Review AND GIVEAWAY: Barefoot Books

Posted by AmyS | 0 comments

We have winners!
Congrats go to: Jennifer (The Prince’s Bedtime) and Liz (The Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories)

The Prince’s Bedtime

In a far away kingdom, a long time ago,
When bedtime drew near, the Prince shouted “No!”

If you are like the millions of parents who have ever had to deal with a feisty little child who does not want to sleep, then you will love this book by Joanne Oppenheim. The story is so imaginative yet I can’t help but wonder how much of the story is rooted in her experiences as a mother of three grown children and the grandmother of seven.

The illustrations by Miriam Latimer are colorful and bright, sure to make a child want to spend extra time on each page reveling in the funny characters and scenery of the castle.

In the story, the King and Queen exhaust themselves of ideas to make their darling Prince fall asleep. Finally the King shouts a royal request, “If anyone knows how to make the Prince rest, please come at once to the royal address!”

Subjects from far and wide, and of all classes and occupations come to the castle sure that they know how to get the Prince to fall asleep. My 6 year old son laughed and laughed as one after another, they all tried and failed. Finally in the end one very special old woman lulls the Prince to sleep and I guarantee that as a homescholling parent you will be delighted with her method!

The Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories

Rachel here to tell you how excited I was to review The Barefoot Book of Ballet Stories! As mom to two preschool princesses/future ballerinas, this book was a perfect fit for us! What I love the MOST is that it truly can grow with your child. Confidently, I can share with you my opinion for the preschool set, as this is my experience, but I cannot imagine any girl who would not fall in love with this book!

My daughters, at the ages of two and three, immediately fell in love with the beautiful artwork. So did I! The cover greets you with a lovely ballerina surrounded by delicate pink roses, posing in front of a castle that is the picture of every fairy tale you have ever read. The pages inside are full of both half-page and full-page photos that are simply breathtaking in detail, color, movement and design. We also loved the lyrical tone of the stories themselves, written by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple. They serve as perfect read aloud choices for this age group and above.

The ballets highlighted in this anthology are: Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty; Delibes’ Coppelia; Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and The Nutcracker; Prokofiev’s Cinderella; Pickard’s Shim Chung; and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe. By compiling all of these stories into one collection, not only does your child get exposure to some of the most famous ballets in history, but it also provides plenty of fodder for some sneak attack educational opportunities!

As the book jacket promises, the volume comes complete with a brief history (including a timeline) of classical ballet and historical details concerning each dance’s composition, choreography and early performances. There is your History right there! It can also be a springboard for Geography lessons as several of the ballets are set in different countries (Poland, Russia, Korea, and Ancient Greece). Art appreciation and picture study is obvious with the illustrations by the gifted Rebecca Guay providing opportunities for discussing art, composition and detail. And Music appreciation and composer study, as well as exposure to the art of Dance, is a given. See, a complete Unit Study! Six enthusiastic thumbs up from our home!

We feel very blessed to present you with these 2 reviews of books from the award winning publisher Barefoot Books. I have never seen a book from Barefoot Books that I did not instantly fall in love with. Please visit their website and take a look around, or better yet, visit this link and request one of their catalogs . Be sure to tell them that we sent you. They have generously donated a copy of both The Prince’s Bedtime and The Book of Ballet Stories for us to give away to our readers. To enter the giveaway, simple leave us a comment and tell us something special about your Prince(s) or Princess(es). Also, let us know which book you would prefer to win. If you can’t decide, just say both.

Comments will be closed Friday, June 6th at 10pm EST and the winner will be announced on Sunday in our new weekly newsletter. So please go subscribe!

As always please make sure you leave your email address or that it is listed on your profile or blog. If we can’t email you, you can’t win.