Buy the book with music/video CD.

On an article entitled “Celeb Kids’ Favorite Books” at Babble.com, four celebrity moms listed Barefoot Book titles as books their children love. The titles mentioned :

I Took the Moon for a Walk and Three Billy Goats Gruff – Halle Berry

Mama Panya’s Pancakes – Mary-Louise Parker

Bear in Sunshine – Jennifer Gardner

Herb the Vegetarian Dragon – Debra Messing

Watch the video again or buy the book with video CD.

A story collection of Islamic fables was just released by publisher Barefoot Books. The legendary character Mulla Nasruddin is the central focus of the book. The short stories told in this book tell tales retold for centuries with apparent, yet unstated, morals.

This book is suggested for ages 6 and older, and would be an excellent addition to any home. It would also be an asset to any elementary school library or classroom. These tales are a great way to incorporate Islamic culture in a fun and interesting way.

The book is full of inviting and colorful artwork.  And with twenty two stories included, you are sure to find a story to tell for any occasion.

Click for more on The Wise Fool
Retails Price: $19.99 (Hardcover)
Written by: Shahrukh Husain
Illustrated by: Micha Archer
ISBN: 978-1-84686-226-7
Page count: 64 pages

With schools back in session after the summer break, you’ve probably met your children’s teachers recently.  It was probably just in passing at an open house.  You spent mere minutes talking to her, mostly about the school year coming up.  Now as we’re entering the Christmas season, you are tasked with picking a Christmas present for your child’s teacher.
What does she like?  What quirks does she have?  The answer is probably “I don’t have a clue!”  And while you want to show your child’s teacher appreciation with a gift, you definitely don’t want to buy her something she’ll trash.  So what do you do?

Give Your Teacher a Classroom Gift

A classroom gift is one that a teacher can incorporate into her class.  It doesn’t matter whether she works her lesson plan around it.  What does matter is that it is useful and age appropriate!  Ask yourself if it is right for your child at the stage of development he or she is in.  If it’s too difficult or too easy, it’s probably not the best pick.

Books Are Fantastic Gifts for Teachers

All teachers love books, and all teachers (except maybe gym teachers) have books in their rooms.  They can be used in many different ways.  They can act as a discovery station, a story to be read with the class, or a book for independent reading like in a D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) program.  They also come in many different price ranges, so you can easily stay within your budget while still buying a quality present.

Barefoot Books make great teachers gifts.  Many teachers incorporate the beautiful, multicultural books into their lesson plans and one school district I’ve talked to built a summer program around their titles.  They come in a wide variety of prices with many under $10.  Can’t make a decision?  You can always give a gift card!

GreatBooks4Children.com is proud to sponsor a cash giveaway promotion in conjunction with MommyPerks.com Mommy Perks is a great community made up of small business owners who offer great discounts on things that are of interest to moms! When you sign up for their monthly e-newsletter, you’ll be entered to win one of six $100 cash prizes. Enter here.

Best bets include : Animal Boogie (Paperback with CD) for $4.49, Driving My Tractor (Paperback with CD) for $4.49, Dotty Spotty Doddle for $3.99, and Cleo’s Counting Book (Paperback or Board Book) for $3.99. These are the best prices I’ve ever seen for these titles.

This video is amazing! I’d love to stay here. Even if you don’t like yurts (impossible as that sounds), Starlight Sailor is read in its entirety during this video making it a must watch. A beautiful tribute to a beautiful book.

Buy Starlight Sailor – until Aug 15, 2011 on sale for only $12.99 in hardback form.

Toddlers and preschoolers love the Bear series of books.  My boy especially loves “Bear in a Square” and I can’t wait for him to receive “Bear’s Birthday” on his third birthday in August.  When you have such a beloved literary character as Bear, it’s great to find enrichment activities to further your child’s fun.  This is a great easy recipe that you and even your youngest children can have fun doing together.  You could also use this for a Winnie the Pooh or Goldilocks and the Three Bears activity!

A child’s worldview is shaped largely by their parents.  The exposure to different cultures through books, TV, music and travel will determine their feelings towards people and places they would not normally encounter in their daily routine. A lot of parents take this responsibility quite seriously, and do everything possible to raise their children to be good “global citizens”.

What Does it Mean to be a Global Citizen?

While the term “world citizen” or “global citizen” is often associated with the socio-political movement eradicating poverty and violence as well as environmental stewardship, but with a child there would be a more basic definition.  In order to be a global citizen, a child needs to know about other cultures.  Through exposure and understanding, a child can develop empathy towards different cultures as well as simple awareness about their differences.  As they get older and are capable of more complex thinking, seeing and understanding other culture’s point of view will be possible.  The idea of being “cosmopolitan” (a citizen of the world) is not a new one, and can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans.

The differences between people need not act as barriers that wound, harm and drive us apart.  Rather, these very differences among cultures and civiliazations should be valued as manifestations of the richness of our shared creativity.  – Buddhist Philospopher Daisaku Ikeda

Building a Multi-Cultural Library

One of the easiest ways to expose your children to other cultures is through literature.  Fill your child’s library with multicultural books full of vibrant artwork!  Not only can you give them books set in other cultures, you can also bring them traditional tales from different parts of the world.  Adding books in other languages will also help expand their knowledge.

Several great choices : The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales,  African Animals ABCs,  El Mundo (Spanish Language)

Play World Music

Kids love music!  Playing music of other cultures can be a fun way to expose your kids to other cultures.  Whether you play it as background music throughout the day, as lullabies at night, or dance till you drop to it – your kids are sure to thank you.

Several great choices : World Playground CD,  Kid’s World Party CD,  African Playground CD,  Caribbean Playground CD

Celebrate Holidays

Everyone likes to party, so why not take the opportunity to do so as often as possible?  By celebrating holidays from around the world you can open up discussions about history, religion, tradition… and have lots of fun!

A great choice : A Calendar of Festivals

Theme Nights

Pick a country or culture and go nuts.  Have your child help you pick a recipe from that area and help you make it.  Listen to music from that culture.  Maybe you can even find an appropriate movie from that country on Netflix.  Use a small vocabulary from the language in your dinner discussions.  The possibilities are endless.

A great resource : Theme Recipes on AllRecipes.com

Parental Resources on Raising Your Child as a Global Citizen

Growing Up Global: Raising Children to Be At Home in the World is a great book that aids parents who want to raise their children to be true global citizens.

The author helped compile a great free resource for summer enrichment which you can find here (pdf).  Libraries across the US have teamed up to present the One World, Many Stories theme this year, and this resource helps further this theme.