Growing up my parents sent me and my sister on trips across the world. Starting at the tender age of eleven, I began participating in international peace camps through an organization called Children’s International Summer Villages (CISV). My travels took me to far away places such as Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, and Slovakia. Living for a month at a time with children from around the globe, I fell in love with various cultures, people groups, and places. Beginning to see other cultures in light of my own, differences weren’t obstacles to our friendships. Skin color didn’t determine the depth of our relationship. Language barriers couldn’t stop lifelong bonds from forming.

Experiencing the world at a young age helped me to value all people. Most specifically those different from my mainstream, upper-middle class, white, American, Christian self.

Camps like these are rare and hard to come by. I don’t take it for granted that my parents sacrificed much to give us these opportunities. Besides a semester long stint in Switzerland, my kids haven’t grown up with the same opportunities I had. Longing for them to experience other cultures, we have had to actively seek ways to help them touch the world afar. It sounds like a great goal, but it is hard to know where to start. So the question becomes, “how can we spark a love for other cultures in the hearts of our children, when it is so far removed from our every day lives?”

Author, Jaime Martin, has found a way.

Written as an incredible resource book for parents, Give Your Child the World, opens children’s eyes to the beautiful, diverse world around them. Fostering a heart to love those different from themselves, Jaime has spent over five years researching and compiling resources to help children discover and explore lands far away. This book is broken down in easy to navigate categories: Age, Geography, Historical Time Period, and Author. Many resources can be picked up at the local library for FREE! No age is too young to began the process of broadening your children’s perception of the world around them. And Jaime’s book makes it an easy and exciting adventure.

Because this book is such a special gem, I want to give away a free copy to one of you! Anyone who subscribes to receive email updates on my blog beginning today, July 29th, through Wednesday, August 3rd, will be entered into a raffle to win a copy of Jaime’s book. Just submit your email address in the box to the right to be entered into the raffle. The winner will receive an email on Friday, August 5th, just in time to watch the opening ceremonies of the Rio Olympic Games. What a fitting way to start developing appreciation for the talents, gifts, and beauty of people from all tribes, tongues, and languages.

I invite you to let the world come to life, all from the corner of your couch with Give Your Child the World. And who knows…maybe one day the spark that began from the pages of this book will birth real, hands-on relationships with those different from ourselves. What a gift that would be for all generations to come.