Recently I received an envelope from Barefoot Press. (I might have cackled, “MINE! MINE! ALL MINE!” I get emotional when my book dealer comes through for me with a fix. And what a fix it was.) There were hardcovers, board books, paperbacks and one of which is an “indestructible paper not board-board books.” I wanted to read then, but decided working probably was more important. I went home, curled up on the couch and started with the board books.
The first was Baby Play (Bilingual Portuguese & English) (Barefoot Bilinguals) by Skye Silver. The cover has a black and white photograph of a child with Down Syndrome. Not unheard of, but yes, unusual. Inside the photographs include a diverse group of children of multiple ages and races and all the wonderfulness of babies and toddlers. We see things that babies do as types of play in simple text that is English and what I thought was Spanish, but turned out to be Portuguese. I was especially excited to see Portuguese used in a book. Not that I can read a word of it, I just liked it wasn’t one of the “Big Three Languages” one tends to see (German, French, Spanish). And it comes in a variety of other languages as well: Chinese, Arabic, Bengali, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, and yes, Spanish and French.
Another board book was Our World: England by Sumana Seeboruth, Sumana and Ella Hobbis. This is a simple story of a young child and their grandparents and the fun things they do living in England. The author and illustrator are English creators and know what fun items to add. It shows that we are all the same, just sometimes we express ourselves differently, such as different snacks and breakfasts or how we travel around town or our city. The images are cute, minimalist, simple and colorful. The publisher is known for doing diverse books, and while England is a country we are probably more familiar with, it is still something we might not know everything about.
Then there is that “paper board book” called, Barefoot Baby-Proof: Baby’s First Words Christiane Engel. They are supposed to be waterproof, tearproof, and biting proof. I personally always wondered how they tasted, as you know a kid is going to put them in the mouth right away. No, I have not tasted them, but I did read it. There are a lot of fun things going on that makes this a simple word book. It shows a diverse case of races and types of people. In fact, we have a same sex couple as the parents. The signature Barefoot colors and style of clever illustrations come out in simple images that show us words that are familiar and maybe not so much.
And last, but not least as the Sumana Seeboruth and Fotini Tikkou board books: Feelings & Firsts: Won’t Go! and Feelings & Firsts: Not Tired! Both are short board books that talk about subjects most parents are familiar with when it comes to their children. Won’t Go! has a young girl not wanting to stop playing to go someplace else. Her two dads finally get her off to the dance studio where she sees everyone is in blue, except her and all the hurdles before, during and afterwards. And with Not Tired! We have a young child who is not ready for bed and wants one more story, to play a little longer and tries all the tricks in the book to stay up longer. The child’s mother is limb different (but like with the other, this is just a fact, it is not mentioned or pushed) allows the child to tire themselves out and support them. Both are very basic text and illustrations that just allow you to concentrate on the point(s) at hand.