Barefoot Books in FAO Schwarz NOW OPEN!

On Thursday, August 28 - Barefoot Books opened its doors to the public at the FAO Schwarz. Finally, it's here! You can read the full interview of Nancy Traversy, CEO and co-founder of the Barefoot Books from the Boston Globe on the link below:

http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2008/08/26/a_new_chapter_for_childrens_publisher_barefoot_books/

And here is the picture of the Barefoot Books Manhattan at the FAO Schwarz! Keep your eyes open for the grand opening on October 4th!

Barefoot Books co-founder Nancy Traversy's message

At the Barefoot Books International Conference 2008 in Cambridge, MA, Barefoot Book's co-founder and CEO Nancy Traversy welcomed all the guests and stallholders and delivered a very insightful message to everybody at the audience. She was very enthusiastic and honest in every word she said, which truly made me feel connected with her and the company she and Tessa Strickland started in 1993.

What I liked about Nancy was that she was very transparent in her message. She talked about their victories, the challenges that she and Tessa overcame for the past 15 years as the visionaries of the Barefoot Books. She was as vivid and colorful as the stories that the Barefoot Books publishes. You could certainly tell that you can not separate the company from her ~ because she speaks genuinely from the heart in every aspect of the company. She was proud to admit about their failures in setting up the Barefoot Books and even openly told us about all the mishaps she's had between balancing motherhood and being a CEO of a very cause-driven, people-oriented and socially-aware company. I'd have to say she is truly a walking image of SUCCESS and I would like to share with everybody what I've highlighted from her message to Barefoot Books Stallholders and how you could apply that as well to whatever you do.

According to her, "Success comes with perseverance." and with that said, she definitely persevered and still doing so with all the plans she and Tessa's got for the company. Nancy pointed that in order to attain success here are few things to remember:

1. Simplify
2. Focus on building relationship - isn't it that life is all about relationships? No man is an island. She said, "Listen to their stories."
3. Appreciate opportunities
4. Believe in community
5. Be pioneering - Don't just sit there and follow the traditional path. Do something that is unique. Do something more creative and pioneer in what you do.
6. Redefine success - Success is not always determined with how much do you earn in a year or how much money do you have in the bank but maybe if we redefine success based on other social causes and helping our community that might be a lot better.

In accordance with the conference theme of Telling Stories, I wanted to share what Nancy Traversy said about storytelling ~ that Storytelling is the heart of what it means to be humans! Learning the facts is important but story and imagination are far more powerful.

Barefoot Books International Conference ~ Telling Stories

I do not even know where to start about this wonderful experience I've had at the Barefoot Books International Conference ~ Telling Stories that happened from August 1 - 3 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, MA. But there is a beginning and there is an end. I'd like to break down my post into a few segmented articles to tell everybody what I've learned and I've seen about the Barefoot Books!

The few posts you will see in the succeeding pages will be the following:
1. Nancy Traversy's message
2. The Barefoot Books Vision and Opportunity
3. Lessons I've learned from the Conference about the Barefoot Books Business
and of course!
4. Pictures from the Conference

There were a lot of things that happened during the three-day conference, which include the following schedule of activities:

Friday, August 1 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM - there was a welcome reception at the Barefoot Books Retail Store in Cambridge. I wasn't able to go there but I heard from fellow stallholders who were able to attend the cocktail here at our flagship store, there were some raffle draws, announcement of winners (by the way, I won a signed book by Stella Blackstone! one of my daughter's favorite's authors ~ how lucky!) some won signed books and others won $25 gift certificates!

Saturday, August 2 from 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM - this is the most important day of the conference and where I made sure I was there! Just like everybody else who were there, we met and saw Nancy Traversy, the co-founder of Barefoot Books, the great and hard-working staff of the Barefoot Books who answered all our questions regarding shipping, new releases, payment information, etc (everything possible that takes place behind the scene) and of course the friendly Stallholders from all over the US and the UK! It was so much fun! As part of the program, one of the authors/illustrators Maria Carluccio of Skip Through the Seasons and Sound About Town, was our mystery author guest and shared to us her techniques ~ and allowed us to chat with her about her work.
The day concluded with a poolside barbecue party at Nancy's house in Concord, MA.

Sunday, August 3 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM - there was a duck tour for the family members as well as the Stallholders!

There was somuch fun and a lot of new information about our Barefoot Books business and what are in store for us in the future. Nancy Travery mentioned about the opening (soft launch) of the Barefoot Books store in FAO Schwarz this October 2nd and the full day celebration will happen on October 4th, with possible celebrities attending the Opening Day! Nancy also talked about how despite the economic crisis the US is experiencing right now that our company, Barefoot Books continues to very stable and will continue to succeed because what we offer is unique, and we all believe that everybody's success comes with perseverance!

I left the conference with so much knowledge and so much enthusiasm about building a future with Barefoot Books! So, if you would like to join this community with a passion of listening to other people stories, reading great books, developing early literacy and just a drive to live and respect the environment, you can start here:

http://www.barefootbooks101.com

I guarantee you that you will feel that you are making a difference in your own world, one book at a time. Go Green, Go Barefoot!

Barefoot Books International Conference 2008 Pictures

About the pictures:

1. The first picture - these are some of the people behind the Barefoot Books Company. Nancy Traversy, CEO and co-founder of the Barefoot Books is seated in the far left in torquoise sleeveless top.
2. On the second picture - This is the gift bags that will be available this Fall.
3. On the third picture - these are all the Fall 2008 Barefoot Books new releases
4. On the fourth picture - Yga Planet Card! - new for the fall 2008
5. And last but not the least - author and illustrator Maria Carluccio was the Conference's mystery guest.

Bear About Town - A Barefoot Book Review

Bear About Town

Written by: Stella Blackstone
Illustrated by: Debbie Harter
Read Alone: Ages 4-7
Read Together: Ages 0-4
Paperback; Full-color illustrations; 32pp;
10.25 x 10 inches

When I signed up for the Barefoot Books Stallholder program, I was given a starter pack that contains all of the Barefoot Books Best Sellers of all Time. One of them, is this board book (but also comes in Paper Back Edition), BEAR ABOUT TOWN.

Just like my previous post about BEAR IN A SQUARE, the main character that the author Stella Blackstone puts in the spotlight is the BEAR. To give a more detailed look of the bear, I will try to describe to you how the bear looks like: The bear in this book is portrayed as friendly, engaging and always on the go. The bear has a smooth and even skin tone that appears clean and inviting. The bear does not look scary at all. In fact to me, it does not give the impression that he will growl and give the reader a look that says, “Go away!”. This bear looks huggable and throughout this series, the bear seems to be smiling even though the mouth is not visible because it is hidden under the bear’s nose.
Each page of the book contains the same language format as the previous Bear book, which is simple, direct and one-sentence per page. In this book, the Bear goes to different locations in the local geography introducing places in the neighborhood such as the bakery, the swimming pool, cinema, gym, toyshop and the park. As the Bear goes around these neighborhood locations, the days of the week are also introduced. Each day of the week, the Bear visits one area until Sunday comes, where the Bear’s activities are done. At the end of the book, there is a map which can also double up as a maze for an additional activity for the readers to do.

Recommendations to use for:

1. introducing the DAYS OF THE WEEK
2. local geography
3. possible play time activities
4. identify things that are associated in a certain local destination

Mother Goose Remembers - A Barefoot Book Review

Mother Goose Remembers

Compiled and Illustrated by: Clare Beaton
Read Alone: Ages 4-7
Read Together: Ages 0-4
Hardcover with CD; Full-color illustrations; 64pp;
9 x 10.25 inches
Awards and Honors:
NCSS–CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People, 2000
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book of the Year, 2001
Society of Illustrators Original Art Exhibition, 2000

Recent praise:

“Beaton stitches and appliques her way through 46 nursery rhymes, including a few less familiar treasures…. She exquisitely and inventively crafts each picture from felt, antique fabrics and bric-a-brac. In “I Had a Little Nut Tree,’ for example, the tree is made from eyelet fabric and dotted with tiny wooden beads. Beaton’s work evokes the cozy domesticity and unhurried days of a bygone era, and many adults may find it refreshing to find a Mother Goose untainted by zingy modern ironies.” - Publishers Weekly

Book Review:

This book is a compilation of 46 popular nursery rhymes with unique hand-sewn illustrations by Clare Beaton. Her illustration technique is so distinctive you would think it is a real 3-d hand-sewn book! Her artwork consists of antique fabrics, old jewelry, threads, bric-a-brac, laces, and other stuffs put together to form a collage! Her rendition of these nursery rhymes in a collage and not in ink gives the child the longing to touch them. Look at this nursery rhyme from her book and tell me if you do not think you would like to touch them as well. Look closer, even closer…



A partial list of the nursery rhymes compiled in this book are the following:

Humpty Dumpty - page 9

The Grand Old Duke of York - page 10

To Market, To Market - page 17

The Woman who lived in a shoe

Sing a Song of Sixpence - page 20

This Little Pig Went to Market - page 22

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep - page 25

Ring Around the Roses - page 27

Little Bo Peep - page 29

Little Miss Muffet - page 33

Rock-a-Bye Baby - page 34

Jack Be Nimble - page 57 (my all time favorite - I can still memorize it: Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be quick, Jack jump over the candle stick!)

Hey Diddle Diddle - page 58 -



I highly recommend this book for the new mothers, and pregnant women who would like to learn the many nursery rhymes that babies would like to listen to. Also, this book is a great gift for baby showers - especially that this book comes with a CD plus an introduction from one of the Barefoot books publishers, Tessa Strickland explaining about the significance of Mother Goose and where did it originate. I learned from her Introduction that a mother goose is a carrier of the great Hindu goddess Sarawasti, the goddess of learning language, music and arts.

The Farmyard Jamboree - A Barefoot Book Review

Written by: Margaret Read MacDonald
Illustrated by: Sophie Fatus
Read Alone: Ages 4-7
Read Together: Ages 0-4
Paperback; Full-color illustrations; 32pp;
10.25 x 10 inches

Two Fridays ago we stopped by the Thomas Crane Library in Quincy, MA and borrowed some Barefoot Books. We got a few of them including this one “The Farmyard Jamboree”! Well, it wasn’t the exact title though but it was of the same content. I was able to figure out why the change of the title..I realized that the book we got from the library was published in 2002, and the title then was “The Hen, the Chick and the Guitar” which is based on a Chilean folklore! Uhm, another international and multicultural book (Barefoot books is really listening to all the different cultures in the world and it is amazing how they put together wonderful folklore into the eyes of young children)

In this book, a boy dressed in a traditional Chilean costume is receiving different gifts from his relatives - granfather, grandmother, mother, father, uncle, brother, sister, etc…and each one of them gives a pet. As the book progresses, it talks about what is the small animal is called…and it teaches you about counting from 1-20 (until obviously there would be twenty little pets!)


The best part of the book is the way the little boy sings “Ay, ay, ay, ay,…” and how it matches with the Chilean theme part of the book!

If you are a teacher looking for a counting book, introduction of the baby animals, and/or Chilean tradition this is a great book to use. Plus, the lively music and the sound of the guitar uplifts the mood of anybody who is reading and listening to the CD!

Have fun reading The Farmyard Jamboree!

Elephant Dance (Memories of India) - A Barefoot Books Review

Elephant DanceWritten by: Theresa Heine
Illustrated by: Shiela Moxley
Read Alone: Ages 6-10
Read Together: Ages 4-8
Hardcover; Jacketed; Full-color illustrations; 40pp;
8.75 x 10.5 inches

”Thank God for Granparents!” - this is we, parents usually say whenever our children ask us somethings that only grandparents can answer. i remember when I was a little child, I used to ask questions about how my grandfather lived during World War II and during the Martial Law times (in the Philippines). He would tell me in details exactly and vividly as how he could remember all his experiences both in his community as a leader, a father and an officer of the Philippine Air Force. How I used to like hearing all of his stories and gave me more insights about how he and his family lived during those times. There is nothing like hearing all these memories first-hand - it is a treasure that is passed on from his generation to mine and pretty soon, to my daughter.

This theme of grandfather-grandchild is very evident throughout the day. Ravi, the main character of the story bombards with his grandfather with questions about India. And as I read through the book, I get acquainted about living in India - such as the map of India is shaped like the ear of the elephant (thus, the title of the book is from), the geography of India, the seasons of India - cold weather, dry/hot weather and moonsoon rains -,the religion and their culture.

Speaking of the seasons of India, I like the part when Ravi asked his grandfather if it ever snows in India. This made me laughed as I read this part, because when I was little I also used to wonder, “does it ever rain in other parts of the world?”, “does it ever gets hot across the Pacific?” - and this part of the book reinforces the answers to most of the intriguing questions that children have about the changing seasons of the world. I also like the way the grandfather uses analogy to describe the things that Ravi asks him.

I adore the way the grandfather describes a rainbow in India to Ravi and he said,

“A rainbow in India Ravi beta is seven saris hung across the sky to dry,

red as the watermelon,

orange as lentils,

yellow as saffron,

green as parakeet,

blue as kingfisher,

indigo as the deep ocean,

violet as the storm sky,

before the thunder growls.”

Throughout the book, the grandfather continues to use this similar analogy to explain to Ravi how things are different in India. I think this is a great strategy for children to absorb memories by associating things to things that are familiar to them and things that are colorful and full of live description. In addition to that the grandfather makes sure that the culture of India is also added in how he explains things to Ravi, whether it could be an Indian flower, the Indian Divaali festival, the spices, the food, the himalayans or the clothing, Ravi’s grandfather truly exalts in using these common Indian words.

The book also incorporates a lot of Indian spices. In fact, in the middle of the book, the family of Ravi needed to cook for supper time. This part reflects the Indian family tradition of preparing food and the use of Indian spices such as daal, cloves, cardamom, turmeric, coriander and cumin. Each member of the family is described as having a task to do in preparation of supper. Ravi set the table and his sister Anjali fetched the rice.

The story ends with Ravi going to sleep and before he went to bed, he asked his grandfather, “do you love me grandfather?” and his grandfather used the same strategy of answering this question by saying,

“you are as warm as a newborn kid,

as soft as a frangipani blossom,

as sweet as the juice of the mango

and I love you very much.”

I can also say that this book will be great as gifts to grandparents on their special day and writing a note to them by saying how informative they are to us, in many ways than they could ever think of.

- Alpha

The Great Race - A Barefoot Book Review

The Great Race
Written by: Dawn Casey
Illustrated by: Anne Wilson
Read Alone: Ages 6-10
Read Together: Ages 4-8
Hardcover; Jacketed; Full-color illustrations; 32pp;
8.25 x 10.75 inches


Ever wondered why the names of animals are used in the Chinese zodiac? Ever wondered too how come there is NO cat in the Chinese zodiac? This book tells it all in a playful, colorful and easy-to-remember story.

The story starts with the Jade Emperor hosting a race to start a calendar and name each year after a different animal. He had announced that whoever will finish a swimming race across a wide river first will be declared the first animal sign of the calendar. The oder of how the animals will arrive, will be used for the order of the chinese calendar.

During that time the rat and the cat were the best of friends. However, near the end of the race, the rat pushed over the cat down the river so the rat could jump to the finish line and win the race. The cat who hates the water tried very hard to get out of the water but just couldn’t make it to the shore. This is the reason why there is NO cat in the chinese calendar. This is also the reason why up to this day, the cat and the rat are the worst of enemies.

The rat won the race and as the Jade Emperor said, “Rat may be small but he is also smart!”! The other animals who came after rat were in the following order:

2nd: ox

3rd: tiger

4th: Hare

5th: dragon

6th: horse

7th: snake

8th: sheep

9th: monkey

10th: cockerel

11th: dog

12th: pig

Reading this book to my daughter is like learning a new lesson for me. I was like, “huh, now that is the reason why…?”. I really enjoyed the book as much as my daughter did. Although she can not associate the meanings of the story behind the book, i could tell based from her attentiveness and interest with the book, that this captured her as well.

But what I love about this book is at the very end of it there are two pages devoted to the characters of the 12 animals included in the chinese calendar with the corresponding years that these animals represent. For the fun of it, check your animal sign and see if the characters of these animals are similar to yours:

Rats - are clever, ambitious and quick-witted.

Ox - are honest, patient and hardworking.

Tiger - are brave, powerful and daring.

Hare - are lucky, kind and peaceful.

Dragon - are powerful, strong and energetic.

Snake - are calm, wise and elegant.

Horse - are popular, independent and fun.

Sheep - are artistic, loving and tender-hearted.

Money - are happy, confident and enthusiastic

Cockerel - are adventurous, kind and hardworking.

Dog - are loyal, affectionate and generous.

Pig - are noble, helpful and forgiving

My Daddy is a Pretzel

My Daddy is a Pretzel
Written by: Baron Baptiste
Illustrated by: Sophie Fatus
Read Alone: Ages 4-9
Read Together: Ages 0-4
Hardcover; Jacketed, Full-color illustrations; 48pp;
8.75 x 11 inches

I can honestly say that this is one of my most favorite Barefoot Books ever! It combines what I would like to see for the perfect yoga book for children - thus, this makes it the PERFECT book to introduce children to yoga. This is also a great book for teachers who would like to introduce the different occupations or work that parents do!

The Introduction part of the book is very sincere. The author Baron Baptiste really showed how caring and how dedicated he is in bringing the right kind of discipline to his children as well to other children in the form of yoga. He made yoga a more enjoyable, and not frightful to most kids by interconnecting what profession a parent has. An example of which is the page below:

In this page, the mother is a gardener…on the other hand the dad is sometimes a tree. From this, the author builds on an occupation to a yoga position that is related to the occupation of being a gardener, thus the TREE position comes up.


In this page, it guides the reader from the first step to attaining this position to the final step. What I love about this YOGA pose page is that, throughout the book the author explains as to what this particular pose teaches us in our daily lives (i.e. Tree Pose teaches us to support ourselves) and then moves to the reason why we need to learn this lesson. For the Tree Pose, “so that we can reach high and remain stable, yet be flexible.”

I love the lessons/sayings from these YOGA pose pages. Here are some of the sayings I find very inspiring, even for young children:

1. “….and as with anything practice makes progress”

2. “Triangles have 3 sides and 3 angles - just as we have 3 aspects: mind, body and spirit”

3.”If we plow well, we can sow well, and then reap the rewards of what we have planted.”

and

4. from the Fish pose…”Don’t struggle upstream, jump in and just go with the flow, even in turbulent times.”


This book also presented a lot of diversity. The parents and the children that are illustrated are of different nationalities - and the diversity of work from a gardener, to a marine biologist, to a builder and then too a baker, it is just an amazing book! And of course, these poses can be enlarged if you are a teacher wanting to teach a step-by-step way of a certain pose.

- Alpha

The Gigantic Turnip

This is a story based from a Russian folk tale about an old man and an old woman who were living in a cottage with an overgrown garden. they have all sorts of animals that they keep with them including canaries, geese, hens, cats, pigs, cow.

They have been living just fine until one March morning when they both thought it was about time to sow their vegetables. The last one they sowed was the turnip.

Later that night rain fell and the turnip grew and grew until it became very GIGANTIC! When the couple woke up the following day they were very surprised to see how big the turnip had turned out to be…and they needed help from all their farm animals. One by one, they called out for help from their animals. Out came the cow but they couldn’t pull out the turnip. Next, they called out the 2 pigs, but again it didn’t work out. The story went on and went from one cow, to the two pigs, to three cats, four hens, five geese, then the six canaries. When all of their animals were in tow to pull out the GIGANTIC TURNIP, the old woman thought of her friend, the mouse.

The old woman went to the kitchen and got a piece of cheese and placed it by the mousehole. Pretty soon the mouse came out and help yank the turnip. Within a few pulls, the turnip went POP and everybody fell on top of each other.

The story ends with the old man and the old woman making a huge bowl of turnip stew and guess who ate the most? The mouse!

- Alpha

We All Went on Safari - Book review

This book is amazing! I wish I had this book when I was younger! I could have learned how to count in Swahili

Good points about this book:

1. It opens up our minds (children and children at heart) about the culture in Africa!

2. The different names of children in Africa.

3. The animals in Africa.

4. Counting both visually in numbers and in a different language.

5. It teaches you how to count in Swahili from one-ten. Check out this two other pages of the book.

AND

6. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each book will be donated to the African Wildlife Foundation, to aid their wildlife conservation and community building efforts in Tanzania.

Great, great book! And you could help as well when you purchase this!

- Alpha

My Granny Went to Market

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 (

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.

Skip through the Season - by Stella Blackstone

Skip through the Seasons

(formerly published as Jump into January)

Written by: Stella Blackstone
Illustrated by: Maria Carluccio
Read Alone: Ages 4-9
Read Together: Ages 0-4
Paperback; Full-color illustrations; 32pp;
10.25 x 10 inches

This is one of the many books that the author Stella Blackstone wrote. Among the many other best-selling books that Stella Blackstone wrote were My Granny Went to Market, Cleo the Cat series, Dragon on the Doorstep, I wish I were a Dinosaur, Secret Seahorse, Alligator Alphabet, An Island in the Sun, Bear series, Who are you? and Where’s the cat? Each of these books that Stella Blacktone wrote is distinctive of each other but the diversity of topics presented in each book is evident throughout. Her stories were translated in different languages. She lives in southwest England with her three children, two dogs and two cats.

For this book Skip through Seasons, it portrays about a journey around the year that includes objects and things and events that happen in each month. For most of each month of the year, there is also an action word that begins with the same letter as that month. For example:



Jump - for January

Fly - for February

Move - for May

Jive - for July

Slide -for September

Dance - for December

The other six months of the year that does not begin with an action word that begins with the same letter. However, these months still incorporates movements and actions that somehow relates to what is going on for these months. Examples are:



Whirl - for March
Splash -for April

Race - for June

Sail - for August

Twirl - for October

Sweep - for November

What I like about this book is at the bottom part of each page, it displays several words that are commonly used for each month. This is very useful when teachers and parents are introducing key words to children that are related to a festivities for the month. The words are supported by the pictures that are drawn for each page. There are many activities that you could use this book for including (let’s take for example you are introducing the month of December) :

1. asking where the picture of a candy cane,

2. asking which among the set of words is a ‘candy cane’,

3. naming 3 objects that they see on the page that are commonly used during the season,

4. naming the 12 months of the year,

5. the different seasons of the year, movements,

6. words that begin with the same letter as the name of the month and

7. rhyming words! (at the end of each phrase it says - come along with me! - and on the other page it ends with - what can you see? -)

The teachers can also laminate the words for a particular season for their word wall say summer -

For June - the words are (scooter, thermos, picnic blanket, basket, butterfly, swing, skateboard, bread, bicycle, bananas, cooler, picnic bench)

For July - the words are (juggler, dolls, bumper cars, ice cream stand, cotton candy, carousel, balloons, flags, ticket booth, ferris wheel, moon)

For August - the words are (sailboats, shovel, fisherman, crab, beach ball, sunglasses, pails, seagull, hammock, surfboard, sandcastles, flippers)

If I were still an early childhood teacher, this book would definitely be an all-year-round sight in my class’s library. They can build their vocabulary throughout the year with the pictures and the sight words that are included in each of the pages. What is also great is that, this book targets every topic that has to do with seasons even weather. This is worth having a multiple copies for yourself!

- Alpha

Elephant Dance Review - Memories of India

Elephant Dance
Written by: Theresa Heine
Illustrated by: Shiela Moxley
Read Alone: Ages 6-10
Read Together: Ages 4-8
Hardcover; Jacketed; Full-color illustrations; 40pp;
8.75 x 10.5 inches

”Thank God for Granparents!” - this is we, parents usually say whenever our children ask us somethings that only grandparents can answer. i remember when I was a little child, I used to ask questions about how my grandfather lived during World War II and during the Martial Law times (in the Philippines). He would tell me in details exactly and vividly as how he could remember all his experiences both in his community as a leader, a father and an officer of the Philippine Air Force. How I used to like hearing all of his stories and gave me more insights about how he and his family lived during those times. There is nothing like hearing all these memories first-hand - it is a treasure that is passed on from his generation to mine and pretty soon, to my daughter.

This theme of grandfather-grandchild is very evident throughout the day. Ravi, the main character of the story bombards with his grandfather with questions about India. And as I read through the book, I get acquainted about living in India - such as the map of India is shaped like the ear of the elephant (thus, the title of the book is from), the geography of India, the seasons of India - cold weather, dry/hot weather and moonsoon rains -,the religion and their culture.

Speaking of the seasons of India, I like the part when Ravi asked his grandfather if it ever snows in India. This made me laughed as I read this part, because when I was little I also used to wonder, “does it ever rain in other parts of the world?”, “does it ever gets hot across the Pacific?” - and this part of the book reinforces the answers to most of the intriguing questions that children have about the changing seasons of the world. I also like the way the grandfather uses analogy to describe the things that Ravi asks him.

I adore the way the grandfather describes a rainbow in India to Ravi and he said,


“A rainbow in India Ravi beta is seven saris hung across the sky to dry,

red as the watermelon,

orange as lentils,

yellow as saffron,

green as parakeet,

blue as kingfisher,

indigo as the deep ocean,

violet as the storm sky,

before the thunder growls.”

Throughout the book, the grandfather continues to use this similar analogy to explain to Ravi how things are different in India. I think this is a great strategy for children to absorb memories by associating things to things that are familiar to them and things that are colorful and full of live description. In addition to that the grandfather makes sure that the culture of India is also added in how he explains things to Ravi, whether it could be an Indian flower, the Indian Divaali festival, the spices, the food, the himalayans or the clothing, Ravi’s grandfather truly exalts in using these common Indian words.

The book also incorporates a lot of Indian spices. In fact, in the middle of the book, the family of Ravi needed to cook for supper time. This part reflects the Indian family tradition of preparing food and the use of Indian spices such as daal, cloves, cardamom, turmeric, coriander and cumin. Each member of the family is described as having a task to do in preparation of supper. Ravi set the table and his sister Anjali fetched the rice.

The story ends with Ravi going to sleep and before he went to bed, he asked his grandfather, “do you love me grandfather?” and his grandfather used the same strategy of answering this question by saying,

“you are as warm as a newborn kid,

as soft as a frangipani blossom,

as sweet as the juice of the mango

and I love you very much.”

I can also say that this book will be great as gifts to grandparents on their special day and writing a note to them by saying how informative they are to us, in many ways than they could ever think of.

- 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!

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