1982: Chinaberry Book Service founded at Ann Ruethling’s kitchen table in Port Orford, Oregon; 1984: Chinaberry moves to San Diego; 1988: Chinaberry moves to Spring Valley near San Diego; 1991: Chinaberry Book Fairs begin helping hundreds of schools and other organizations hold fund-raising book fairs; 1995: Isabella catalog started by Ann Ruethling and Patti Pitcher; 1996: Chinaberry Book Service becomes Chinaberry, Inc.; 2000: Chinaberry and Isabella websites launched; 2001: First virtual Chinaberry Book Fairs take place on the Chinaberry Book Fairs website; 2002: Chinaberry Inc. completes first public offering of common stock; 2004: Chinaberry Book Fairs discontinued and customers directed to Chinaberry's affiliate school scrip program; 2006: Chinaberry and Isabella websites relaunched.       When Chinaberry began in 1982, Ann Ruethling (shown at left) personally handled each order - with her 2-year-old daughter Elizabeth's help. Elizabeth was Ann’s first child, and it's because of her that Chinaberry, Inc. came to be. Well - she AND the fact that living in Oregon with a toddler during a winter when it rained 13 FEET in five months resulted in major cabin fever. This cabin fever was successfully endured thanks to library books (and baking bread nearly every day). Now if you are a parent, you know that NOTHING is good enough for your first child! In Ann’s case, she was disturbed by the lack of caring and respect expressed in many of the children's books to be found at the library, not to mention the sexism and violence. (Remember the Mother Goose nursery rhyme about the old lady who lived in the shoe and beat her kids soundly before she put them to bed?) Before long, Ann found another mission in life (other than eating home-made bread): to search out books for Elizabeth that were positive and uplifting. Much work went into that little project. Ann subscribed to numerous children's literature publications and scouted out as many libraries as she could. She started keeping notes on index cards about the books she liked and at what age she wanted to introduce Elizabeth to each book. By the time her stack of index cards was three or four inches high, she began to realize how much time and energy had gone into this mission. And she realized there were probably a lot of other concerned parents who could greatly benefit from her stack of 3x5 cards. Ann felt that if parents could just feed all those wonderful books into the hearts and minds of their children, the world would have to become a better place. Thus, Chinaberry was conceived - at first as a free service, and then as a catalog business to make it easier for parents to buy the books Ann was telling them about. Today the Chinaberry catalog is mailed three times a year to more than 3.5 million people worldwide, and we sell more than one million books annually. Ann’s vision is for Chinaberry to remain as intimate and focused as those days when she packed a few orders on the kitchen table with her toddler. The Isabella catalog was started in 1995 by Ann Ruethling and her friend Patti Pitcher (shown at left). Ann and Patti are both firmly committed to their own spiritual journeys and realized how limited the spiritual messages of their own childhood were. They were drawn to explore a spirituality that encourages their wholeness as women, a spirituality that includes the body, the senses, the grace and illumination possible in the midst of the everyday moments of life. Through their own study and with the help of Spirit, they came to see a new vision of spirituality. This vision is one that embraces both the Feminine and Masculine aspects of the Divine. It offers an open-ended opportunity for the explorations of the many parts of ourselves. Ann and Patti encourage Isabella customers to seek beauty and meaning in every part of their lives, and to have the courage to reclaim the lost pieces of their soul. They are encouraged to heal their bodies, their psyches and emotions, and to slow down enough to make room to listen to the small inner urgings of Spirit. Their purpose is both to educate and to encourage. Isabella offers items that honor the spiritual path of growth and encourage us all to renew our deep inner connections and embrace a true reverence for life. Ann and her colleagues are intimately involved in the selection of every item offered in the Isabella catalog and on the Isabella website. It's no exaggeration to say that for every one item you find in Isabella, they've considered a hundred others. What you find in the Isabella catalog or on the Isabella website is the best of the best. Each item is chosen with the hope that it will enrich our customers' lives and not be just one more material thing for them to want, buy and soon discard. We look for items that are rich in symbolism or that nourish our relationship with the Earth, ourselves and with Spirit. Our hope is that we may bring you joy and inspire your journey.