Sale! Summer!

What a wonderful summer sale on beautiful books for children! Barefoot Books is offering great titles at great discounts for the big summer sale. Contact me for discount codes for up to an additional 20% off after the already reduced sale prices. Check out what’s available at my marketplace link on the right.

A few favorites are highlighted on my marketplace, but be sure to click “shop” or “sale” to see all the discounted books – over 100 titles! If you are local and would like to place an order, contact me and I’ll arrange for free delivery. As always, educators get a 20% discount from me on every title, every time.

Interested in winning a giveaway for a free book? Comment on this blog post before July 23 and tell me which one of the summer sale titles you (or a child in your life!) would choose if you were to win the giveaway. One winner will be notified by the end of this month.

Happy reading and happy summer!

Just a few of the titles on sale…

Hey, What Happened to June?

It has been a quiet blogging month here at Growing Up / Reading. But for good reasons — this has been a Month of Much Book-Related Activity. 

Yes, there were busy-making life events such as the first trip to the beach for both children and my youngest brother’s engagement party, not to mention the two-year-old’s busy schedule (ballet and gymnastics classes, huzzah!)

Yet bookish activities seemed to occupy even more of my focus than usual this month:

~ Leading my first storytime for a local moms’ club (which was made more exciting by the baby’s enthusiastic “reading assistance”)

~ Exhibiting and selling Barefoot Books at not one but two conferences! An environmental education conference at a college in town (one and a half days) and a home educators’ convention about forty-five minutes away (two solid days). Exciting, exhausting, eye-opening, edifying.

~ Joining the public library summer reading club — all four of us, including the baby!

~ Celebrating the baby’s learning to turn pages of books upon request

~ Listening to the two-year-old read aloud entire books, punctuated by demands for her audience members to do things such as wave “butterfly” arms and “eat” food illustrations on certain pages

~ Taking a very rewarding graduate class on foundations of reading instruction (thank goodness for a husband who is supportive! lots of hours in and out of class working hard on course readings, papers, presentation, practicum…and loving it)

You know what, June? I think I’m gonna miss ya. 

When Overdue Library Books Inspire Dubious Parenting Choices

Not long ago I found myself yet again in the familiar conundrum of having an overdue library book that could not be renewed and that I had not finished reading. This happens rather frequently these days, as life Chez Growing Up / Reading is not quite conducive to uninterrupted adult reading time. Since my oldest no longer naps most days, we’re up and running all day through bedtime, and evenings often find the dear husband and me scrambling to accomplish tasks for home and work. Thus, the unfinished overdue library books.

I really only have myself to blame for the excessive number of overdue and unfinished tomes I accumulate. I know full well how much time I have to read, yet I am addicted to placing hold requests through the library’s online catalog. It’s free! I want to read it! Yes, I’ll join the queue for yet another new arrival! While in the back of my mind lurks the little logical voice muttering, um, when exactly are you going to read these…

So, there I was, with a toddler and a baby raring to go and yet another overdue and unfinished book in hand. I only had a few pages left; I didn’t even particularly care for the book that much, but dang it, I had made it this far and I was determined to finish the thing. Which of course was not going to happen with the two sweet kids bouncing all over me, each other, and the living room floor.

We were going to the bank that morning anyway. So, I buckled the children into their carseats, supplied them with toys/books/sippy cups, and slid into the driver’s seat. I turned on the children’s preferred car-riding CD (the Glee soundtrack, yep). The babies were so…quiet…calm…hmmmm.

I eyed the overdue library book sitting beside me on the passenger’s seat.

It would only take a few minutes to finish.

And that’s when I admitted to myself that we were going to the bank at that point in the morning because I knew if the kids were happy in the car I could take a few minutes to finish reading my library book while we sat parked in our driveway.

Yes, reader, I went there.

It couldn’t have taken more than five minutes – maybe ten – for me to plow through the last pages. Suddenly, I became aware of voices. Adult voices. Outside the car. Ah, my neighbors! I waved, closed the book (finished!), and started the car. So what if I’d been sitting in the parked car in the driveway reading in the front seat while the kids sat contentedly in their carseats? So what if the neighbors thought I was crazy? And off we drove to the library, ready to make good on the book return.

I don’t plan to make the sit-in-your-carseats-while-I-finish-this-memoir strategy a regular practice, but it sure is mighty fine to have a backup plan for (so-called) reading emergencies.

Hey, a mama’s gotta read when a mama’s gotta read.

Daddy Olympics and Pregnant Ladies and Baby Couture, Oh My!

Daddy Olympics + prize wheel + sixty vendors/exhibitors + lots of pregnant ladies + helpful parenting information sessions + fashion show with local tots + fabulous organization and management = a very fine time, indeed.

The Oh, Baby! event by Palmetto Health at the convention center this past Sunday was the largest and by far the best planned fair that I have yet attended as a Barefoot Books exhibitor. (It was also the most expensive vendor fee I’ve paid to date, so it was especially cool that I made back that money plus a little profit.) Amazing organizers, I can’t thank you enough. Y’all are incredible. I told one of the organizers on Sunday that this event was truly a gift to our city, and I meant it. Really, it was.

http://www.ohbabypalmetto.com/Vendors.html

The Awesome Stuff:

This is just a sampling, because there was a whole lot of good at this event.

• The exhibitors’ booths were right smack in the middle of the action in the same area as the main stage. This resulted in fabulous exposure and great traffic with a huge crowd. The aisles between booths were spacious and gave plenty of room for people to browse.
• Publicity for the event was all over the place in weeks prior – well done!
• People attending the event had a “passport” that vendors and session leaders could initial with a special purple pen; this encouraged people to visit multiple booths and participate in other event features. Once the passport was filled, they could stand in line for a chance to spin the “prize wheel.” (This also had a tiny bit of a drawback, as described later.)
• I sold out of most books I stocked especially for this event – *Baby’s First Journal*, *Baby’s First Book*, *Mrs. Moon*, *Mother Goose Remembers* (but not one *Welcome to the World*, go figure).
• The fair had a plethora of vendors, with sixty booths and a vast array of different products and services (but we were the only booksellers). Examples include: toy stores, children’s shoes, spa and beauty, swimming lessons, child safety, baby boutiques, handmade bibs and burp cloths, personalized pottery, health services, and so much more. It was a baby/little kid bonanza.
• This time I preloaded forms onto clipboards for credit card orders (thanks for the tip, fellow Barefoot ambassadors) which helped a lot in keeping things moving during busy times at the booth. (I had previously purchased a truly lame inexpensive credit card imprinter that I opted not to use as I feared breaking someone’s card and/or inflicting injury on myself or others with this crazy thing.)
• Offering a few specials helped drum up business – 2 board books for $12, 3 sing-along paperbacks with music CDs for $25, that kind of thing.
• I only held on to one person’s credit card by mistake and I was able to get it back to him before he rounded the corner to the next aisle of booths. I must say that I was impressed with my ability to leap over a low book display and weave through the crowd before I lost him – yeah!
• My dad rocks. He helped me load in and set up, sell books, label books and forms, get food, pack up – you name it, he was there for it. I am totally spoiled for the two big events I have set up for June when he will be out of town.
• Friendly volunteers were available to load our stuff in and out of the convention center. And, they had carts. Score.
• The traffic flow for loading in and out was so well communicated and managed that for an event that officially ended at 5 pm, we had leftover books/supplies/display racks/banner loaded out, in the car, and back in my house by 5:14 pm. Seriously.

The Other Stuff:

These things were not a big deal at all, which is really saying a lot for such a large event.

1)      While it was great to have people stopping by the booth, at times it was tricky to manage initialing the passports while also selling books. However, that’s a minor drawback and it was worth it to have the traffic at the booth. The bigger concern related to this initiative was the prize wheel line…oh, the prize wheel line. For the last hour or so of the event it seemed that the vast majority of people were standing in line waiting to spin the prize wheel. The result was very limited traffic on our booth aisle and people who were tired and ready to leave after they got a turn at the prize wheel. The rest of the event was so well planned that I am confident the organizers will figure out a more efficient way to handle this feature next time (if people other than me were concerned about it, that is).

2)      Oh, man, how annoying were the Super Aggressive Salesladies semi-across the aisle. (Note that here at Growing Up / Reading we are too refined to actually name their business…but not too refined to tell you about it.) They were offering giveaway signup opportunities, which is cool, but it’s not so cool when you holler across the aisle or step outside of your booth area to call to people who are either approaching my booth or At My Table to come over and register for your products. Exhibitor Fail, ladies! I suppose I could have said something, but I’m selling children’s books to spread the love/peace/healthy kids/happy planet/creative yay, not to get in a dust-up rumpus with other vendors. Plus, there were three of them, and they could have totally taken my dad and me. These girls were fierce, y’all.

Notes to self for next time: stock lots more *Baby’s First Journal*, consider doing two tables in the booth area to spread out the books more effectively, and bring more business cards and shopping bags. (I ran out of business cards early in the event and resorted to giving out my pre-printed sticky notes. Classy, huh?) Also, figure out a way to market more to grandparents as they are big book-buyers. Numerous times I heard customers say that these books were staying at grandma/grandpa’s house.

My favorite part of the day was seeing wonderful people who stopped by the Barefoot Books table to visit, including a former student’s mother, my dad’s former student, a couple of fellow alums of my high school, my brother and his family, and the doctor who delivered our baby boy last August! It was a particular treat to see my doctor because a) I hadn’t seen her since September, before our baby was diagnosed with congenital heart defects, so I was able to catch her up on his fantastic progress; b) she reminds me of how far we have come since this time a year ago; and, c) I really, really love her and miss seeing her on a regular basis (although not enough to revisit the experience of pregnancy). So that was an extra special treat in the midst of a very fine time, indeed.

I am eager to work this event again next year. The coolest thing of all? There are a whole lot of families with books they would not have had otherwise, which makes my heart very glad.

Happy reading!

P.S. Come on over and “like” the Facebook page for Growing Up Reading Barefoot Books: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Growing-Up-Reading-Barefoot-Books/121755617843617

Weekend Activities, Anyone?

I’ll be exhibiting Barefoot Books at the Oh, Baby! event at the Columbia Convention Center from 1 to 5 pm, Sunday, May 16. This event is free, will have prize drawings (some of which look pretty fabulous), an interactive mini-hospital for kids, fashion show, speakers, and a bunch of other stuff. If you go, please stop by my table and visit — I love seeing  friends out at events where I’m working. Here is a link with more info: http://ohbabypalmetto.com/FAQ.html

The “Fresh Start for All” Diaper Drive to benefit Harvest Hope will be at Heathwood Park, Saturday, May 15, 9 am to noon. A friend of mine is one of the organizers and they collected an impressive amount of diapers in the first drive last fall. Not so much a “reading” connection on this, but definitely a “growing up” effort for a good cause!

To give you a glimpse of recent weekend bookselling fun, here is a picture of my display at the Earth Fair at Saluda Shoals Wetland Preserve. It was neat to be in such a beautiful environment and to meet interesting people. I sold books one table down from a couple of owls, looked through a telescope at solar flares, observed while a snake (accompanied by a human) checked out the book display, and watched kids make boats from recycled stuff.

Happy reading!

Blessings Upon Blessings

Here at Growing Up / Reading, there have been many reasons to consider blessings lately.

The baby reached the six-month anniversary of open heart surgery and had an uneventful nine-month-old well checkup. (I can’t imagine taking the blessing of an uneventful well checkup for granted again, and I hope I never do.)

The toddler continues to become increasingly mobile and strong; among other adventures, she climbed onto the dining room table last week. (While this is a mixed blessing to be sure, it is an exciting milestone for a child who learned to read before she could walk alone.)

Our family continues to give thanks and pray for comfort with the recent passing of my husband’s father. He is much loved, missed, and celebrated.

And then there are the “everyday” blessings to savor – pushing the baby on a swing in the park, getting the uncontrollable giggles with the toddler (over reading material, no less! Who knew the phrase “pick-a-plum cake” could be so hilarious?), coffee (and more coffee), the moment when my husband walks through the door after school, the peaceful breathing of a baby who has nursed himself to sleep, time with our beloved families, the chance to sit and read, a full refrigerator, the light through church windows on Sunday morning, fabulous new sandals that are both cute and comfortable, perfect photographs taken by talented friends, emails and cards and phone calls, a luxurious afternoon nap, rejuvenating time outside in spring weather (really spring rather than the insta-summer-heat that can envelop us so fast here), so much more…it is impossible to be consciously grateful for every blessing as it occurs, but I’m trying to be present with awareness of blessings and to be a source of blessings for others.

We’ve been reading The Barefoot Book of Blessings from Many Faiths and Cultures with the toddler recently; here is one of my favorites:

“Blessing for Protection” (St. Columba of Iona)

Be thou a bright flame before me,

Be thou a guiding star above me,

Be thou a smooth path below me,

Be thou a kindly Shepherd behind me,

Today, tonight, and forever.

I Wanna Read Like You

He’s been watching her reading for months now.

Baby Growing Up / Reading is wild about All Things Big Sister. Since she is wild about books, it’s a natural progression from there. She reads aloud, and he waves his arms and legs with jubilant enthusiasm. He holds a book, she takes it from him, and he chortles with loud approval. But now, he is striving to emulate her in a new and more taxing way: the emptying of the box of books.

Having watched her plow through piles of books for months and months, the baby now approaches the pinnacle himself with determination. He pulls book after book from the box and brandishes them all with pride: See, Sissy? I can get books like you! He flaps them like planes and bangs them together like cymbals. A noisy reader, this boy certainly promises to be. It’s a time-consuming task, to be sure, but he does not waver in the pursuit of early literary greatness.

And at last, the summit is in sight. The biggest book in the box, looming forth with impressive grandeur: the toddler’s Christmas present from her aunt and uncle, *Twenty-Six Princesses*, a large picture book almost as big as the baby himself. He will not be deterred from the goal – he will be just like big sister and get all the books. He reaches, grabs, pulls and…

Success!

One of these days, big sister, he’s gonna read like you.

In Which I Praise the (Questionable) Virtues of (Certain) Children’s Television Programs (Sort Of)

My children watch TV, and I’m not ashamed to say so.

My children watch TV, and I cringe to admit it.

My children watch TV, for better or for worse.

Friends and family tend to be surprised at the amount of children’s television that is watched by the Growing Up / Reading offspring. I can understand this. We’re all about the kids’ books here, but then we also embrace our television-watching, primarily PBS and educational DVDs (*Brainy Baby*, natch). Last night there was another study featured on the news about the negative effects of too much TV on little ones. I know, I know, I shouldn’t let them watch as much as I do. But while I recognize the drawbacks, I also maintain there are good things about children’s television, as well:

1)      The Sing-along Effect: My two-year-old daughter is crazy about anything sing-along, where the words to the song appear on the screen. She even loves the sing-along feature on musicals such as *The Sound of Music* (and her mother appreciates the opportunity to view something in daylight hours that does not feature any animated animals.) I am convinced that my daughter’s affection for sing-alongs played into her teaching herself to read months before she was two. Now she will even read the closed captioning off the TV, which strikes me as pretty awesome.

2)      Shows about Reading and Books: There are a number of these around now. Some are programs devoted to words and reading (i.e. *Super WHY!*, *Between the Lions*,  and *Word World*) while others are episodes that explore literacy (i.e. the “Masked Retriever” episode of *Backyardigans* which celebrates the delightful virtues of libraries and heroic qualities of librarians.)

3)      Housebound Entertainment: When Baby Growing Up/Reading was recovering from open heart surgery, we were firmly instructed not to take the kids out in public. And we don’t have a front yard or a back yard. So, yeah, that left limited options for entertaining the children. Books, while wonderful and beloved to us, can only take you so far for so long. (The TV was a comfort to me personally during this pseudo-isolation period as well. I don’t know what I would have done without you, Winter Olympics…Vancouver Games, you salvaged the remaining shreds of my so-called sanity…)

4)      Effective, Albeit Dubious, Solution for Picky and Slowwwww Eaters: I’ve read and heard plenty about how allowing kids to eat while watching TV is particularly heinous and just about The Worst Thing You Can Let Your Child Do. But given the choice between a toddler who eats next to nothing and then wakes (herself, her brother, her parents) fretfully throughout the night and a toddler who eats enough dinner with the help of a little *Backyardigans* on TV to sleep for twelve solid blissful hours …well, you get the picture.

5)      Spark for Imaginative Play: My daughter’s devotion to dramatic play can find inspiration in certain programs, especially *Super WHY!* — lately she has been acting out scenarios of discovering and naming “super letters” in interesting places at home and in the park, which is pretty great. (She has also determined that the hall nightlight is her “computer” which is not so great.) She will declare “Here come the guards!” (thank you, *Backyardigans*) and scurry out of the room with dramatic importance; “What’s gonna work? Teamwork!” is also a favorite (ah, *Wonder Pets*, you weird, weird show). I recall using TV and movie experiences as fodder for my own childhood play; in particular, there was a complex and very serious game of superheroes played out each day during kindergarten recess. I remember having a grave discussion with a “boyfriend” who regularly played King Kong as to the necessity of his helping out the enemy team one day in the name of fairness. (In my usual role of Wonder Woman, I was devoted to these superheroic endeavors.) And not much could match *CHiPs* (middle brother) and *Star Wars* (baby brother) in my siblings’ arsenal of imaginative play as youngsters.

6)      Fodder for Analytical Adult Thought: Spending nine to ten hours a day primarily solo with a baby and a toddler is wonderful and a choice I am proud to have made and a gift I will always treasure. It can also be the teeniest bit brain-numbing and lonely-making. At times, I find myself contemplating the logic behind various televised worlds…Why are some of the Backyardigans recognizable animals and others, not so much? Why does Dora always wear that annoying backpack even if she is in, say, a swimsuit? Are Jack and Mary dogs who have a pet dog (Mel)? Why are the Super Readers comprised of three humans and…one pig? And so forth. This line of thinking provides ample subject matter for lively evening repartee and sophisticated banter with Mr. Growing Up / Reading.

It would be accurate to say that I have a simultaneously guilty and grateful relationship with children’s television. It’s a topic that can inspire judgmental and vociferous debate.  Am I saying that kids should be plopped in front of the TV all day? Of course not. Am I committed to limiting and monitoring  my children’s television-viewing? Of course. But do I also think children’s television has merit? Yep. Yep, I do.

With that said, now it’s time to turn off the TV and spread out the books. Or, as they say on *Super WHY!*, “back to the book club!”

Buy a Book ~ Plant a Tree

The upcoming Earth Fair at the Saluda Shoals Wetland Preserve on May 1 from 11 am to 2 pm ($5 parking fee) will offer fun activities for all ages to celebrate the earth through environmental displays, guided nature walks, featured animals and wildlife, and the culmination of a geocache challenge. Environmental agencies, outdoor recreation professionals, and other related organizations will be participating…including Barefoot Books as represented by me! Come on out, enjoy the day, and make sure to stop by my table and visit as I would love to see friends.

For every book that is purchased at this event, I will purchase the planting of a tree. Customers will even receive an official sticker that reads “One tree planted for this book,” should they choose to accessorize reading material in such a fashion. How fabulous is that?

This initiative is made possible by the relationship between Barefoot Books and Eco-Libris, a company working to promote green practices in the publishing industry.  Eco-Libris works with planting partners to plant trees in developing countries in places that provide significant value for both the environment and the local communities.

Readers who are interested in participating in this book-buying/tree-planting effort but who are not attending the May 1st event may email me at mesellingtonphd@gmail.com; I’m always eager to work out the details of sharing great children’s books.

Thanks for reading!

This Girl Can’t Help It

I taught my two-year-old daughter to catch a ball today.

This is not an activity that comes naturally to me. Not even a little bit.

I realize that catching and throwing are skills that may be just part of how life unfolds in many families. To this day I can’t catch a set of keys tossed to me without screeching, ducking for cover, and inevitably missing the thrown item.

Every day I am reminded anew of the astonishing amount of time it takes to feed, clothe, and diaper an infant and a toddler. In those moments when we are actually all reasonably settled I sometimes think frantically that I need to be teaching the children, working on developmental milestones, using time productively. (The educator’s urge to lesson plan persists, apparently.) Of course, anything involving words is a natural fit for me. I’m pretty good with numbers, too. Fine motor? I’m your gal – playing piano, cross-stitch, sewing, braiding the girl’s hair, you name it, that’s the stuff that comes instinctively. Gross motor? If it’s not tap-dancing, forget it.

I trace my years of sheer misery and embarrassing awkwardness around all things sports to the Late 1970s Tee Ball Reign of Humiliation and Head Injury. It was a dismal time in the history of me, dear readers.

Thus, when I picked up the ball and declared to my daughter, “let’s learn to catch!” it was an act of bravery and liberation, for me and for her. So what if I am a pitiful athlete? I can still give my kid the chance to achieve some level of physical prowess. Thank goodness her daddy is a former (and, I suspect, future) coach. But I’m the one who’s with her all day, most every day. So this morning, the ball was in my court. Or on my field. Or something.

I think I may have shrieked for joy with more volume and energy when my daughter caught the ball (multiple times, mind you! multiple times!) than I did when she taught herself to read before age two. (I mean really reading, not repeating memorized sight words. She figures out words she has never seen, and has done so since last summer. I know. I can’t think about it too much, in all honesty.)

Now, her catching is not a thing of grace, as the act involves both arms as well as her chin, and her eyes shut tight (yep, that’s my girl). But unlike her mother’s fearful flinches, this child’s clenched eyelids are accompanied by squeals of glee.

Later we settled into the big comfy recliner with a book. She read one page, I read another. The sigh of relief was palpable. This, this we knew how to do. For me and my girl, reading is what comes naturally.