About this project

Hi,

My name is Simon Brooks, and I am an award winning British storyteller and have been living in the States for 17 years.  I began telling stories professionally in 2003 when I became a children's librarian in Thetford VT.  I currently have three CDs out.   My second CD, "More Second-hand Tales" received a Silver Award from Parents' Choice. My most recent CD, "A Tangle of Tales", which was released in April of this year, garnered the Gold Award from Parents' Choice.  You can view the review here: http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=29665&StepNum=1&award=aw

To celebrate this achievement I want to record a special Limited Edition CD  for a bunch of kids I care about, besides my own!  As many people know, trying to make a living in the world of the Arts is challenging to say the least.  I really believe in the power of story, the power in folk and faerie tales - if I did not I would find a job with regular pay and benefits!  I have funded all my CDs to date myself because I have known that they will pay for themselves.  This Special Limited Edition CD, however, will not be for sale.  It is for a certain limited number of kids, namely the children who attend CAMP Exclamation Point!  CAMP! is a summer camp which runs for one week at the end of the summer by volunteers for Vermont kids of migratory families - families who are 5th, 6th, 7th generation Vermonters who follow work around the state and New England region.  These kids face many hardships, including educational, economical and other challenges most children are lucky enough not to have to deal with. This camp is a place where these children can be children and forget the rest of the world for a week.  This CD is going to be made for them but I cannot finance it myself.  The only folks to get a copy will be those who contribute to the making of the CD, the volunteers at CAMP! and most importantly the kids of CAMP!.

This CD will feature the talents of those who have already helped with my other recordings and made them the success they are.  My 11 year son and 6 year old daughter will be helping out too.  And I am asking for YOUR help.  The CD will be made not in a plastic jewel case, but in an environmentally sound packaging called a digipak.  There will be no plastic to break or scratch, but instead will resemble a cardboard book of sorts and a 'nub' which will hold the CD in place.  The artwork will reflect CAMP!, the stories will be those favourites of the kids at CAMP! where I have, for the last 6 or 7 years volunteered to tell stories under the light of the moon!  The kids LOVE the stories.

These kids need stories to help them see that there is hope and love, and that they can achieve anything if they apply themselves and try their hardest.  The stories and songs on the CD will be entertaining and give them this hope and give them memories they can keep forever.  They will be able to take these stories with them wherever they go in life; stories they can pass on to others.

Making a CD is not cheap nor is it a project one does on ones own- it takes a number of people to make a village and I have been lucky in that I have had friends who have helped a great deal, people with passion and drive and a love of story.  Steve Glazer is one of my best friends and has been featured on all of my CDs.  He plays guitar really well and can play anything you throw at him and has great ideas for the original pieces of music which have adorned all my albums.  He is also an amazing facilitator and all round good egg!  Stevens Blanchard is another friend and it was he who produced my last two award-winning CDs.  This time I want him to play on the CD as well, as we have talked about doing a project together for a while now.  He is a musician in his own right and has played in a number of successful bands, the latest and longest running being the Conniption Fits!  Stevens will play guitar and produce the recording. I have a new friend who is less rocky and more folky who will be joining us on this project called Marek Bennet.  He is a cartoon artist and musician and is a ball of fun to be with.  He, Steve, Stevens and I will be writing some silly songs to go on this CD to go between the stories.  My 11 year old son has been asking me if he can do the artwork for my CDs since he was 6 years old when I made my first recording!  I have told him he can do some of the artwork for this one.  My 6 year daughter will also help!  Both of them are great artists and I want to encourage, recognize and celebrate their skills.  And because the CD is for kids, I think kids doing the artwork for this would be perfect.  So some of the money will go to my villagers, the rest of the money will go towards making the CD itself: getting the CD replicated and reproduced and the artwork printed up.  I am not planning on making any money on this, I want the proceeds to go into making this CD.  If I am lucky enough to have some funds left over then it will go to making another CD for CAMP! or some other local children's organization.

I hope that you will see fit to give as much as you are able to make this project come true and give something to kids who get very little.  Even when the disc is scratched beyond playing, the stories will be stuck in their minds forever.  And maybe, just maybe, these kids will have the cover in a little secret box all their lives to remind them of CAMP Exclamation Point and their dreams and aspirations!

Thanks,

Simon