Green Options » Barefoot Books

Eco-Libris: Review of The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales

Raz Godelnik — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:11:50 +0000

This post was originally posted on Eco-Libris blog on April 2.

This week we have a very unique book that suits perfectly not only the upcoming Earth Day but also Passover, the Jewish holiday that we’re celebrating this month.

Our book for today is:

The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales

As we mentioned yesterday, in celebration of Earth Day, Barefoot Books are working together with Eco-Libris this April to plant a tree for every copy sold of this book!

Author: Dawn Casey

Dawn Casey has always been passionate about traditional tales, believing that folklore can help answer some of the toughest questions about humankind. This is Dawn s second project with Barefoot Books, following The Great Race (2006). Dawn combines writing with a career as a primary school teacher. She and her family live in East Sussex, England.

Illustrator: Anne Wilson

Anne Wilson gains much of her inspiration and sense of color from her travels. She has an MA in illustration from St. Martin’s College of Art, London, and has been illustrating children’s books for several years. This is Anne’s fourth project for Barefoot Books, following Storytime (2005), The Great Race (2006) and We’re Sailing Down the Nile (2007). Anne live s in Reading, England, with her husband and daughters.

Great Children’s Literature: My Daddy is a Pretzel

Jennifer Lance — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:39:20 +0000

I love this book! Well, maybe I am a little biased, since I love yoga, but I think the simple text of this book intermixed with yoga poses is genius. Written by Baron Baptiste and illustrated by Sophie Fatus, My Daddy is a Pretzel: Yoga for Parents and Kids introduces some asanas in the context of a story.

The story begins with the typical primary school discussion of parental careers. As each child shares what their parent’s job is, the main character refers to a yoga pose his/her dad does that relates to the occupation.

On the following page, the yoga pose is discussed and demonstrated step by step for children to try. The pages of My Daddy is a Pretzel alternate between the children sharing their parents’ jobs and yoga poses.

Great Children’s Literature: A Forest of Stories

Jennifer Lance — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:44:28 +0000

A Forest of Stories, by Rina Singh and Helen Cann, is a collection of “magical tree tales from around the world.” These folktales reign from China, Guatemala, Japan, India, Nigeria, Israel, and Morocco. As Rina explains in the introduction to A Forest of Stories,

Trees are here with us now. We have a direct relationship with them-an unfair alliance, in which we accept a multitude of gifts from them and offer nothing in return. We nourish ourselves with the fruit they provide, and we use their wood to make our homes. We plant them in our gardens and parks, and we heal ourselves with the medicines they give us. We have both creatively and selfishly put every part of the tree to use, and yet they make no demands on us. they stand still, holding the soil in place, controlling floods and providing homes to countless animals.

Here is a list of the wonderful tree tales from A Forest of Stories: