band called Lunch Money. We saw them perform live and they sang a song that included the lyrics, “We gotta watch out for our animal friends”. That was enough for my husband. Our son lasted a few weeks until he announced that he “wanted to eat his friends”. How about me? I’m thinking of eating meat as a special treat. If someone is serving it I may have some. It has been really fun to discover meat substitutes and grains like quinoa and red lentils. We also got a really great cookbook Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. We keep kosher in our house, so it’s made that easier as well.

Does Barefoot have a book about being vegetarian? You bet. Our brave hero is Herb the Vegetarian Dragon. His fellow dragons are Meat eaters and scare the local townspeople but not Herb. He peacefully tends to his organic vegetable garden and makes Leek and potato soup (yum!). He is an outsider in the Dragon world and at one point is pressured to eat meat to save his life. Herb stays true to himself and helps the dragons make peace with the townspeople.  The book is beautifully illustrated by Debbie Harter.

The web has been a great resource for vegetarian cooking. Do you know of any great blogs or websites about vegetarian cooking? Any recipes to share?

Yoga for Kids

My son recently started attending a public preschool and we’re really happy with it. He has gym class, library time and yoga every week. He loves to come home and show me what poses he has learned.

He loves to read My Daddy is a Pretzel by Yoga guru, Baron Baptiste. It shows kids from all different backgrounds and the different professions their parents have, including farmer, architect and marine biologist. There is then a corresponding yoga pose with clear instructions. The Physical Therapists at my son’s school love the book and said it’s the best yoga for kids books they have seen.

One of my husband’s proudest parent moments is related to this book. When he dropped off our son at daycare one day, our son joined his friend at the water table. His friend pointed at a fish and said “Meemo, Meemo” for Nemo. My son walked up to the table, pointed to a swimmer in the water and said “Look Daddy, it’s a Marine Biologist”

Earth Day

How does my family celebrate Earth Day everyday?

We compost

We donate and shop at the Restore Home Improvement Center www.restoreonline.org

We recycle

We freecycle

We reuse

and we read of course, too.

For Earth Day, I recommend Whole World a new Barefoot title based on the old spiritual, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”. It comes with a sing along CD by Fred Penner, a Barefoot Favorite. Barefoot’s mission this season is to focus on Global Conservation and this book has great tips for helping the planet. It also comes with a fun activity sheet. Earth Day Activity Sheet

How does your family celebrate Earth Day everyday?