A Message from Lemony Snicket

"Dear Reader,

Every Halloween, I am disturbed by the number of children who jump out fromthe darkness and cry, “Boo!” If you have ever encountered such a person, youknow that they are so upset that they are unable to finish the entire word,which is, of course, “Book.”

I am sorry to tell you that there are millions of children every year whocan not afford a new book to read. Fortunately, there is a nobleorganization called First Book, which puts books in the hands of suchchildren – more than 65 million books so far. Still, every Halloween, theghastly cries of those growing up without new books rise into the night.

If you are as tired of hearing children cry “Boo!” as I am, you shouldprobably do something about it. You might consider making a Halloweendonation to First Book. For instance, $2.00 is an amount which here means“one new book.” And $20 is an amount which means “filling a backpack withenough books to make some lucky child a hunchback for Halloween.”

Wouldn’t you like to click here now to donate?

With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket"

Lemony Snicket has written many alarming books for children including those in A Series of Unfortunate Events and he is one of 70 astonishing authors and artists, including Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, and James Patterson,who contributed to Half-Minute Horrors, a collection of instant frights published in partnership with First Book. Half-Minute Horrors is available wherever books are sold.

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.

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.

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.

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

Where the Wild Things Are

A favorite chilkdhood story comes to life on the big screen, October 16th 2009! In celebration, please join The Barefoot Storyteller for special readings of Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are", and related activities all throughout the month of October. Also, you may contact me for information about being part of the group I am planning take to see the movie!

TheBarefootStoryteller@Barefoot-Storyteller.com

View the movie trailor here

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" is now available in a French/English translation edition, as well as in Spanish/English. It's Bear in a Square! Both books, along with other titles in the "Bear" family, in just English or just Spanish, can currently be purchased up my Barefoot Books Web-site.

Another book from the series Bear in Sunshine will also soon be released in both editions in the very near future.

New Blog

I'm adding a new blog to my "blog family"...as we get ready to launch a new beautiful Barefoot Books web-site you'll find my Barefoot Books news at:

BarefootBooksStoryteller.blogspot.com

This is to go along with the launch of the new Barefoot Books Web-site, which I hope you will visit as well!

TheBarefootStoryteller.BarefootBooks.com

Earth Day Barefoot

Go Green with some of our earth friendly stories printed on earth-friendly paper with soy inks, Be Green with every copy of The Barefoot Book of Earth Stories sold in April Eco Libris will plant a tree, Save Green with the free shipping offer coming up April 28th through May 10th.

www.BarefootBooksStoryteller.com

D.E.A.R.

National D.E.A.R. Day is a special reading celebration to remind and encourage families to make reading together on a daily basis a family priority. D.E.A.R. stands for "Drop Everything and Read" and April 12th, the birthday of beloved author Beverly Cleary is the official event date. Ramona Quimby, the program’s official spokesperson, is responsible for spreading the word and the love of reading. The Barefoot Storyteller will be participating of course...stay tuned for updates!