Explore Poetry with SINCE THE BABY CAME by Kathleen Long Bostrom

  We are excited to have guest post by Kathleen Long Bostrom, author of Since the Baby Came: A Sibling’s Learning-to-Love Story in 16 Poems , talking about the process of writing the book and sharing some ideas for discussing and poetry writing! Read : Since the Baby Came: A Sibling’s Learning-to-Love Story in 16 Poems by Kathleen Long Bostrom, illustrated by Janet Samuel I love poetry and rhyme, and always have. I grew up with a mother who often recited poetry and I learned to read with Dr. Seuss books. It’s no wonder I turned to poetry when I began writing picture books for children.  At a children’s book conference one day about 12 years ago, I asked my friend, an editor for an educational publishing house, “What are the areas in early education where more good books are needed?”  Without hesitation, she replied, “Poetry.”  Many of my published books were written in poetry, but what could I write that was unique? Aha! I thought. What if I wrote a story using a variety of styles of

What is Read, Discuss, Do?



Read, Discuss, Do! exists to help you extend the magic of story time beyond the last page!

Reading with a child is a magical thing. It's fun. It helps create and maintain human connection. It helps young readers build their vocabulary, learn literacy skills, and develop empathy. Imagine taking that magic and supercharging it! You can, and you don't have to be a librarian or reading teacher to do it. All it takes is three simple steps:

Read a book. Talk about the book. Do a simple activity inspired by the book.

Simple. No need to search Pinterest for "story time ideas" and end up lost in a sea of boards, lists and links dedicated to library and classroom story time ideas. 

That is why I started Read, Discuss, Do! To offer simple (often book-specific) ideas that can be used by anyone--parents, caregivers, educators, and librarians--to make the most out of reading with kids.

So, take a look around. Hopefully you will find some ideas and inspiration to read, discuss, and do with the young readers in your life.

Happy reading! 

Rebecca