Faces of Tomorrow / Faces of Time

Remember the "Roots of Empathy" program I participated in with my son?  I wrote several blog posts chronicling that journey.  Though there was a classroom full of unpredictable kindergarteners, it was worth every moment.  The founder, Mary Gordon (or at least someone working for her), sent me a book.  We all know how much I love books.  Couriered to my home, they sent me, Faces of Time, a photo book of babies!  I love babies.  Mary Gordon's daughter, Melanie, is the photographer.  Baby faces!  

Faces of Time is the second in a series.  The first book, Faces of Tomorrow , is a collection of baby faces, from various cultures, in various expressions.  That one was given to me way back in October when I first signed up for the program.  Faces of Time features Canadian Aboriginal babies, First Nations, Métis and Inuit.  I didn't even realize the babies were aboriginal until I read the "thank you" letter that came with the book.  Honestly, these babies remind me of mine.

I am trying to find these books online!!!!  

Babies love faces.  It's something I learned with my first child.  Faces are full of expression and contrast.  That's why babies are always grabbing at your face, it's just so interesting!

Okay.  So, I'm expressing how cute these books are.  They're simple and nice.  I can't find them at a single retailer.  You can order Faces of Tomorrow through the Roots of Empathy website, but that's it!  Why?  Why are the Gordons making it impossible for their books to be found by the general public?  Do they want to books to have a more exclusive feel?  Are they expensive to reproduce, so they only make enough to fill orders through the website and to give to parents like me?  I'd like to know.  These books are nice, I'm recommending them here, but without a way for anyone who reads this post to easily get their hands on a copy.  Besides ordering the first book, Faces of Tomorrow through the website, I can't find another way.  It almost makes me like the books less.

Roots Day 9: The Finale

The last Roots of Empathy visit was really nice.  The kids were sweet, excited and a little sad that it would be the last visit with the baby.  We talked about how he’s grown and changed.  Since my son has started walking while holding my fingers (parents know what I’m talking about), I walked him around the circle of children instead of carrying him like I usually do.  They got a big kick out of that.  We even put a small chair in the middle of the circle so he could stand and hold himself up and move around.

We got a goodie bag from the class too.  They gave me a little album with a few pictures from each visit.  I got a copy of one of Mary Gordon’s books, Daniel’s Day.  (I haven’t read it yet, but I’m sure I’ll let everyone know what I think.)  The class also made us two books.  One book is full of wishes for my son as he gets older, with drawings of those wishes.  The other book is of wishes for themselves, also with drawings.  We also got a certificate from the official Roots of Empathy office for our participation.  I don’t know what I’m going to do with that.  Put it in some sort of scrapbook?  The other thing I have no idea what I’m going to do with is the giant card the kids made.  It has a photo of all of us from the first day and all the kids signed their name.  Again, it’s really nice and sweet, but where am I going to put it?  It’s huge!

I’ve been going to this class since October.  It’s been nice to see the children smile as we walk in.  I hope that they really have gained something from this experience.