“The standard for excellence in children’s books” — Forbes
Hello and welcome!
We’ve come a long way since we started our small home-based business in England in 1992. Since the beginning, we’ve wanted to create visually captivating books that celebrate diversity, spark curiosity and capture children’s imaginations.
Now, over 30 years and 35 million books in the hands of children around the globe later, we still recognize the urgent need for quality children's books that act as windows and mirrors to our world. At a time when voices for justice are being challenged, we believe in the power books have to make a difference, and that making better books will create a brighter world.
We invite you to browse our store, learn more about our Barefoot Journey and read our Manifesto about what it means to "live Barefoot."
Explore our America 250 collection with books that challenge children to engage with American history and think about how far we’ve come, but also how far we still have to go.
Thank you for supporting this women-founded, independent publisher. We hope you find power and hope in these books for a better world.
Warm wishes,
Nancy Traversy CEO & Co-Founder |
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Our Barefoot Manifesto
Our Barefoot Journey
1992As two young mothers, Nancy Traversy and Tessa Strickland start Barefoot Books from their homes in the UK. |
2000We introduce our grassroots business opportunity to empower other women entrepreneurs and connect with our community. |
2007Barefoot Books lands on the Inc. 5000 List of America’s fastest-growing companies! |
2012Barefoot Books wins the IPG Diversity in Publishing award for |
2016Children of the World is published and wins 4 awards, including the Nautilus GOLD Award! |
2019In partnership with Books for Africa, we shipped 300K books to HIV / AIDS orphans and their caregivers in Mozambique. |
2021We started the next chapter of our Barefoot story in our colorful new home in the Bradford Mill community in Concord, MA. |
2023Our commitment to Global Literacy is at the forefront of our efforts with new major deals with Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, Books for Africa and the Diverse Books for All Coalition to bring hundreds of thousands of books to children in underserved communities around the world. |
TODAYOver thirty years, and more than 1500 books later, we've stayed true to our founding mission and commitment to diversity, inclusion and representation, creating better books for a brighter world. |
1998We cross the Atlantic to expand our business in the US and open Barefoot’s first office in Brooklyn, NY. |
2001We bring our books to life in our first retail location in Cambridge, MA and go on to open two more community in Concord, MA and Oxford, UK. |
2008World-renowned, iconic toy brand, FAO Schwarz, chooses Barefoot to be the exclusive children’s book partner for its flagship NYC store. |
2013With 4 million downloads, our Barefoot World Atlas app is picked by Apple as one of the top 10 best apps in App Store history. |
2017Forbes names us to its prestigious Small Giants list, us as one of the 25 Best Small Companies in America! |
2020In partnership with BookTrust we deliver 600k copies of Baby Play to newborn babies in England and Wales. |
2022We partner with family owned Books4School to get 1 million books in 20 languages into children's hands! |
2024We launch Barefoot Bilinguals to meet the growing need for books in global languages and Baby Proofs, a new format of our vibrant books that are chewable, washable and bendable and created to meet a baby's developmental needs. Our commitment to lasting literacy partnerships and book access is stronger than ever. |
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