The Cyber World

A thought copied from the Mothers Moon Blog... It's winter in Maine. I miss the simplicity of roadside stands and farmers markets that the other three seasons bring. But I'm vowing to reach out to folks more here on my blog, and Mothers Moon twitter account, and even perhaps create a "business" facebook page.

Edited 2-27-11: See link button to the facebook page on the right

Soaps

New Year...a nice time to think of signing up yourself or a friend for my Mothers Moon "Soap of the Month Club". Find more information about the club HERE or maybe you just want to purchase a single bar through my MothersMoon.etsy shop

Yoga CD

New Year's Sale! All Putumayo Yoga Cds in stock, just $10!

storyteller@fairpoint.net

Spring Stuff at Barefoot Books

Keeping folks in the loop with what's up over at Barefoot Books! Right now there's the annual Winter Sale going on (with up to 60% off on certain items) and, though my son is most excited for the upcoming release of the chapter book version of Shakespere's Storybook, Barefoot will also be releasing some bright and colorful new books this Spring and Summer!

Here's a sneak peek at a few:

Bears Birthday: Join Bear as he celebrates his birthday with a party for all his friends. Learn about birthday activities as the bears hunt for presents, play party games and blow out the candles on a Bear-size birthday cake. PB $6.99 6/1

I Could Be, You Could Be: Join a young boy and girl on thrilling adventures as they imagine themselves as a space-traveling astronaut, a ferocious dragon, a jungle-dwelling monkey and more. The fine line between children's make-believe and the fantastic worlds they create is cleverly portrayed through Barroux s bright landscapes. Includes a mask-making activity at the end! HC $16.99 6/1

Over in the Meadow: This traditional rhyming tale takes children on a counting journey through Jill McDonald s colorful meadow scenes, meeting a variety of busy animal families along the way. Children will relish the vivid descriptions of the animals and their activities, from a bumpy mother toad and her baby basking in the sun to a hairy mother spider and her ten children spinning webs in a den. HC $16.99 4/1

Children of the World Memory Game (Sofie Fatus):
Inspired by the title If You're Happy and You Know It, this memory game utilizes one of the greatest attributes of the book-the adorable children from all over the world-to encourage memory and matching skills. The object of the game is to match the boy and girl pairs according to the traditional dress, country name and colour featured on each card $15.99 3/1

African Animals

Preparing for a storytelling event focusing on African Animals...and will be bringing these neat Putumayo products along...deciding still if I want to make them part of a regular "package", along with the Putumayo African Dreamland and Putumayo African Playground

Putumayo Africa Coloring Book: Captions, a map and a glossary help budding artists identify the images as they color and learn about African culture.

Drawing captions
Glossary of African animals and instruments
Colorable map of Africa
Dimensions: 11.5" x 14" (29 x 35 cm)
Printed with eco-friendly soy ink
$10


Putumayo Africa Sticker Book: Curious kids can build sticker stories on the fold-out African landscape, explore countries on the full-color map and check the glossary to get the scoop behind the sticker images. These reusable stickers adhere to almost any surface.

120 colorful, reusable stickers
Fold-out African landscape
Glossary of African animals and instruments
Dimensions: 9” x 9” (23 cm x 23 cm)
Printed with eco-friendly soy ink
$12

Putumayo has sourced sustainably-derived resources in the manufacture of products. Their printer is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified and the company has taken a “100% replanted” approach, providing funds to Trees, Water, People to support global reforestation efforts.

This past autumn brought a merging, or a reuniting perhaps, of Mothers Moon & The Barefoot Storyteller. It was an understanding that the two parts of my life could actually exist together quite nicely after a few readjustments. (which are really still ongoing) What sense it made, as I am, as always, simply one person afterall... though my son has indeed been a wonderfull part of all I have done since his birth, and my greatest influence.

Most folks that know me, know of my doula practice & natural products business Mothers Moon. Time spent beneath the full moon by myself or with others has always been very centering, peaceful, renewing & inspiring for me…. especially as it reflects over the water here at Freedom Pond. Because of that, when we first moved here in 1996, the art that I was doing, the herbal blends I made, the beeswax candles I dipped, the women’s gatherings, and all that sprang forth from me, I half jokingly called “Freedom Pond Moon-works“... long before I had any ideas of having a business. (being anti-establishment, the idea of registering an actual business was something that I had avoided for many years) . Then it came that my women's circle honored a very special full moon here one May, called the “Mothers Moon”, which I simply thought was just so beautiful and inspiring... and Mothers Moon was born.

Some folks know that The Barefoot Storyteller is a name I was given much longer ago, in my traveling days...of gathering children for stories and daisy-chain making. It was as my son grew out of his early childhood, that my persona as The Barefoot Storyteller seemed to be growing as well, and it too became a business. Quite a few folks of more recent years assume there is a direct connection to the name and my association with Barefoot Books, but that was no more than a happy accident.

Now in coming full circle, it may be in 2011 that, with my son's serious involvement in creating more of the arts and products, there is a chance of a return to being Freedom Pond Moonworks, for it could prove to be a fitting title for all that we do, together. I'm proud to have my son working at my side, and continuing to inspire me....hopefully I inspire him too! I am looking forward to whatever projects we may collaborate on in the coming year, and hopefully beyond.

Creating Collaborative Communities

Syntiro will be having their annual Winter Retreat at Point Lookout in Northport on January 28th-29th, 2011. And I am so happy to be a part of it again! Please stop by The Barefoot Storyteller booth, and join us to learn about using arts integration and technology.
Many of the presenters are your arts education colleagues!
There is $3-4,000 available for each superintendents region in Maine for educators to attend. To learn more about this professional development opportunity click on www.syntiro.org/events/winter-retreat.html.

First Book

I'm still distributing free books across Waldo County to elementary, middle schools, high schools, homeschoolers, and community centers from my First Book* grant! So far in 2010, books were given out at Mt. View High School, Belfast High School, RSU#3 4th & 5th grades, Mt. View Middle School & Jr. High, Mt. View Elementary, Mt. View Elementary PTA, Unity Barn Raisers, Waterfall Arts, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Waldo County, Clifford Performing Arts Center, Twice Loved Boutique, Waldo County Broadreach, Belfast Area Adult Ed, Granny Goat Daycare, Michelle's Daycare, and the Unity College Performing Arts Center.

*First Book works through existing community programs and literacy efforts such as myself to provide a steady stream of new free or low cost books that elevate educational programming and improve access to reading materials. All books from this grant become the personal property of the children. I'm so glad to be a part of it! If you belong to an organization (or know of one) for kids in Waldo County, please get in touch with me.

Season's Greetings!

Please click here for a Season's Greetings message from me, and Cleo the Cat!

Santa is bringing books!

Santa Claus is coming to town in Unity! And he's giving out free books! All good children please come by the Unity Community Center Holiday Party from 5pm to 7pm on Tuesday December 7th to visit with Santa and receive a free book! In addition there will be a coats for kids box, and they are accepting canned food to give to the Regional Food Pantry. The Unity Community Center is located at 32 School Street in Unity. You are also invited to the lighting of the three pergolas in Triplet Park before the Holiday Party, at 4:45pm. The trees will remain lit during the nighttime through January in memory of Joshua, Marcus, and Brydon and Jonesy.

The Mitten

Working with the MSAD# 3 Elementary Afterschool Performing Arts Program on a Winter recital and decided to throw in a readers' theater of Jan Brett's "The Mitten"...really looking forward to it!

Money Raised for Toys for Kids!

A big Thank You goes out to Alicia McCormick who ran my Barefoot Storyteller booth at the Mount View Christmas Craft Fair and raised money for the Waldo County United Bikers of Maine Christmas Toy Collection for Wings of Love!

Wings of Love

Waldo County United Bikers of Maine is collecting toys for Wings of Love. Please help by donating a new unwrapped toy, or even a few dollars toward the purchase of some. The Barefoot Storyteller will be donating 20% of all it's proceeds from the craft fair at Mt. View High School on December 4th (9am - 3pm) AND you can also shop the Barefoot Books web-site and click on the link to give 20% of the cost of your shopping basket to this cause!

The holidays can be tough for everyone but as we all know it is a time for shaing, caring and loving everyone. We need to all do what we can to make sure each & every child in our community has a gift to open on Christmas morning. Please do what you can to help.

Storytelling Event

On Saturday October 30th, at 1:30pm and then again at 3pm, The Barefoot Storyteller (& company) will be sharing "Tales of Mystery and Magic" during Twice Loved Boutique's First Annual Fall Festival in Belfast!

See you then!

Mad Hatter Tea Party!

Come and join us for an evening of fun and refreshments as we collect hats for Maine children undergoing cancer treatment. Silly costumes are encouraged. There will be some prizes for those with the "Maddest" Costumes!

Admission: NEW UNUSED* hat to be donated to the Maine Children's Cancer Program. Hats for all ages are needed from Toddler to Teenager. All types of hats may be donated, from baseball hats to silly caps! Monetary donations will also be accepted in lieu of a hat.

*Hat donations must be BRAND-NEW due to the low immune systems of the children receiving hats.

Mt. View High School Cafeteria

577 Mt. View Rd

Thorndike, ME

Wednesday, October 6th · 6:30pm - 7:30pm

Common Ground Fair

The Barefoot Storyteller will be performing on the Sunflower Stage in the children's area, Friday September 24th at 1pm. Come see me! :)

Free books for kids!

The "Summer Shipment" of books from First Book has begun to arrive! I am so excited to be in the middle of taking delivery of more than *6,000* books (I'll give an acurate count when I'm done) to distribute for FREE to children ages pre-K to 10th grade across Waldo County. These books, made available by a grant through First Book are coming in case after case and I may still be sorting them in September! I will be delivering them to school districts, community centers, and home schoolers. Keep posted for more updates!

Maine Artisan Bread Fair

The Barefoot Storyteller will be at the Maine Artisan Bread Fair in Skowhegan, July 31st, with a small variety of books for sale... and 20% of all sales will be going to the Maine Farmland Trust! Come see me!