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The Barefoot Mission


“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.

This year, as we celebrate our 30th anniversary, it's fitting that the overarching theme of our product offer is kindness. On a small scale, kindness can be towards oneself, nurturing positive identity development. Kindness can also ripple out to larger and larger spheres — to the development of global awareness and taking a stand for our planet. Our mission guides our publishing decisions more than ever, as we are committed to opening children’s hearts, minds and worlds so that they can embody kindness in all its forms.

We invite you to browse our store, learn more about our Barefoot Journey and read our Manifesto about what it means to "live Barefoot."

Thank you for supporting this women-founded, independent publisher as we strive to inspire a cascade of kindness so magnificent...that it can change the world.

Warm wishes,


Nancy Traversy
CEO & Co-Founder



Our Barefoot Manifesto

The Barefoot Manifesto



Our Barefoot Journey

1992

As two young mothers, Nancy Traversy and Tessa Strickland start Barefoot Books from their homes in the UK.


2000

We introduce our grassroots business opportunity to empower other women entrepreneurs and connect with our community.


2007

Barefoot Books lands on the Inc. 5000 List of America’s fastest-growing companies!


2012

Barefoot Books wins the IPG Diversity in Publishing award for “sustained commitment to cultural and ecological diversity.”'sustained commitment to cultural and ecological diversity'.


2016

Children of the World is published and wins 4 awards, including the Nautilus GOLD Award!


2019

In partnership with Books for Africa, we shipped 300K books to HIV / AIDS orphans and their caregivers in Mozambique.


2021

We started the next chapter of our Barefoot story in our colorful new home in the Bradford Mill community in Concord, MA.


2023

Our 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.

 
 

1998

We cross the Atlantic to expand our business in the US and open Barefoot’s first office in Brooklyn, NY.


2001

We bring our books to life in our first retail location in Cambridge, MA and go on to open two more community centerscentres in Concord, MA and Oxford, UK.


2008

World-renowned, iconic toy brand, FAO Schwarz, chooses Barefoot to be the exclusive children’s book partner for its flagship NYC store.


2013

With 4 million downloads, our Barefoot World Atlas app is picked by Apple as one of the top 10 best apps in App Store history.


2017

Forbes names us to its prestigious Small Giants list, honoringhonouring us as one of the 25 Best Small Companies in America!


2020

In partnership with BookTrust we deliver 600k copies of Baby Play to newborn babies in England and Wales.


2022

We partner with family owned Books4School to get 1 million books in 20 languages into children's hands!


TODAY

Thirty years, and more than 1000 books later, we’ve stayed true to our founding mission and our 3-decade-long commitment to diversity, inclusion and representation, creating books that open children's hearts, minds and worlds.



As Seen In

Forbes
Publishers Weekly
The Boston Globe
The Huffington Post
The Wall Street Journal