Upcoming event

The Barefoot Storyteller will be at the Skowhegan Nursery School, on July 27th from 9am - 11am as part of "Community Connections" camp week July 26th - 30th. Join people from the neighborhood to share gymnastics, dance, storytelling, arts & crafts, and music & movement; this camp week will end with a field trip to the L.C. Bates Museum where we will explore parts of our Native Maine and wrap up with a picnic.

This is a unique day camp opportunity for preschool children in the Skowhegan area. These 3, one-week day camps will provide an opportunity for children ages 3 to 5 years old to experience some summer-time fun. Program days run from 8:30-11:30 a.m. at $55 per week which includes a daily snack and a field trip relating to the camp week theme. Register early; space is limited!

"Guardians" opens June 5th

Please join me for this amazing art opening on June 4th. The subject matter close enough to my heart, I am further elated that a number of Kelly Desrosier's elementary school students' works are to be part of the show. Any one who knows me is aware of the extensive advocating I do for arts in schools...Kelly is one of the amazing examples of how a good arts program, and moreover an involved art teacher, is such an importaint part of educating and enriching the lives of youth.

Excerpted from the Belfast Area Chamber of Commerce News:

Friday evening June 4th (5-8pm), Maine Farmland Trust Gallery is welcoming the public to join the celebratory opening of a new group exhibit titled Guardians, featuring paintings, sculptures, photographs, collagraph prints and multimedia books. Seven Maine artists from Portland to Eastport are participating in this show, as well as 13 students and their art teacher from the Mount View Elementary school in Thorndike.

The dictionary defines "guardian" as a keeper - a person who guards, protects or preserves.

"Guardians aims to create a visual statement about the real and imagined keepers of our land," says Anna Abaldo, Gallery Coordinator for Maine Farmland Trust. "It's been very exciting reigning in the different artists for this show, and picking the particular artworks to create a poetic suggestion about "guardians" of the land - the art in this exhibit represents both mythical, archetypal figures from folklore and our collective imagination, and every day farmers as being those incarnated "guardians" in this lifetime. Guardians is really an attempt to honor our farmers, the immensely important work they do which often goes unseen or gets taken for granted, and the intimate way they are connected to their land and the animals they care for."

Learning to be guardians are the students from Mount View Elementary. Under the wing of their art teacher Kelly Desrosiers, the students researched the interplay of sun, soil, water, air, plants and animals and created multimedia Earthbooks reflecting what they learned. Thirteen of these books will be on display as part of the exhibit at Maine Farmland Trust Gallery, as well as a digital video documenting this inspiring interdisciplinary project. Desrosiers firmly believes in teaching the joyful process of creation as a way of observing and understanding the magnificent natural world. She sees an analogy between the generative process of art and that of nature itself. She comments: "We are growing a new crop of stewards in our children, who will create our future, hopefully with deep appreciation for nature and their own role as co-creators."

Maine Farmland Trust Gallery is open weekdays from 9-4, and during July and August for Belfast Art Walks, Friday evenings from 5-8pm. The gallery is located in the front office of Maine Farmland Trust, 97 Main Street, Belfast.

Maine Farmland Trust is a statewide non-profit organization working to permanently preserve and protect Maine's agricultural lands, and to keep Maine's farms farming. Maine Farmland Trust created its gallery to celebrate agriculture through art, and to inspire and inform visitors regarding the vibrancy of farming in Maine.

For more information about Maine Farmland Trust and current events and programs, please visit www.mainefarmlandtrust.org, or call 338.6575.

Scot Cannon

Up before the rest of the house, herbal tea not yet fully steeped, I wanted to take a few moments to pass along a web-site I encourage everyone to visit (then I'll get back to trying to draft a grant letter of intent to submit to the Jim Henson Foundation for a childrens' program I'd like to do with the Friends of Unity Wetlands )

When you visit the site, I'd like you to especially look at the Songwriting Residency. I can never say it enough, please support the arts in schools. Okay, so here it is: Scot Cannon Music

You'll find this elsewhere there, but I wanted to mention it here as well, that Scot will be performing at the Belfast (Maine) Farmers Market on July 23rd, along with what I have read will be marvelous juggling by Morty Hanson... I plan to be stopping by, and hope you do too.

Scot's music link was listed on another web-site I have visited *several* times in the last six months...innocently listed on the left hand side, and I never clicked on it before. Sad. This other site is ScotCannon.com which everyone should also check out. It was one of his performances (Open the Door) that I saw at the Maine Arts Conference last October, which I then had been trying to schedule for the students at Mt. View Elementary School to see. And just this past Wednesday it happened. I should "blog" about that sometime too.

Etsy Shop

Added some items to my storyteller etsy shop today...

Roots

Everyone who knows me, knows I wear many hats...literally and metaphorically. It has happened before that I have arrived at a venue wearing the wrong "hat" so to speak. Rest assured though that I have never shown up while a woman was in labor thinking that I was there to do anything that didn't have to do with the birth of her child into the family.

It's mostly usually a retail faux pax. Having set up a display of childrens' books and crafts to find the organizers were thinking I was bringing my natural products. Or having brought handcrafts to places that were expecting music cds and instruments.

For a while I tried to separate everything, and regularly carried at least three different business cards with me, more often four. Then I realized that no matter how many hats I had, I really was indeed just one person, so I had business cards made up that pretty much listed what I offered professionally/retail-wise... more than twenty headings.

So it was just recently, that I was set up behind a display of books, and costume props, small toys, and a stack of cards advertising storytelling workshops that I give, when out of a hundred or more passers-by, two people struck a chord in me...looking for me to be wearing a different hat.

One was looking for those natural handmade products of mine...from my garden grown herbs, and local wool. The other had this magnificently brilliant idea about a children's circus...that reminded me the kinds of things I used to do in my "traveling" days before I became a *professional* storyteller. Both of these people made me wonder what I was doing sitting inside on a beautiful Spring day. I felt encouraged, understood, revitalized. I am hoping to keep that feeling going.

It reminded me of a project I began a few years ago, from a dream I first had a few decades ago.. that I seemingly abandoned. Maybe it's time to give it another look. I haven't updated the web-site in a couple of years, but you are welcome to please visit Mother Moon Music

I've also been one to talk at length upon the adage of there being a differenace between making a life and making a living...maybe I need to listen to myself a little more.

New Barefoot Books Podcasts

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Good Life Fest

The Barefoot Storyteller (and Mothers Moon) will be appearing at The Good Life Fest in Belfast on May 8th. The fest is "a celebration of healthy green living" and will showcase over 40 exhibitors and vendors bringing their food, wares, and services to the Belfast Armory on Route 1 Belfast. This event celebrates the best of the good life - local foods, good health, and the green home - for an exciting day of samples, workshops, demos, music, and shopping. 10am - 5pm Admission is $5 per person with no cost for children 12 and under. Hope to see you there!

Music in Our Schools

This afternoon my son was part of "The World's Largest Concert", a project of the National Association of Music Education's Music in Our Schools Month.... if you missed it, you can view videos on-line order a DVD, find songs and sheet music, and think about getting your school to join in next year

http://www.menc.org/events

/view/miosm-what-is-miosm

Mother of a Craft Fair

The Barefoot Storyteller, mostly under the guise of Mothers Moon, will be part of A Mother of a Craft Fair being held at Stone Mountain Arts Center on May 9th. Many folks know what a big fan & supporter I am of Carol, and SMAC... I always enjoy my visits and all the performances I've seen, so I'm very excited to be more than just an audience member, even if not actually on stage! (yet?)

This Mother of a Craft Fair will feature some of the best of New England's artisans...lots of great gifts from that special Mom in your life. In addition there will be lots of other fun stuff available to treat Mom like:

* Neighborhood carriage rides with Donna the Wonder Horse
* Tarot card readings
* A Strolling Accordion Player!!!
* Neck and shoulder massages
* Yummy lunch will be served all day from the SMAC kitchen.
* The bar will be open for all kinds of libations.
* The SMAC Box office will be open for tickets, gift certificates and more,

So come for lunch, a glass of wine, a carriage ride in the country, a neck massage and finally.... LET MOM PICK OUT HER OWN GIFT!

Kids' Garden

Kids' Garden is a new "deck" filled with 40 fun indoor and outdoor activities and games along with an eight page booklet that contains information on gardening tools, year round plant care, and garden safety. Step-by-step directions are enhanced by colorful artwork on each double sided card. I will be using this kit for many of my gardening, planting, and "green" storytelling activities in the coming months! This will include when you see me at the Coastal Maine Bontanical Gardens' Garden Fair on June 18th, 19th, & 20th in Boothbay! Please join me, or buy your own copy on-line

Childrens' Discovery Museum

The Barefoot Storyteller will be at the Children's Discovery Museum in Augusta on March 5th for a special storytime, 3pm. In celebration of Eric Carle's birthday in March, I will be reading "A House for Hermit Crab" and then asking the children to take part in performing the story as a play! Afterwards there will also be a paper arts craft of decorating your own hermit crab shell, and a visit to the museum's own touch tank to visit the hermit crabs who live there.

Tri-District Health and Wellness Fair

The Barefoot Storyteller will have a booth at the Tri-District Health and Wellness Fair to be held March 26th at the Mt. View High School in Thorndike. At my booth you can purchase a small selection of Barefoot Books, a variety of my handmade storytelling props such as silly hats, puppets, and merry makers...ask me about my storytelling, and learn more about how reading and the arts in schools bring wellness to the kids, families, teachers and whole communities!

The StoryBox Project

From http://www.storyboxproject.com

Are You:

A student whose teacher told you that you should publish that story.

A writer who is looking for new audiences for your work.

A storyteller who knows the value of sharing stories.

A parent who wants to let people know about your favorite aunt or uncle

A social activist who wants to share a narrative about change

A dreamer who just wants to tell us about the worlds you create

A person who is proud of their country’s tradition and wants others in the world to know about it:

Then:

Share your stories by sending them to us so that we can place them in the international/national Story Boxes. These Story Boxes are shared with new audiences in places in and around the world. Hundreds and thousands of people will read them. A teacher may use the story to help their classroom. A storyteller may perform your story to a group of kids. We have had people published as a result of reading their story in the Story Box. A community organizer may share their story to help others value their community. A child may create their own world based on your imagination. We guarantee the story will travel and with each new place, new readers will discover your story.

The Story Box is designed to help share the global world of stories. The narrative either we make up or we live is worth sharing with others. No story is edited. We do ask that you mark it for kids /adults or both. It is simply placed in the Story Box. However, when you fill out the story form,(see below) people are encouraged to let you know where the story travels and what they did with it. Don’t be surprised to hear from others around the world about your story. Kids write the authors. Other writers share ideas. Your writing is part of the Global sharing experiences.

Happy New Year!

I'm looking forward to more storytelling, music making, art creating, imagination stirring... performances, workshops...and sharing more whimiscal costumes and toys with everyone in 2010! Happy New Year!

Enter the "Spooky Birds" Contest!

This is the latest environmental challenge from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Celebrate Urban Birds citizen-science project in conjunction with the Encyclopedia of Life website. They call this contest "A Murder of Crows and Other Spooky Bird Tales." A large group of crows is called a "murder," but there’s nothing really scary about it. Crows are very intelligent and family-oriented. Sometimes birds do things that seem pretty spooky and strange, so for this challenge, they want you to take photos, do a painting, write a story or poem, even shoot a video showing crows, starlings, an owl, or any bird doing something puzzling or strange to you. Then they can reveal what the behaviors are really all about. Often a perfectly natural, non-scary explanation! There's a PDF flier about the challenge you can print for yourself or pass along to others who might want to participate. As always, they have some great prizes, including binoculars from Eagle Optics and Alpen, birdfeeders from YourBirdOasis.com, CDs, books, posters, and more. The first 50 entrants will receive a poster by Pedro Fernandez showing various behaviors of crows, jays, and other birds. They'll post selected images and videos on the Celebrate Urban Birds website. The very best will be included in species account on the website for the Encyclopedia of Life! How do you enter? Email your entry to urbanbirds@cornell.edu. 1. Write "AMOC_YourFirstNameLastName_state" in the subject line. (Use the two-letter abbreviation for the state in which the photo was taken.) 2. Include your name and mailing address in the body of the email. 3. Tell them why you submitted your entry to the challenge. What's the story behind it? 4. If you are submitting a visual image, attach it as a .jpg. 5. One image per entry, please 6. Read terms of agreement. 7. If you agree to the terms, send in your entry before October 31st! Visit the Celebrate Urban Birds website for more information.

Unpcoming RIF events

The Barefoot Storyteller is proud to be part of two wonderful events coming this October.

RIF, in partnership with Readers Digest, presents October 3rd as Make It Matter Day, a national volunteer day of reading, writting and learning. Visit The Barefoot Storyteller for an upcoming schedule of my events related to the day.

On October 8th, readers around the world will attempt to break the world record for the largest shared reading experiance in history. Children and adults will read Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Visit Read For the Record for more information, and visit The Barefoot Storyteller for an upcoming schedule of my events related to the day.

RIF turns 43!

On November 3rd, 2009 RIF turns 43! Come celebrate with The Barefoot Storyteller! Please visit The Barefoot Storyteller's main site and see the Reading and Book Exchanges page, under the "New Books for Free" heading to learn more about The Barefoot Storyteller's free books program.

Autumn Newsletter

Autumn 2009: Oh what fun we're going to have!

*For the younger set, I have been having tons of fun with Bear in a Square in French/English and Spanish/English as well! One of my favorite young children's Barefoot Books to read, from one of my favorite young children's picture book "series" was recently published in a bilingual French/English translation edition, as well as in Spanish/English, so look for them at The Inside Out Playground Storytimes this autumn.

*I'm excited to be using the new "Kids' Kitchen: 40 Fun and Healthy Recipes to Make and Share" in my kids cooking classes. The forty recipes in this colorful deck are based around the five main food groups, and offer a healthy and exciting way to learn about cooking.

*New Read to Feed titles are The Chicken and the Worm for Pre-K & kindergarten audiances, and Winter in Songming for 3rd & 4th grades.

*African Tales is new from Barefoot Books, with eight stories in this collection, each from a different African country, feature educational facts and information about the cultures from which they are chosen. 10% of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Books for Africa, an organization that collects, ships and distributes books to children across the African continent.

*Another recent Barefoot Books release, Lin Yi's Lantern is a wonderful story I enjoy sharing, along with a lantern making project. The Chinese Moon Festival will fall on October 3rd this year, so be sure to check my schedule around that time to see where I'll be reading it. Here's more about the book: Lin Yi faces a moral dilemma, and learns that doing the right thing for its own sake is the best course of action, and that luck may shine on those who act morally. Lin Yi is given money to buy items at the market for the Moon Festival. If he bargains well, he can purchase a red rabbit lantern for himself. But he must purchase everything on his mother's list first! This heart-warming story will resonate with both children and adults, as they learn about the wonderful Chinese Moon Festival and the rewards that come from putting others first. Set in China, this story offers an opportunity to learn about Chinese customs through the accessible story of a young boy who has his heart set on buying a lantern for the festival. This book includes informative notes about life in rural China and the Moon Festival.

*Like every other September, we will look forward to an incredible Roald Dahl Day, as well as the performances of Puppets for Peace.

*October will certainly be Where the Wild Things Are as we celebrate Maurice Sendak's wonderful book (and others he wrote and/or illustrated) the whole month long...including a field trip to see the movie on October 16th! Contact me for information on how you can be part of The Barefoot Storyteller's group.

*Late October/Early November: Field Trip to Boston Museum of Science to see Harry Potter Exhibit in the works! Contact me for information on how you can be part of The Barefoot Storyteller's group.

*November 10th - 14th: National Young Readers Week