Posted on Mar 31, 2003

Ann Ruethling got it into her head a long time ago that if you're not making a positive contribution to the world, you're just wasting space. Now 53, she tells you the combined influences of her years in convent schools, her nurturing mother and her doting father helped bring her to that way of thinking. So, too, she says, did experience – experience born of the Chinaberry tree. Twenty-one years ago in what for her was a Godforsaken burg in the boondocks of Oregon, Ruethling started a children's book catalog that she named Chinaberry. The name was a takeoff on her best friend's favorite children's story titled "Under the Chinaberry Tree." And the catalog – written out in longhand – wasn't intended to be run-of-the-mill. It was to be a source and a guide, Ruethling vowed, for her and other parents to the kind of literature that "keeps the song in young people's hearts alive for as long as possible." "I just didn't like the books that I was reading to Elizabeth (her first of two children)," she recalls. But all that seemed to be out there were books that communicated to kids through mean, sarcastic humor and characters "who weren't respectful to each other." However, soon after launching into her catalog project Ruethling discovered that there is a wealth of uplifting alternatives in the realm of children's books and that countless parents want and need to know that. And something inside told her that if she didn't keep the work going, she wasn't doing anything; she was just wasting space. "Kids and parents out there need us – we make a difference." Ruethling said that long before her one-time in-home operation eventually incorporated into a multimillion-dollar international clearinghouse and catalog sales company. She said it well before she and her ex-husband and still partner, Ed Ruethling, moved Chinaberry to San Diego, where it has been based in Spring Valley for the past 16 years. She said it, too, even before her records showed that her catalogs, with their insightful analysis and comments on books for kids and parents, were reaching more than 3 million people worldwide. And now, especially now, with war raging she'll tell you she believes in her mission even more. Ruethling notes that one of her company's two Web sites – www.chinaberry.com (the other is (www.isabellacatalog.com) – offers books and suggestions on how families can help youngsters cope with the turbulent times. Such information and guidance "is vital to the world – and I know it." And so she continues striving to provide it, she says. Ruethling, a graduate of St. Louis University, just co-authored a book on parenting with Patti Pitcher, a graduate of UC Santa Cruz who now lives in the state of Washington. "Under the Chinaberry Tree: Books and Inspirations for Mindful Parenting" was published in February by Broadway Books, a division of Random House. It was through Ruethling's early work on her Chinaberry project that the two authors became associated. The connection continues to inspire her as she keeps clear recall of how it came about. Pitcher, a mother of four, was living in Michigan at the time and Ruethling's handwritten catalogs coming through the mail from Oregon spoke to her, in their out-of-the-ordinary way – one parent to another. They did something, helping her to help her kids and keeping her inspired to get involved. Before long, Pitcher was an avid supporter of the Chinaberry cause, and her book orders helped sustain the company through its tough early going. Ruethling admits, though, that the stress of keeping her prize project on course sometimes becomes taxing and threatens to force her to think about doing something else. But that's only until she considers her colleague and the number of kids and families they're reaching with what they're doing, she says. "Chinaberry is contributing to the world," she adds. "That keeps it fun." And not wasting any space. Copyright 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.