this image is dedicated to all of those who say ‘I can’t buy another book, I’ll have nowhere to put it!’ – you just need a hideously expensive architect to put a bookcase staircase in for you!
Eastenders November 11, 2007
I did my first outdoor market with my Barefoot Books today – I usually sell to school libraries, parents, friends, friends-of-friends, at home parties, toddler groups, environmental fairs, Christmas fairs etc but they all share the same, vital, characteristic – they are indoors!
We dashed out with the books and kids and in my haste I forgot a jumper for myself. I had had visions of ourselves as market traders like in Eastenders (when I last watched it many years ago when Dirty Den was still in it) but in hindsight they seem much more street-wise, savvy and generally warmer than we felt. It didn’t help that the kids were using my balloon sticks as swords and recreating scenes of knighthood and chivalry before our eyes and yelping war cries during the Remembrance Sunday silence. Deep breaths.
Autumn news October 5, 2007
When I was little I lived in Western Canada and a fine place to grow up it was too. Autumn was a particularly beautiful time with feet-high piles of crispy leaves, unlike the soggy piles we often get here. But I can’t complain, one day the boys and a friend found 67 conkers in an afternoon and what a lovely afternoon it was too…Here is the news:
1) Barefoot have loads of great books out (www.mybarefootbooks.com/paulabrown) for Christmas, let me know if you fancy having a few friends round to look at the books and get some free yourself (or if you’re school is running a fundraising Christmas do). Barefoot’s ‘The Boy Who Grew Flowers’ is on at the Egg theatre in Bath shortly – a great book and will be a great play
2) I need some exercise and am looking for inspiring ways to get fit – please feed back on any groovy ways to shed pounds (I’ll publish them so we can share)
3) We’re starting a new Woodcraft Folk group for 4-6 year olds in North Bristol, let me know if you’re interested in this Woodchips group
4) If you are self-employed, not currently working or your office Christmas do is downright dull, email me at paulabrown@mybarefootbooks.com to join us on our not-employed Christmas do! A motley crue of full-time mums, lonely self-employed folk, peripatetic workers (a long, long way away from your head office) and those who tend to make a spectacle of themselves at their office do and need to give it a miss this year. Last year we went to the One Stop Thali cafe and were serenaded by a man playing a saw, yes a real saw. Where will it be this year? Who knows but it’ll be serene, we might even have that third glass of wine this year and maybe even dance… So do join the tired-mums-and-dads on their one and only night out of the year (well almost!)…
5) I may be expanding my Tatty Bumpkin business (cue maniacal laughter!) and may be looking for a business partner with a multitude of skills and a little bit of time. Email me if you love children, have boundless energy and a little bit of time…
Paula :o)
Babington House July 9, 2007
I’ve recently been to see Babington House near Frome, a gorgeous family-friendly luxury hotel with amazing grounds. From September I’ll be doing ‘Barefoot Story Parties’ – storytelling around Barefoot Books tales. They do late deals and if you live within 30 miles you can become a member and use some of the facilities. It looks amazing so get saving!
Precious Drops July 2, 2007
So I did a Barefoot Books stand on Saturday for the Precious Drops fairytale fundraiser – a fundraising campaign for Southmead Hospital in Bristol’s planned breast milk bank for special care babies (for those babies whose mothers can’t produce milk e.g. if they are very premature).
It reminded me of an amusing thing I calculated while breastfeeding my little ones – that in the entire time I breastfed / expressed milk for both of them my milk would have fetched a not very princely total of £260 if valued at the same price as organic cow’s milk!
Anyway, it was a crazy day as my husband was ill so alongside a lot of interest in the books I was watching two children who were getting facepainted, their hair coloured blue and a long stream of cakes c/o of the NCT!
It was a great day in the end with lots of entertainment, lots of books sold and lots of money raised for the babies. It made me proud to be doing what I do! My friend Liz did a sterling job of organising the whole thing (always more of a job than you think as it spawns many heads…). So well done Liz! There aren’t many like her!
Dangerous pencils May 27, 2007
This is the Barefoot girls (and boy!) dancing to a brilliant song about pencils coming to kill us!
Barefoot jolly in France
I’ve just come back from a brilliant long weekend in Gascony in France, having won a trip there with my Barefoot Books work. It was 5 days of grown up talk, no nappies, lots of ideas thrown about about books, life, parenting and a lot of wine and dancing!
We looked at some of the new titles for the autumn – Portside Pirates with a brilliant song for seal-lovers, an amazingly moving book called Mother Bridge of Love which is a beautifully illustrated book on (Chinese) adoption and One City, Two Brothers which is a folk tale set in Jerasulem which comes from both the Jewish and Muslim tradtions and is all about sharing… (among other new titles). It just got me going all over again and amazed at the sturdiness of the titles, can’t wait to get my hands on them!
Running my Barefoot business
I started ‘stallholding’ with Barefoot Books in September 2005, around the time I started running Tatty Bumpkin sessions. I came to it to try to escape Thomas the Tank Engine which I have succeeded in doing! At first I was dabbling, then gave it all I had over Christmas and since then have worked at it steadily, giving myself time off when other pressures got too much!
Barefoot Books is all about beautiful timeless stories which help parents and children to enjoy ‘proper’ stories with important values, a chance to use their imaginations but that are also bright and fun! They are full of stories from other cultures and are such a brilliant alternative to some of the other rubbish you find for kids in the ‘information age’! The company is very grassroots-y and has pulled out of some of the US chains and gone for a more community-based approach because retail at that level is so soul-destroying.
I now have a team of over 40 people who sell the books, run storytelling sessions and all sorts of other ventures around the country. I love it and feel so proud when I’m by my stand at a fair in a multi-cultural area and have brilliant books with stories from many countries for people to look at and buy. Their philosophy of ‘not dumbing down’ to children by using bright and thoughtful artwork and strong age-old (and modern!) stories really appeals to me and my customers here in Bristol!
There’s more on this at www.mybarefootbooks.com/PaulaBrown
Happy Tracks in the Snow 
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