This is how our Barefoot journey began…

I started trading books on Trademe to help supplement my family’s income. I started with selling the books that I have accumulated over the years and it wasn’t long before ran out of books to sell. So I started sourcing the internet for books to sell. That is when I came across Barefoot Books…

The first book I clicked on was called Fabrics of Fairy tales. I was very impressed with the beautiful illustrations. I wondered if all their books are like that and they are! Some of the books have very colourful pictures and they even have singalong books which are hard to here. I then started researching about the company and could totally relate to their vision and core values.

Imagine: encourage children to make time for make-believe, let their imaginations run wild and free, while never forgetting that childhood is a time for fun.

Explore: explore other cultures, our planet, and themselves, providing them with ways to follow their imaginations on extraordinary journeys.

Create: nourish the creative spark in children, helping them to create something they can be proud of.

Connect: child and parent connecting over a book; a child connecting to the universal wisdom of other cultures; or a broad network of people connecting through shared values and the desire to help children become happy, engaged members of a global community.

Give Back: support organizations that share our goals of global understanding, empowering children through art and story, and protecting and preserving the earth for future generations.

These are Barefoot Books core values and these are the values which I would like my children to grow up with.

I tried to find out if there are any Barefoot Books in NZ. There are some listed on The Nile and Seekbooks but they seemed so pricey (not the sort of prices I would pay for a children’s book!). I thought they might be available in Whitcoulls or Borders but to my dismay, I couldn’t find any of the books on their shelves. That is when I decided I would like to bring Barefoot Books into NZ and to share them with mothers who shares similar values.

I got in touch with the Barefoot Books US office (they do not have an office in Asia Pacific) to let them know of my intentions. With their support, I was able to join their Ambassador programme and sell the books in NZ. I am proud to be the first Barefoot Books Ambassador in New Zealand.

Being the only Ambassador from our part of the world poses a number of challenges. Firstly, they do not ship the books outside of the US or UK. Next, is the delivery times. Through lots of trial and error, I overcame these challenges. Now, I’m the proud owner of Barefoot Books New Zealand and have a website of my own at http://www.barefootbooks.co.nz.

In 2017, I took a break from Barefoot Books to focus on our growing family. As the children are a little older now, I decided to reignite my passion in 2021 and continue to share Barefoot values. I picked a new domain name http://www.barefootkids.co.nz as recognition that our kids have been living and growing with the Barefoot values. Come join us on our new website as we will be featuring some of our children’s works on our site.