Which was, seriously Liz, a little bit daunting!
I went to the Barefoot website thinking that it would be the standard books that you see at each and every school bookfair, but I was quickly surprised (and overwhelmed) by the options that were so different.
I think my favorite thing about Barefoot books is that there is a little something in here for everyone, and the books are produced with such care and quality they are truly heirloom worthy (your grandchildren will love these books) and present worthy (because I doubt that the child you give them to will have anything like them). With my educational background in comparitive religion, I loved that there was a book of blessings of many faiths- I love teaching my children that we're all more similar than we are different, even if we subscribe to a particular faith (Barefoot's Book of Blessings). There are also classic tales from many of the world's cultures. I also really appreciated that there are so many offerings that are forgotten classics, at least at our house. It seems like even our bookshelf has become overrun by a certain someone whose name rhymes with Dalt Wisney- books about talking animals, cars, jungle creatures, and bugs have taken the place of some of the fairy tales that really should be providing a basic foundation for any child- if not for their moral, for providing a basic cultural background (or maybe I've just been reading a little too much E.D. Hirsch lately. Either way.)
Back to Barefoot. As I continued to look through my options, I ran across beautiful books on Pirates, Princesses- complete with dress up outfits!- and even a host of selections for families living natural/health focused lifestyles, including Vegetarian Children's Cookbooks and even books on Yoga.
When I finally decided I couldn't pick, Liz asked me the ages of my children (2, 4, and 6- one girl, two boys) and said she'd be able to help me pick the perfect book. With a vacation coming up that included a loooong road trip, Liz expertly picked The Three Billy Goats Gruff (one of those forgotten fairy tales!) which came with a beautiful book AND a CD. This was brilliant! Because I am one of those HORRIBLE mothers that refuses to have a DVD player in her car (and yes, I know that's a gateway to child abuse, my 6 year old tells me all.the.time about how unfair his life is), books are a favorite pasttime in the car. However, since daddy couldn't come on this trip with us and Grandma gets a little car sick, having this book on CD was great! (The only downside was that I should have, apparently, bought one of the gift packs, because we listened to The Three Billy Goats Gruff from roughly Richmond, Virginia to Charlotte, North Carolina. Mommy was then ready for more options!!)
Barefoot Books gets a huge thumbs up from me, not only because it saved me on our car trip, but because its local distributor setup allows me to support a fellow local mom, and because of their diverse options. It also gets a thumbs up from all three of my children- for a grand total of 4 thumbs up from PWC Moms.
Thanks Liz, and Barefoot Books for this great giveaway!
Click HERE to see Liz's Barefoot Books fanpage.
I have looked and looked at the barefoot books website and I love the young artist gift collection for my 3 year old but I definitely think Mrs. Moon would be a good book to get for BOTH my girls (3 and 1) because it comes with a CD as well.
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