My kids received the book Can You See the Red Balloon? as a gift, and they both absolutely loved it. So when I saw that it was from a company called Barefoot Books, I decided to check out some more books from them - and I was not at all disappointed. This company is definitely a new favorite in my house.

Barefoot Books started in 1993 with the beliefs that it’s never too early to teach children about other cultures, that kids should be given the opportunity to appreciate high-quality art just like adults, and that children should be able to enjoy the music and meaning of language from an early age. Their creative artists and writers make fabulous books that are enjoyable for the whole family. My daughter really enjoyed The Barefoot Book of Princesses, and I loved that it was about princesses other than Ariel and Aurora - these are stories from all over the world, with some familiar stories such as The Princess and the Pea and others that we had never heard before. A lot of the stories gave us a chance to sit down afterwards and talk about different cultures and beliefs.

My son is absolutely addicted to two books from their collection, The Prince’s Bedtime and Shrinking Sam. We also enjoyed My Daddy is a Pretzel (a yoga book for parents and kids) and their books with CDs - they’re fabulous for long car rides. I can’t wait to get a huge stack of books for both my kids from Barefoot Books this Christmas. I love the idea of kids reading instead of being glued to the TV or a video game, and these books are good enough that your child will actually want to read them!

Barefoot Books also has cool gifts for kids, like puzzles and puppets. You can shop online for Barefoot Books at http://www.barefootbooks.com/.