Barefoot Books Affiliate Write-up – by Mira Burns

Mira Burns, the author and owner of “A Moment to Exhale” blog joined recently as a Barefoot Books Stallholder. In one of her posts, she wrote about her relationship with her son when it comes to promoting early literacy. As a teacher herself, she knows that reading is one of the most precious gifts that a parent can give to her child.

Read on her write up below. Please be sure to check out her blog at:

http://i-exhale.blogspot.com/2008/07/parents-great-gift-to-child.html

A Parent’s Great Gift To A Child by Mira Burns

 

Very early on in my son’s tender age I already saw his love for books. He would always take my hand and press it against his book as if asking me to read it to him. Until now, I see how he gets very enthusiastic and excited at just about any book he gets hold of. He can sit and browse through the pages of books for a long time, longer than other boys his age would normally do. He has relatively long attention span and he listens very well. He also picks up quickly when I identify pictures for him in a book. When I take him to the library for story telling sessions, he listens and participates. His love and interest for books made me encourage him even more. I read to him at least 15 minutes everyday, I watch Baby Einstein dvd’s with him and explain what’s going on. I demonstrate to him how animals and things sound like and basically talk and do interactive play with him a lot.

Recently I was introduced by a friend to Barefoot Books, a company started by two mothers who abandoned the security of corporate world to do something that they believed in. They wanted to publish children’s books that are quite different from the rest. They took a big risk and wondered about whether anyone is going to listen or if anyone would ever buy their books. But their strong belief and great conviction in the values they cared about gave them the determination to pursue their dreams. They are convinced that it is never too early to introduce children to other cultures. They believe that children can appreciate high-quality art, and enjoy the music as well as the meaning of language from a very young age. Children deserve the best, and they are dependent on their elders to help them make connection between themselves and others, between nature and culture, between learning and living. They need their parents’ and teachers’ interest, involvement and time.

As I learn more and more about Barefoot Books, I know this is exactly what I want my son to grow up with. As a stay-at-home mom, I take my job as a teacher to my son seriously. I believe that what you teach a child can shape him into what he will become when he grows up. I always find ways on how to engage my son’s imagination and enhance his development. I not only look for books with eye-catching designs but also with great contents and high educational value. Although I always say that my son drains all my energy during the day, it is all worth it when I see how he is learning new things and getting smarter every day. I find comfort at the thought that the involvement and quality time I spend with my son’s learning are paying off.

So this is why I decided to be an affiliate and sign up with Barefoot Books, I am one with their goals and aspirations for little children. I give Barefoot Books two thumbs up for their great works. For all mom bloggers out there with little children, I am inviting you to be a part of this great community of educators and share their creative books, CD’s and other gifts that offer high educational value and lots of fun. Becoming an affiliate of Barefoot Books, not only give you the access to own great books that help enhance your children’s development, but it also gives you some earnings on the side. JOIN BAREFOOT NOW!

My Granny Went to Market – by Stella Blackstone (a book review)

  

My Granny Went to Market (A Round-the-World counting Rhyme)

Written by: Stella Blackstone
Illustrated by: Christopher Corr

Read Alone: Ages 4-7 Read Together: Ages 0-4

Hardcover; Jacketed; Full-color illustrations ; 24pp;
10.25 x 10 inches

 

This book takes you far away to ten different locations in the world. I feel like after reading this book with my daughter, that I have taken her far away from Massachusetts! In fact, 10 different places in one sitting, isn’t that exciting – for just one book? From Istanbul (did you know that Istanbul is the ONLY city in the world that is located in two continents? Europe and Asia?), to Thailand, to Mexico, to China, Switzerland, Africa, Russia (russs-siiaa), Australia, Japan (Which state in the US means ‘good morning in Japanese’? – Answer: Ohio) and Peru, it definitely is a traveling book! My daughter loves listening to me while I read this book to her – most probably because she hears foreign languages from most of the pages. In fact, she was so excited on the page where the Granny went to Thailand, she ripped it! This particular page contains the Thai words ‘Puyin’ and ‘Puchai’ which means little little girl and little boy respectively.

 

As the subtitle of this book suggest around the world counting rhyme, this book presents counting in an international sense. As the Granny in the book travels from her first destination to the next, the pages accumulate the numbers of object a particular country is known for. Dig this part from the book:

 

First destination – from Istanbul – one flying carpet (1)

Second destination – Thailand – two temple cats (2)

Third destination – Mexico – three masks (3)

Fourth destination – China – four lanterns (4)

Fifth destination – Switzerland – five cowbells (5)

Sixth destination – Africa – six drums (6)

Seventh destination – Russia – seven dolls (7)

Eighth destination – Australia – eight boomerang (8)

Ninth destination – Japan – nine kites (9)

Tenth destination – Peru – ten llamas (10)

 

This book also tackled in a subtle way the different continents of the world. On the very first page of the book, there is a world map that tracked all the travel destinations that the Granny went to. On this map, the continents on where the countries that the Granny visited were in bold letters to emphasize that these countries belong to these continents. 

Rhymes are all over the book. Take for example this page, where the words ‘Japanese’ rhymes with the word ‘breeze’:

An activity that will go along with this book aside from counting and rhymes, is the identification of what people are called from these countries. If you are an educator you could start off a book walk by asking which country does the city of Istanbul belong to? Answer: Turkey. Therefore, if the country is Turkey, the people are called, ‘Turkish’. The lesson activity can move on from this first destination to the last part.

- Alpha

Animal Boogie Review

  This is the very first book  from Barefoot Books that my daughter and I read together! As soon as I started reading this book, I knew my daughter is glued on it! The pictures on the cover page are brilliant! The colors are just wonderful. But here are the best things my daughter and I love the most about this book!

1. The beat and the rhythm of the book makes me swing, sway…and “boogie, woogie, oogie.”

2. The different animals that depict all the movements in the jungle (there’s the leopard, monkey, vulture, bear,etc.) 

3. The incorporation of a child who has a disability – which just shows how the company values children of diversity and children with special needs. (I was actually telling this to some of my friends that who among publishers would give enlightenment in a subtle way about children with special needs? Barefoot Books does!). See this page below from the book.

4. The convenient place where you could insert a CD at the book of the book’s back jacket. (easy to store and no need to put them separately in a bag!)

5. The different races of children portrayed in the book!

This book is just a book rolled into one. If you are a teacher who is looking for a unit book on animals, movements of animals, sounds of animals, and diversity of children – this is the book! 

I hope you will enjoy it too as much as we did!

- Alpha

“If you would like to purchase this book, please visit http://philippines.mybarefootbooks.com “