The Last Word
November 2010
The Importance of Books
I started Barefoot Books with Tessa Strickland 18 years ago, when our children were very young. As new mums and avid explorers of world cultures, we wanted our children to have books that would feed the imagination while instilling a respect for diversity and a love of the planet. I didn’t really know much about the publishing industry back then, and, in hindsight, that was probably lucky, as Barefoot has always strived to be more of a pioneer than a follower. Today, we are a worldwide community of writers, artists, storytellers, teachers, musicians and others who are committed to providing timeless stories and captivating art that can help children become happy, engaged members of a global society.
In today’s demanding and ever-changing world, parents and educators are increasingly concerned about how to raise socially conscious children, and books play an important role in fostering this process. They are crucial to a child’s emotional and social development.
Books allow children the time and space to consider their own way of interpreting new concepts and different ways of seeing the world. While reading a book, children are free to use their imaginations and select the image or idea that they are naturally drawn to on the page, following what interests them and learning new things about the world around them. We’re firm believers in not patronising children. Their levels of understanding and empathy can be astounding, and they are easily the harshest critics. You can’t convince a child that something is interesting using clever criticism; you have to put a lot of thought into the product – or believe me, they’ll notice!
Studies have shown that reading with children is beneficial in numerous ways. The Reading Agency promotes 20 minutes per day of reading with your child as one of the most important activities of their early years: “Just 20 minutes a day reading aloud with young children strengthens relationships, encourages listening and language skills, promotes attention and curiosity, and establishes a strong reading foundation.”1 Professor Barry Zuckerman, of the department of paediatrics at Boston University’s School of Medicine, explains that, as well as the obvious language-development benefits of reading with your child, “children ultimately learn to love books because they are sharing it with someone they love.”2
At Barefoot, we’ve taken the importance of nurturing these relationships and the imagination of children and put them at the heart of the business. We do this not only with books but also with a carefully chosen selection of games, puzzles and puppets that encourage children to develop stories of their own. In order to stay closely connected to the people who support our values, we work at a grassroots level to sell our books and gift products through a global network of more than 5,000 Barefoot Books Ambassadors. Our Ambassadors work in their communities and online to build their own home-based businesses. They are passionate about bringing high-quality books to the children in their lives and those of their customers, helping to create a community, connected both in real life and online, of people who ‘Live Barefoot.’ This has brought us full circle back to the initial impetus for the business – not only do our books explore the world’s diversity, but our community embodies it.
One of my favourite books is The Boy Who Grew Flowers, a story about courage, kindness and the value of acceptance. Children and adults alike take away the profound lesson that everyone comes to the world with unique and special gifts. By reading stories such as this, we can better understand the world from other perspectives, appreciate cultural and social differences and live with a spirit of openness and optimism. The stories we hear help us define who we are. These stories inspire us to open our minds and hearts and learn to live life to the full.
1. http://www.readingfoundation.org/more.jsp
2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/may/13/schools.uk4
