The Girl with a Brave Heart

I have been very excited to tell everybody about our new book ' The  Girl with a Brave Heart ' and it seems that lots of you are quickly falling in love with little Shiraz. Throughout the past few weeks I have read many great reviews, including this one from the NewYork Times, all of delight in the celebration of girl power. 

The book tells the tale of Shiraz, a kindhearted young girl growing up in Tehran, has a miserable life at home with her stepmother and stepsister, who treat her like a servant. When the wind blows Shiraz’s ball of wool into the garden next door, she spends the day helping and caring for the old lady who lives there, with miraculous results. Then her stepmother sends her own daughter off on the same mission . . . but will the results be the same? Originally written in Hebrew this book is a re-working of the Brothers Grimm story 'Mother Holle '. With amazingly warm illustrations by Vali Mintzi, The Girl with a Brave Heart is fast becoming my favourite Barefoot book, it truly is beautiful. Aimed at 4-10 year old, this book is too advanced for my 18 month old but as with a lot of Barefoot Books, you can simply share the vibrant images with children who are younger and move on to telling the story as the child grows. 

To enhance the story, there is a craft activity based on the story, for children and carers to make together and have a bit of fun. The Activity encourages you to be creative and make your own Middle Eastern mosaic tile and can be downloaded from here . I made a few tile with my daughter yesterday and we both had lots of fun sticking bit and pieces here and there

If you would like to buy a copy of the book then make sure you use discount code FIRST2014 in order to get 20% off. 

Competition : Barefoot girls

Happy International Women's Day everybody! To celebrate, I am giving away one of these four great books that showcase some of Barefoot's favourite female characters. Simply follow the rafflecopter instructions below and you could win one of these great books ( let me know your book choice in the comments).

Emily's Tiger

Watch out! Emily is off and running again! This little girl has a problem with her temper, and every time she gets angry she turns into quite the little tiger. This quirky picture book addresses behavioural issues with humour and an emphasis on intergenerational relationships.

The Girl With A Brave heart

Shiraz, a kindhearted young girl growing up in Tehran, has a miserable life at home with her stepmother and stepsister, who treat her like a servant. When the wind blows Shiraz’s ball of wool into the garden next door, she spends the day helping and caring for the old lady who lives there, with miraculous results. Then her stepmother sends her own daughter off on the same mission . . . but will the results be the same?

Lola's Fandango

Lola is a young Spanish girl in awe of her glamorous older sister. However, she discovers her own talent and duende, or spirit, through secret fandango lessons from her father. The text is infused with the rhythms, movements and sounds of the dance and the humanity of Lola’s family is beautifully portrayed by Micha Archer’s collage-paintings. 

Ruby's Sleepover

Ruby and Mai are camping out in the garden. As the night draws in, all sorts of scary characters head towards their tent. Luckily, Ruby has some magical objects in her rucksack, but will they be enough to keep the girls safe?

If you are unsuccessful and would like to buy any of these books, click here to get 20% off 

Good luck with your entry!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Our World Book Day picks

I have had a lovely day, browsing through lots of books in my favourite bookshop in Liverpool, News From Nowhere, and spending lots of money on a few that caught me eye. It has been great to see so much focus on books today and it has been fun to see and hear about little ones dressing up as their favourite book character. Admittedly I am a huge book geek so hearing other people book stories is a pleasure. Lots of people have been telling us about their families current favourite reads, so I thought I would share our current favourites, in pictures.

Fortune Favours the Brave

To celebrate the launch of our fabulous new book, The Girl with a Brave Heart we have a fantastic giveaway for new ambassadors. Our Fortune favours the brave giveaway allows all new ambassadors that join in March to be in with a chance of winning a first edition of ' The Girl with a Brave Heart ' along with 6 of our other ' brave ' books.

So why not make March your month to be brave, be bold and step into the wonderful world of barefoot Books. You will receive a starter kit filled with our bestselling products and lots if great sales tools., AND you will have the chance to be part of a fun community of engaged, like minded people! If you do take the leap into becoming an ambassador then I would love for you to join my team and receive 121 support in helping kickstart your business.

If becoming an ambassador is not for you but you would love to get your hands on our ' Brave ' collection, then take advantage of our 20% sale plus, if you are new to Barefoot use the one time code if TWENTY13 at the checkout to get a further 20% off.

For those excited to read ' The Girl with a Brave Heart ' I will be posting a review in the next couple of days with a competition for you to win your own first edition copy. Watch this space!

Fairtrade kids

We are in the middle of Fairtrade fornight, a celebration of all things fairtrade to spread awareness of how we can help farmers and local producers all over the world. You can Join the March and do your bit to support the developing word in achieving better prices, decent working condition, local sustainability and fair terms of trade. When it comes to cooking and eating, we can support by buying Fairtrade products such as tea, coffee, sugar and vanilla in our weekly shopping trips. When it comes to clothes and toys, it can be a little more difficult and often a little more expensive but those few extra pennies, when we have them, can make such a huge difference. Here are some of my picks of how we can add a bit of Fairtrade goodness to our little ones lives.

Green Bib Little Green Radicals
Cotton bear Shared Earth
Hackney Cab T shirt by Piccalilly at Babi Pur
Sun Child Runaway dress by Bread and Jam at skin and bliss
Cowboy wigwam by Win Green at Ronibobs
Baby bottom butter from Ethical Babe

March book of the month

As regular readers know, I am an ambassador for Barefoot Books . Barefoot have lots of amazing books for children and I will be highlighting one as book of the month, that I think you and your little ones would love. Once again I was spoilt for choice this month, especially as we have launched our gorgeous new book ' The girl with a brave heart ' : a book about a young girl having the strength to overcome a lot of difficulties in her life. I will write up a review of the book for you all to read in the next few days as I have decided to go with a book more in tune with the season, ' The Beeman '. This book is ideal for spring and summer and could even be a great gift for your little one this Easter. I chose  ' The Beeman ' as I have picked a copy up again this week when once of my team members told me she was making the recipe, featured in the book, for  Grandma's honey apple muffins to help celebrate Fairtrade Fortnight.

In this beautifully illustrated book, you will find out where honey comes from as Grandpa the Beeman teaches the basics of beekeeping to his young grandson. This rhyming story includes endnotes full of essential facts about bees, beekeeping, honey and the vital part that bees play in the natural world. To enhance your storytelling, we also have a gorgeous bee hand puppet that I am sure will bring a lot of fun to you all!


Like the look of this ? Take a further look at Barefoot Books and get 20% off your first order using the code TWENTY13 at checkout, including all our weekly dazzling deals and sale items.