Shakespeare’s Storybook tells the tales that were likely the precursors to the stories of his plays.  As is commonly known, Shakespeare did not ‘invent’ the stories of his plays — they often came from various sources which Shakespeare then ‘played’ with in order to create his own version of the story suitable for the stage.

I launched into a reading of Shakespeare’s Storybook as soon as I got it, and played the CD of the first story “The Devil’s Bet”  to my daughter.  She was immediately hooked.  And why shouldn’t she be?  The first story — the precursor to The Taming of the Shrew — was about a nasty girl named Nora who through an encounter with a gentle but spirited husband and through her own wits, manages to reform herself and rid her household of the Nicky Nicky Nye, a pestilent water devil.   Although my daughter condemned Nora’s nastiness, she did perceive rather sagely that the husband, Jamie, was effectively ‘training’ Nora to be a better woman.  Nothing like a wayward character to get a child interested in a story, that’s for sure!

Equally compelling were some of the other stories like “Ashboy” (Hamlet) and “The Hill of Roses” (Romeo and Juliet.)   My daughter, whose first Shakespeare play was Twelfth Night, was a little disappointed that the story behind that play wasn’t in the book, but she did enjoy the others.  We had an entertaining few bedtime nights of listening to the CDs and going through the book together.  If you enjoy Shakespeare, I’d certainly recommend this book  as an engaging introduction to the master playwright’s work.

And no wonder! From the first story from Senegal about “The Midwife and the Djinn” we are captivated. In fact, when we listened to the story recently, Little Brother was in stitches of laughter, anticipating the next stage of the story while disbelieving that it could possibly be so. We were listening to Olympia Dukakis reading on one of the two accompanying CDs. I have to say, at first I thought it was going to be a terribly labored narration, she begins so slowly – but in fact, it was perfect: as the pace of the story picked up, so did the reading; and I realised that if she hadn’t read it slowly at the beginning, she wouldn’t have been able to get the words out by the end!

The other stories are just as engaging – “The Old Woman Who Was Not Afraid” introduces us to the grotesque and greedy little Onis from Japan; there is a cross between Baba Yaga and the well-known “Hansel and Gretel” from Russia (“Grandmother’s Basket”); the beautiful Hawaiian legend of old Heena, “The Woman in the Moon”; the bewitching story of La Bruha, “The Beautiful Crone of Córdoba” in Mexico; an Irish Wise Woman who helps a widow and her daughter get a band of “small spirit people” out of their house; the magical Mother Holle from Germany; and “The Old Woman Who Was right” from Sweden.

All the stories have that timeless quality of the traditional story that is sure to make them popular for being read and listened to again and again – and they have the added appeal of resonating with stories from other cultures too. Mutén’s retellings here hold firm to their oral origins, which makes them such a joy to share.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got involved with Barefoot Books?

I’m a wife, mother, sister and friend. I grew up in Europe in the Czech Republic but have called Vancouver, BC home for the past 10 years.

I first learned about Barefoot Books after reading an article in Mothering magazine about mothers working from home. One of the women featured there was an independent ambassador for Barefoot Books. I was excited to find how beautifully illustrated the books are, that they are inspired by stories from around the world. I loved that they aim to offer what I think is essential in life – enthusiasm for reading, creativity and discovery.

What kind of reaction do people have to Barefoot Books?

The reaction I am receiving has been truly amazing. Parents and educators alike love the multicultural concept of the books. People are attracted to how colourful and beautifully illustrated the books are.

Our current issue of PaperTigers focuses on “How Children Play Around the World”. Can you suggest any Barefoot titles that relate to this topic?

The first book that comes to my mind is a fun sing-along If You’re Happy and You Know It. Barefoot Books have published the traditional song with a multicultural twist. Children from cultures all over the world are featured clapping their hands, stomping their feet, patting their heads, and saying “Hello” in their mother tongue.

Another favourite is the title We All Went on Safari. A counting journey through Tanzania, it is an eye-catching story about Swahili children discovering African animals on a safari through the grasslands of Tanzania. It is also educational – at the end, the book teaches children a few words in Swahili, and facts about Tanzania and the Maasai people.

The book Little Leap Forward is a touching story about a young boy growing up in Beijing in 1966.  Anecdotes about him and his friends flying kites by the river and many other adventures describe how children played during the Cultural Revolution.

(Editor note: Little Leap Forward was chosen as one of the seven books to be included in our Spirit of PaperTigers Project.)

What is your favourite Barefoot book?

My personal favourite is The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems – a breathtaking collection of seventy-four poems. The poems are collected in a way that celebrates all manner of human experience on the journey of life from birth to death. The book is beautifully illustrated by Jackie Morris and it is a title many people cherish and share with children of all ages.

What are your best sellers right now?

My bestseller titles change throughout the year and also depend on the events I attend. This spring The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales has been favoured by the older children as it includes activities accompanying multicultural tales about the planet Earth.

How can people contact you if they would like to purchase books or have you attend an event?

I can be contacted by phone 604-506-8447 and by email info(at)mybarefootchild(dot)com. You can shop online at My Barefoot Books Marketplace.

Much has been written already about SPT book choice Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing by Guo Yue and Clare Farrow  (Barefoot Books, 2008) in PaperTigers, but one more post won’t hurt, I’m sure!  This book was selected as an SPT book because it told a good story and was beautifully illustrated.  Little Leap Forward, the boy in the story, lives in Beijing in 1966.  He captures a songbird, but it does not sing.  Why?  Set as the story is at the advent of the Cultural Revolution; the caged bird becomes a metaphor for the larger scene about to unfold.   The story is powerfully and simply told.  I found myself near tears, reading at the end, at how Little Leap’s life was mirrored in the biography of one of its writers, Guo Yue.   The story also made the ‘leap,’ as it were, to the stage as well in a theatre production in the UK which PT contributor, Marjorie wrote about in this post. 

Little Leap Forward is an illustrated novel and is for middle readers.  It made an interesting counterpoint to the other selected SPT title, Grace Lin’s Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, a story about a spirited young Chinese girl and her adventures in a mythical and magical ancient China.  Although China is loosely the connection between these two books, they are as different as — well, apples and oranges!  Both, however, are ripping good reads and are also gorgeously produced.  Do check them out if you have a chance.

Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing has been selected for the 2010 Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set. A wealth of information about the book can be found here on our PaperTigers main website.

Tessa Strickland, Barefoot Books’ co-founder and editor-in-chief, answered our questions about Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing, one of the seven books selected for inclusion in our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Set Donation Project, and about other topics related to the company and to multicultural children’s literature.

Q&A

PT: How did Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing come about as a project for Barefoot Books?

TS: This project came about in quite a circuitous way. First, I was contacted by Clare Farrow, who wanted to know if I was interested in having her retell any traditional Chinese tales. In the course of our conversation, I learnt that she and her husband, Guo Yue, had just completed a manuscript about his life, Music, Food and Love. It so happened that this telephone conversation came about just as I was starting to cast around for stories for older readers, and I was fascinated by what Clare told me about Yue’s childhood in Beijing. So, I asked to read a copy of the manuscript.

PT: When you acquired the manuscript, did you know from the get go that you would publish it as an illustrated middle grade book, or was the decision regarding full plate illustrations made later in the process?

TS: When I read Music, Food and Love (Piatkus, 2006), I thought that the best way to tell Yue’s story to children would be to focus on the summer of 1966. The manuscript went through about four drafts and was a close collaboration between Yue and Clare, me, and an excellent editor, Anne Finnis. The decision to make full-plate illustrations was made once we had a manuscript that everyone was happy with.

PT: What can you tell us about the pairing of Guo Yue and Clare Farrow’s text with Helen Cann‘s art?

TS: We have done a number of books with Helen Cann; I knew that she would be a delight to work with. Not only is she very talented, she is also extremely interested in developing her own style and in working
collaboratively. She had some very fruitful meetings and discussions with Clare and Yue, who were both extremely happy with her illustrations.

PT: How do you think the public’s attitude toward multicultural books for children has changed since Barefoot Books was founded, in 1992? Are there any major differences between the US and the UK markets in that regard?

TS: As Barefoot has always focused on multicultural books, it is hard to say with very much claim to objectivity how the public attitude has changed. That said, there was a significant surge in demand after 9/11. Also, before we set up our own business in the US, we used to go on selling trips (this was in the 1990s) to New York and Boston, and it was quite surprising how ‘multicultural’ to the publishers we visited seemed to equal ‘African-American and Hispanic’ and not much beyond that. The challenge for a publisher with a multicultural focus, I think, is the same as that facing a publisher with any work of fiction: how to find a writer and an illustrator with a disctinctive voice, and with the ability to show their world to a reader/many readers from other worlds so well that a bridge is crossed, a new understanding offered.

PT:What would you say is the most challenging aspect of being an independent publisher of children’s books these days?

TS: Ah, they are too many to count! BUT, one of the great things about being independent in the digital world is that it offers us a way of reaching our customers far more effectively than we could when we were dependent on the traditional supply chain. We have always enjoyed robust support from the institutional market, but been regarded as too niche by high street chains. It is not insignificant that our fastest-growing account is Amazon; the beauty of the internet is that it gives customers a chance to find their way to content beyond the standard character-driven mass market offer. And we have great faith in the fact that there are other parents and teachers out there, just like us, who want to introduce their children to different traditions and cultures; to question and reflect; to imagine what it would be like if…

PT: As of a few years ago, Barefoot books can no longer be found in chain bookstores. How did this reality come about, and what has the impact of adopting a more grassroots approach to sales/distribution been on the business?

TS: We did not fare well with chain stores in the US for the reasons I have outlined above; our focus is on growing a grass-roots community with like-minded business partners and through our Ambassador Programme. This feels much more authentic, somehow; we struggled to get exposure through the chains, and we also struggled with a model that seemed to lack nuance—a scale-out in Borders, for instance, meant the same quantity of books going everywhere across the nation, with no attention to the varying demographics. One size doesn’t fit all, in our view.

PT: What are some of your bestselling titles?

TS: Internationally, Niamh Sharkey’s wonderful picture book The Giant Turnip has been and continues to be a star. So does Debbie Harter’s The Animal Boogie. Of our more explicitly multicultural books, Mama Panya’s Pancakes is exceptional and is a top seller on Amazon too – don’t ask me
why! We don’t publish for quick results, so while we are delighted when books get off to a roaring start, our focus is on content that will stand the test of time and do better year by year.

PT: What are your hopes for the future of Barefoot Books?

TS: After a year which has been devoted to revising our online offer and rebuilding our website, we are confident that we have laid the foundations for a business model which has the potential to grow
exponentially. In the medium term, we hope to exploit the potential for growth through social media and through an offer which enables anyone who likes what we do to sign up, and to buy and sell Barefoot at
attractive discounts, with no strings attached and no start-up costs. In the long term, our hope is that we will become a household name and a destination for anyone who is looking for high-quality art and story for the children in their lives.

PT: Anything else you’d like to add?

TS: We can only do what we do because we have a fabulous, incredibly hard-working and highly motivated team in-house and because we are lucky enough to have tremendous support from a diverse and exciting range of people in the wider world – thank you, everyone!

…

Many thanks, Tessa, for taking the time to answer our questions. We are very grateful to Barefoot Books for donating copies of Little Leap Forward in support of our Spirit of PaperTigers project. We wish you and Barefoot Books continued success!

To find out more about Barefoot Books and to take a peek inside its “creative cauldron”, visit the website. The site also offers a number of inspiring videos related to the company’s activities that are well-worth watching! And please note: you can also follow Barefoot Books on Facebook and Twitter.

A powerful combination of masked actors, puppets and shadow-box/animation, not to mention an atmospheric score and cleverly versatile set, the story is told “only” through mime. We followed Little Leap Forward’s dawning awareness of the importance of freedom, both through the political events unfolding around him and through his love for a songbird captured for him by his best friend. No matter how much Little Leap Forward coaxes and bribes with seeds, the bird cannot sing from within the confines of a cage. A “scary” dream sequence that had Little Brother on the edge of his seat alerts Little Leap Forward to what he has to do and he sets the bird free.

I have to say that this particular performance will be looked back on by us – and probably by the cast – with very mixed feelings. There was a group of children in the audience from a local School for the Deaf, who were entranced – picking up enough of the vibrations of the music to get a feel for it, and able to particpate fully in the action on stage. Wonderful. However, the first three rows were taken up by a youth-group outing and it very soon became evident that the children did not know how to behave in a public, live performance. All the more credit to the production, then, that in the scene when Red Guards arrest Little Leap Forward’s mother (an event related in Guo Yue and Clare Farrow’s book for adults, Music, Food and Love), there was not a sound from the auditorium.

Afterwards, the four actors/puppeteers gave a short talk to these children (which we gate-crashed!) and again, they captivated their audience. I couldn’t help thinking what a pity it was that the children had obviously not had any sort of introduction to what they were going to see… I wonder how many would have liked to turn the clock back and engage with it more fully, once they’d had a chance to find out a bit more about it?

Little Leap Forward is on tour in England until 17 July – for further details, look here. In the meantime, watch this short video

and read the production blog. If you haven’t come across the book yet, watch this very moving introduction, narrated by Yue and featuring his magical flute-playing; and read our review, here on PaperTigers.

Little Leap Forward was definitely a production not to be missed: a big thank you to Nicky Fearn, Frances Merriman, Jonny Quick and Mark Whitaker, the faces behind the masks; and to Gemma Bonham of The Carriageworks, for an empathetic discussion afterwards.

* Photograph credit: Ian Tilton

Don’t ask me to do what I can’t do
Only ask me to do what I can
Don’t ask me to be what I can’t be
Only ask me to be what I am

The accompanying illustration of a fed-up looking girl in overalls with a pencil in one hand and a sheet of paper in the other is very fitting!  In reading this book to my daughter, we were able to explore terrains of emotion that were new and sometimes surprising.  Poems, for example, about broken friendships and about a girl who tells her granny “you’ll have to be dying soon” were arresting and provocative.  Such poems engage the reader and require a response, and that is what good poetry should do for parent and child alike.  Compiler Nicholl understands this notion deeply and brings her experience as a poet, parent and grandparent to bear on her lively selections.

Someone I Like is published by an innovative press called Barefoot Books.  Their vision is to produce books that “celebrate the world’s diversity, encourage children’s independent spirits, and build their enthusiasm for reading, creativity and discovery.”  Someone I Like certainly fulfills that vision!

Poetry Friday this week is hosted by Anastasia Suen’s Picture Book of the Day.

Children are asked to submit a video of no more than 10 minutes, performing a story from the oral tradition – folk tales, fairy tales, urban legends or family stories; no script but “Musical instruments may be featured”.

Barefoot’s Editor-in-Chief Tessa Strickland comments:

The ability to tell a story is at the heart of culture – where would we be without it? By committing a story to memory and passing it on, the teller keeps alive a tradition that is thousands of years old. For young people, storytelling develops self-confidence, memory, imagination and speech. We are delighted to be offering a competition which enables youngsters from any background to share a story that they love and, in doing so, to develop skills that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives.

Fantastic prizes too: storytelling workshops, a first-prize of a week-end in New York; and a library of Barefoot books for a lucky school…

For details, check out the website.