I’ve become a big fan of Barefoot Books for several reasons. First, I love that the variety of topics their books cover: from world cultures to monsters & magicians. Then, I love how they have a growing selection of books in Spanish and French. You might remember I wrote about their Bilingual Bear series at the beginning of the year.
Navegamos a Galápagos: una semana en el Pacífico by Laurie Krebs falls under their category of travel and adventure. As soon as I saw that the translation to Spanish was made by Yanitzia Canetti, I knew it would be flawless. Beside teaching my kids about geography, traveling and nature, I love that the book incorporates the days of the week to tell the story. Vanessa knows from lunes to jueves already, but she still doesn’t remember the order of the other three.
The illustrations by Grazia Restelli are uniquely vibrant and go perfect with the topic of the book, an exploration of the exotic animals found on the Galapagos Islands: piquero patiazul, focas peleteras, and aves fragatas. At the end of the book, there are additional notes related to the animals, the islands and Charles Darwin.
Laurie has written several other picture books in the category of travel and I’m truly looking forward to checking them out, especially the one about my home country, Perú, entitled Sube y baja por los Andes.
Laurie’s books are also available in English only in both hard cover and paperback editions. You can also experience Barefoot Books through its free digital content in the form of podcasts, digital videos and activities by going here and looking on the left hand side.
1) Where did the idea for your book come from?
My husband and I were lucky enough to travel to the Galapagos Islands. In fact, all my books are about places I have visited. I was teaching first grade at the time and wanted to share the remarkable animals who live on the islands with my students. I chose to use the days of the week as a vehicle for describing the creatures of different islands and as you know, all of my picture books are written in rhyme. It was fun to know your daughter has learned the repetitive verse. Do you know you can sing it, too?
An elementary school teacher for 20 years, Laurie Krebs began her writing career by creating stories for her class. She is drawn to projects that combine her love of children’s literature with her love of travel to unusual places. Her multicultural picture books, written in rhyme with detail and informative end notes, allow children to peek inside a different world.
We have a copy of Navegamos a Galápagos to give away to one lucky winner. To enter this giveaway, please visit Barefoot Books and tell us which book(s) caught your attention and why.
This giveaway ends at midnight EST on Sunday, April. 10, 2010. Entries/Comments that do not follow the submission guidelines will be invalid and automatically deleted. Sorry, just need to keep it fair. Good luck to all!
Abuelita Fue Mercado caught my attention because of the bright colors and it being bilingual!
So many titles at Barefoot Books caught my eye, especially with their organized and easy-to-browse website! As I am a Spanish teacher of elementary-aged children, I am always looking for vivid photographs and pictures in books that will capture my students’ attention (& help me teach the language to my students.) I also tie in cultural themes as well as geography…so “Un Recorrido por la Selva” both in Spanish and in English definitely appealed to me! It would be a beautiful book to share at circle time or in small-group sessions. “Fiesta Femenina” looked awesome too, and could be used with my upper elementary or middle school students. Looks like me voy de compras pronto!
-Fran
I was very impressed by all the books, but the collections in Spanish were wonderful. I liked the De paseo por la selva that comes with a CD, because teaches animals and rhymes
Saludos,
Barefoot has many beautiful books, and the most important that they are multicultural.
Navegamos a Galápagos is one of my favorite books, bacause we’re from Ecuador, and to read a book about our country is priceless. I checked out the book from the library and shared with parents and children. This was a great way to show my culture to families that are from another Spanish-speaking countries.
Thank you from choosing “Navegamos a Galápagos” I will read it again and again!
Maria
Loved the selection of Spanish language books and books about world cultures. Would love to win this book since we found out we were pregnant with Carolina 2 weeks before we visited the Galapagos with my husband’s family. Thanks for great reviews and giveaways!
-Becca
El loro Tico Tango caught my eye.
Love how colorful it is and how it teaches a lesson at the end of the story.
My family has been a fan of Barefoot Books for some time as they have such great books with beautiful illustrations, fun rhymes and diverse stories. On this visit, what caught my eye was the extensive selection of books with singalong and story CD’s. I think that reading the book plus hearing the voices or joining in with the songs is a fun way to learn – and make you wish the car rides were a little longer! Thanks again for such great giveaways – just looking at “Navegamos a Galapagos” makes we want to book a trip right now!
Thanks again for the opportunity to view another great website with great books. I enjoyed many books but especially, Un recorrido por la selva. My son loves bedtime stories especially when we make up adventures through the forrest!
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Wow! I love how colorful the illustrations are in the books. The one that caught my eye is Nos Vamos a Mexico…una aventura bajo el sol. It just seems like a fun book and we are ready to welcome summer her in ID. I would love to take my little girl to Mexico and this might help prepare what we might see in our adventures!
I actually just ran across the book “Abuelita fue al mercado” last week and checked it out from the library. We had a fun time counting and enjoying all the colorful artwork. Because the abuelita goes to mercados all around the world, you could read it again and again, linking to, and talking about new places each time.
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For example, the Great Barrier Reed is a coastal reef ecosystem. What’s the Galapagos Islands and where else can you find similar ecosystems?
I have fun with, result in I discovered just what I used to be having a look for. You have ended my 4 day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye