In our household, the time we get to spend reading to our son is very important. We always get our 20 minutes (at least) of reading in a day. Over the past two years of his young life, I’ve tried to bolster my son’s book collection on a budget. I mostly buy books when they are on sale and especially if I can find someone selling used books in bulk. When I do buy new books, It’s usually because I’m looking for something specific to fill a void in our collection–a certain topic, educational, or maybe a title reminiscent of my own childhood.
When I got a peek at The Barefoot Book of Children, I knew I wanted it on our bookshelf. One of the things I’ve had my eyes open for is a book or two that will teach my children to be resilient in the face of change, especially as we live a military lifestyle. This book also opens the door for a great conversation about diversity and acceptance (after a particularly trying election week for all of us, my review for this book could not be more timely on those topics, I think).
This book shares the differences of children all over the globe by, first, sharing how we relate to each other. Right now, my toddler is able to recognize simple concepts in the book: he gets excited about pointing out showers and baths, body parts, saying his own name, etc. But I also see so much potential in each page to open the door to important discussions as our kids grow up.
My husband has yet to go on deployment, but I know this book can help broach that subject for just about any age. There is even a picture of a man on deployment talking to his family over video chat. When it seems unfair that he’s gone, we can look at this book and talk about how other families live this way, but also that there are many different ways families live all over the world. There’s also another page we can flip to and talk about how everyone has a range of feelings in situations like this that are okay to feel.
We can use this book as a springboard to tackle more difficult or controversial subjects like differing family structures, faith, race, disabilities, etc. Now, especially, I’ve seen parents worrying and looking for ways to broach this subjects with their kids. I would highly recommend that those parents consider getting this book TODAY to help. The quality of the book is as outstanding as its content; a very large sturdy hardcover with beautifully illustrated pages.
I know that the pages of this book will continue to be a helpful tool for our kids. Every move we have to take will drop us into a new environment. If the change seems strange to our kids, I want them to appreciate the newness and the differences. I feel adamant that this book is a great foundation to empathy and resilience. I hope other parents will find the same.
I received a sample of this book in exchange for my honest opinions on this blog.
Two and Three Quarters 