About us
Muddy Shoes Publications© is a publisher of children's travel guides. The guides are developed in a way that give children (6 to 12 years) funny and interesting information while the cultural and educational background of the country they are about to visit, is shared with them. This way they will get more from their trip. From my own background as a cultural anthropologist and mother of three young children, I experienced the lack of a travel guide written specifically for children! Moreover, I noticed that (very) young children find facts about other cultures interesting, if you present it to them in a fun way. Research shows that the educational component is an important motive for parents to take their children on a distant journey. Besides the fact that travelling with children is fantastic!

About the publisher ...
Source: Muddy Shoes guide books
Marcella Ponsen grew up in The Netherlands and on an island in the Caribbean. As a child, she was very curious about the world around her. She wanted to become an explorer. She dreamt of lands faraway and exciting adventures. Do you know what she fantasized about? Riding on a camel through the desert. Or visiting a Sultan in his fairytale palace. Or seeing indians in the jungle. Even standing eye to eye with a lion in Africa! She spent hours gazing at the map of the world.
As a child, she travelled abroad a lot with her parents and younger sister. Exciting holidays were spent in Venezuela, Spain, Guatemala, China, Switzerland en Brazil. Later – after highschool – she studied Cultural Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. Do you know what Anthropology is? An antropologist learns about the lives of people all over the world. Marcella also studied Educational Sciences. This showed her what the best (and most fun!) way is to teach children things.
Marcella is the mother of two boys and a girl. They live in Australia. Since she has lived abroad and travelled so much, she decided to write about it. She had made small travel guides for her children when they went on holiday somewhere. People loved this idea and told her to publish it so that children all over the world could read about the wonderful countries that they can visit. With these Muddy Shoes travel guides, Marcella helps children to feel like real explorers!
I’m a travel writer and publisher on family tourism & education. I have always been a traveler at heart. As a mother of two boys and a girl, I believe there is no better education for our global citizens of the 21st century than travel the world.
Marcella traveled and / or worked in Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, China, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, USA, Canada, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Brazil, Suriname, Dominican Republic, Haiti, St. Kitts, St. Johns, Antiqua, Netherlands Antilles, Barbados, Trinidad and Europe.
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