Go Barefoot! Ir descalzo hoy!

Are you wanting to introduce the kids in your life to a little multiculturalism? Time to "Ir Descalzo" con "Barefoot Books!" Those of you who also live in small towns know how challenging it is to find ways to introduce other cultures to our kids. Barefoot Books offers a huge variety of books about other parts of the world. We have a great selection of books about Africa, Asia, Latin America, China, India and the middle east. Recently at an event someone asked me about books specifically geared towards multiculturalism. Our Barefoot collection of books in Spanish came to mind first. Our sing-along books, like "Cha-Cha-Cha en la Selva" (Animal Boogie) and "Mira Quien Toca Calipso" (Creepy, Crawly Calypso) are an easy and fun way to introduce your children to the Spanish language. And you can learn the songs along with them! We also have many other Spanish language books available on my website. The best news of all is that we may soon have some books translated into French! As Barefoot Books grows, so does our passion for multiculturalism, global understanding, and our role as caretakers of the planet and our children. Go Barefoot! Ir descalzo, hoy!

Some other fun ways to introduce your kids to cultural diversity:

• Make a trip to a big city for a cultural festival. While you're there, make it a point to have some cultural experiences. Visit ethnic neighborhoods, try their food, listen for other languages being spoken and teach your kids to seek out experiences that are unfamiliar.
• Plan a cultural "stay-cation." Do some research on a particular culture. Borrow books, make costumes, and cook food that reflect that culture. Involve your kids and have a party! Invite friends and make it a community event. (check out our "Mama Panya's Pancakes" for a great Africa-themed book with lots of great food ideas!)
• Your local library probably has travelogues or at least videos of journeys to far away places. Surprise your family by renting one and having a movie night around that video instead of the usual Hollywood blockbuster.
• Consider hosting a foreign exchange student in your home. If your kids are old enough to hang out with them, this is a particularly rich experience, for the whole family.

Go Barefoot at http://BarefootTori.com Enjoy!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Parenting is hard enough without all the confusing messages out there. We adopt a style when our babies are young, but most parenting books drop off around age 2. Part of living a Barefoot life, for me, is creating a healthy, happy, nutritional soil for my daughter's emotional, spiritual and physical growth. A child-centered approach can be tricky, especially with the inundation of glossy-one-paragraph-theories that are so popular right now in the parenting world. I was just beginning to notice a second grey streak in my hair when a new book arrived on my doorstep, thanks to the moms at Mother-Talk and Mom Central.



Author Dyan Eybergen is a pediatric psychiatric nurse, but she's also a mom. This is obvious by the practical wisdom in her book, Out of the Mouth of Babes: Parenting from a Child's Perspective. Dyan has delivered a gently constructed book directing the parent to "develop an understanding for how a child sees and feels about a given situation, to listen to and respect your child's point of view, and to attune to a child's individual needs and personality, and parent him accordingly." Prosaic and situational, but practical, this book was the perfect read for rare stolen moments throughout my day. One particular afternoon I landed smack in the middle of Chapter 7: Discipline. We always strive to use natural consequences at our house, and Dyan had plenty to offer in this vein. By the end of the day I was implementing some new ideas. Simple. Commonsense. Why was I not doing this, already?

For example: Dyan suggests that when giving a time-out to a child, you should not give them warnings beyond the first recognition of misbehavior. I had fallen into a particularly nasty trap of warnings with my daughter. I can proudly say I am recovering from this illness and enjoying the fruits! My daughter is also learning t0 practice self-quieting during time-outs and is recognizing when she is ready to rejoin the activity at hand without an arbitrary time-limit.

This books offers a refreshing reminder to recognize your child's uniqueness and suggestions on tailoring your parenting to fit the individual child. Clearly, the author has been down the road of "one size does not fit all" parenting and she now offers her wisdom to the rest of us. One of the best parts of this book is the collection of children's quotes throughout. I'll leave you with a couple:

"If you won't let me have a cookie before breakfast, how am I going to grow any bigger?" -Talen, age 4

"I don't want to go on time-out. Maybe you should go back to babysitting school." -Kohan, age 6

Books for Africa

Some of us are called to travel to far-away lands and some of us go reluctantly, but most of us can hardly get out of our driveway. The good news is that we live in a global culture that reaches us where we are. Part of our mission at Barefoot Books is to spread literacy and cultural understanding. We have recently partnered with an amazing program called Books for Africa and I couldn't help revisiting this fantastic organization.

The mission of Books For Africa is to end the book famine in Africa. Since 1988, Books For Africa has shipped more than 20 million books to 42 African countries and put books int0 the hands of those who need them the most: children who long to explore the world in ways that only books make possible.

Through my website, you are able to choose from six select Barefoot Books which will cost you only $3.00-$5.00, each. The books will be shipped from a central warehouse directly to schools, libraries and resource centers across the African continent. These books were chosen because of their emphasis on African stories, wildlife and culturally relevant artwork.

Check out this video to learn more about this wonderful organization: