Barefoot Books in Spanish to the Rescue

Before I continue with my other goals and aspirations for my blog and new business, I need to share a completely awesome and exciting experience. My son's good friend and swim team buddy, Ryan S., is celebrating his 9th birthday very soon. Instead of having the typical 9 year old birthday celebration with friends, games and many presents, Ryan is hosting a charity birthday party! He is requesting that his family, friends and classmates bring gently used and new books to his party to benefit Reach Out and Read.

ROR is a "national non-profit organization that promotes early literacy by giving new books to children." Many of these children are in remote areas that are serviced by volunteers from the American Academy of Pediatrics. As these dedicated physicians and nurses give medical attention to poverty-stricken children, they also place in these small hands the key to a wonderful world of imagination and joy--a book of their own! Can you imagine a world where all children do not know the joys of reading?

Ryan could not believe that there are children in our world that do not have books of their own! Spanish books are in particular demand so he and his family asked if I could order some Barefoot Books Spanish titles to add to the donations that he hopes to collect at his party! My son and I had a great time deciding what books would be perfect to order for the ROR donation and used my discount allowance to choose more Spanish titles for him to bring to Ryan's party! What an inspiration for my son and other children to see the efforts of Ryan and his family to bring books to small hands!

Please check out www.reachoutandread.org Share with your children, family and friends Ryan's story! Think about children's hands that have never had the opportunity to open a book of their own---you can help!

The Barefoot Book Adventure begins

Completely enthralled with the illustrations and stories, I decided that I wanted to be a part of the Barefoot Book Adventure as a stallholder. So far, my "circle of influence" has been limited to my family and friends as I've introduced them to the wonders found within the Barefoot Book pages. I want to see the "circle" expand and grow--the decision to begin a blog is born! Introducing the incredible world of Barefoot Books is a primary goal for this blog. However, it's not the only one!

Seize the Day!

What an incredibly daunting-and just a tad scary- a blank writing space can be! Whether it's a pristine white piece of paper or a completely empty posting box--it's enough to drive all logical, coherent thought from your head! However, true to my post's title, I have seized the day and started my blog: Mom's basket of books.

As a stay-at-home mom for the last 21 years (one newly graduated college daughter, an almost graduated high school senior daughter ready to embark on her college adventure and a 12 year old daughter and 8 year old son still needing mom's guidance and nurturing), I am ready to start an adventure of my own! Starting my own business is the answer to the question: what am I going to with the rest of my life?

My passion is being a mom to my children and books! Children's books, in particular, always draw me into a world of utter joy and happiness. Reading to my children and sharing great children's literature with them as they grow older and become independent readers is the brightest and best part of any day. How does this lead to starting a blog as well as a new business adventure: that will be my next post!