As the final Executive Momorandum of the year, and one that should send you off into the holidays in the right spirit, we wanted to share with you a resource that embodies the very idea of our Momorandums– combing through the panoply of options in this world to uncover those rare gems that will be most helpful and meaningful.

In this case, the gems are the best, most positive selections in Children’s Literature… and the resource is CHINABERRY

Chinaberry is a free catalog and website that exist simply to glean “the best of the best” of books for children of all ages. We love any great resource that does all the work for us so that we can reap the benefits. And indeed, The Chicago Tribune once called Chinaberry founder Ann Ruethling “the fairy godmother of children’s books.”

Organized by four key age levels, you’ll see some familar titles (it feels like nice reinforcement when you see some of your favorites on their list)… But even better, there are many lesser known titles that could soon become favorites.

Every Chinaberry title is hand-picked to meet their standards for quality… and the Chinaberry standard has become THE gold standard.

Like so many really great ideas, Chinaberry was the simple inspiration of one mom looking to make things better. During a rainy Oregon winter 19 years ago when her daughter was just two, Ruethling become disturbed by the lack of caring and respect (not to mention sexism, violence, or simply pathetic storylines) that she noticed in many of the children’s books at the library, (i.e. the old lady who lived in the shoe and beat her kids soundly before she put them to bed…). She soon found herself on a personal mission to search out books for her daughter that were positive and uplifting.

Nineteen years later, Chinaberry has grown into a worldwide resource known to over 3 million people (but of course we happen to think it’s a resource that can be particularly valuable to executive moms).

Tap Into Chinaberry’s Kid Lit Expertise Now

Curl Up With Confidence With Some of Their Selects This Holiday

Log on now to do some last minute xmas shopping (they have also expanded to include a selection of gifts… and a short but good list of adult reads). Shipping is still guaranteed by the 24th.

And should you become a Chinaberry convert, keep an eye out in early 2003 for Ruethling’s first book: “Under the Chinaberry Tree: Books and Inspirations for Mindful Parenting.”
 
In this spirit, we hope that your holidays and the coming new year are indeed inspiring and uplifting! Thank you for inspiring US– and we’ll see you in 2003!

Sincerely,

Marisa Thalberg
Executive Moms