How did I ever take the leap from repainting and reorganizing my kitchen to books? And what on earth could scrubby brushes and cheese grates and colorful utensils have to do with fostering a love of reading with your children? Something, I promise. Find out in my post today over at Read, Discuss, Do!
Created by founder and picture book author Rebecca J. Gomez, Read, Discuss, Do! exists to help you extend the magic of story time beyond the last page by following three simple steps:
Read a book.
Talk about the book.
Do a simple activity inspired by the book.
And now I hope you’ll head on over to read the post. (And how do you like my newly spruced up kitchen?)
I’m so excited to be a part of a fabulous reading initiative geared to families, librarians, teachers and anyone, really, who enjoys reading picture books with their kids.
Created by founder and picture book author Rebecca J. Gomez, Read, Discuss, Do! exists to help you extend the magic of story time beyond the last page by following three simple steps:
Read a book.
Talk about the book.
Do a simple activity inspired by the book.
And this summer we are launching our second annual summer reading challenge. Each week features a fun reading theme with suggested books and ideas for engaging with books in creative and kid-friendly ways. Jump in whenever! Download the printable calendar (plus bookmarks) here.
In the super fun category, this week’s theme is Tasty Treats and, as part of the fun, Rebecca has put together a delightful Snack and a Story post featuring LOVE IS KIND. Thank you, Rebecca! Here’s the link so you can check it out.
Did you know yesterday was Poem in your Pocket Day? The first Poem in Your Pocket Day was held in April 2002. Per the official description, it was “initiated by the Office of the Mayor in New York City, in partnership with the city’s Departments of Cultural Affairs and Education. In 2008, the Academy of American Poets took the initiative to all fifty United States, encouraging individuals around the country to participate. In 2016, the League of Canadian Poets extended Poem in Your Pocket Day to Canada.” Learn more at https://poets.org/national-poetry-month/poem-your-pocket-day.
When Rebecca Gomez, founder and creator of Read, Discuss, Do! asked me if I’d be part of the team here, I was thrilled. For starters, I love the Read, Discuss, Do mission to help families and educators thoughtfully extend story time through the simple three-part formula reading a story, using that story to spark conversation, and then taking action through a meaningful activity.
But, for me, the connection runs deeper because reading aloud together was foundational to my own reading experience as a child. Learn more as a reminisce about the joy of reading aloud together witha loved one – my mom- and how this relates to the wonderful mission of Read, Discuss, Do! I’ll make it easy for you. Here’s the link.
I’m so excited to be a part of a fabulous reading initiative geared to families, librarians, teachers and anyone, really, who enjoys reading picture books with their kids.
Created by founder and picture book author Rebecca J. Gomez, Read, Discuss, Do! exists to help you extend the magic of story time beyond the last page by following three simple steps:
Read a book.
Talk about the book.
Do a simple activity inspired by the book.
And now she’s supercharged the whole experience by launching a website with newsletter devoted to all things #ReadDiscussDo! providing a wonderful landing place for book-themed lists, reviews, activities and more. And she’s asked a team of us to help! (Can you tell I’m excited!)
And today on ReadDiscussDo.com, I am interviewing my friend and children’s author Tina Cho. Tina and I met through our online critique group and I have enjoyed each and every one of her books. I even created a Picture Book Sundays lesson for her MY BREAKFAST WITH JESUS which you can find here. In today’s interview she shares her thoughts on connecting with kids through books, the benefits of reading picture books, and more! You’ll also get a little peek into her newest book THE OCEAN CALLS: A HAENYEO MERMAID STORY.
I hope will take a moment to pop on over for the interview and explore the website. Maybe you’ll even decide to sign up for the newsletter. That way you’ll be first in line for all the wonderful things we have planned for the fall. I’ll make it easy for you. Here’s the link.
INVITATION! I’m so excited to be a part of a fabulous reading initiative geared to families, librarians, teachers and anyone, really, who enjoys reading picture books with their kids.
Created by founder and picture book author Rebecca J. Gomez, Read, Discuss, Do! exists to help you extend the magic of story time beyond the last page by following three simple steps:
Read a book.
Talk about the book.
Do a simple activity inspired by the book.
If you’ve been following my blog for a while, or are on social media, you may already be familiar with Read. Discuss. Do! Since its inception in 2017, Rebecca has created 60 graphics like these, offering simple, fun suggestions for extending the reading experience with your child in three fun steps.
And now she’s supercharged the whole experience by launching a website with newsletter devoted to all things #ReadDiscussDo! providing a wonderful landing place for book-themed lists, reviews, activities and more. And she’s asked a team of us to help! (Can you tell I’m excited!)
And she’s kicking things off with a fabulous summer reading challenge doesn’t involve setting the timer or counting books. Rather, it’s about connecting with your little ones through reading together and doing fun book-inspired activities. Curious about this week’s challenge? Here’s a clue. It has to do with this! Find out more about the summer challenge here. Head straight to this week’s challenge by pressing here.
FUN RESOURCE! Did you know there are two Read. Discuss Do! graphics for my newest picture book, LITTLE EWE? Each one provides families, teachers, librarians etc. with a quick and easy idea to jumpstart meaningful interaction with a picture book – in this case LITTLE EWE! I hope you will share the LITTLE EWE ideas with others using the hashtag #ReadDiscussDo. And if you want to find more activities like these but for other books, hop on over to Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram and search using the same hashtag. You will be delighted by what you find.
NOTE: The Read. Discuss Do! (hashtag #ReadDiscussDo) campaign celebrates reading beyond the book by creating sharable images that give simple ideas for book related discussions and activities and is the brainchild of picture book author Rebecca J. Gomez.
Today I’m delighted to share a very special Read.Discuss.Do! graphic created by children’s author Rebecca Gomez for the Spanish edition of LOVE IS KIND — EL AMOR ES BONDADOSO!
This is the same activity that she previously created in English:
A couple of week’s ago, it struck me that my Spanish language readers might enjoy this activity, so I asked Becky if she’d be up for creating a Spanish version. She said yes! It was a group effort, with special thanks to Rebecca’s husband and the Spanish team at Vida, but the final, lovely presentation is Rebecca’s. Thank you!
Although this is the first graphic Rebecca has created in Spanish, it is far from her first Read.Discuss.Do!
This campaign (hashtag #ReadDiscussDo), which celebrates reading beyond the book by creating sharable images that give simple ideas for book related discussions and activities, was created by Rebecca in 2017. That’s when she posted her very first #ReadDiscussDo in coordination with her picture book WHAT ABOUT MOOSE?
Since then, she has created over 50 Read. Discuss. Do! graphics including one for each of my books.
Many of the graphics, as well as dozens of posts that feature either #ReadDiscussDo activities or book lists can be found on her website. She’s also planning to launch a Read, Discuss, Do! website so be on the look out for that.
In the meantime, discovering the activities is easy. Simply search #ReadDiscussDo on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
Thank you, Rebecca, for creating a Spanish version for this special activity. Happy reading, discussing and doing, all!
THANK YOU for joining me for the LOVE IS KIND Puppet Challenge! I just finished live streaming on Facebook and thought I would take a minute to share the challenge with you here. Please find the video of the Facebook Live stream here, or simply scroll down for the instructions below. (The video is just for extra fun.) I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Inspired by Little Owl, who extended love and kindness everywhere he went – and in very creative ways – the goal of this challenge is for children to extend love and kindness by creating a fabulous one-of-a-kind Little Owl puppet. They will then use that puppet to make someone else feel special and loved. Here’s what you and your child need to do:
Read LOVE IS KIND (Zonderkidz, 2018) and think about all the ways Little Owl was kind and loving.
Using materials found at home have your child design their own, original Little Owl puppet. Possible construction materials include: brown bags, construction paper, felt, newspaper, fabric, Legos, an old sock or mitten, a yogurt tub or milk container, feathers, sequins etc. Be creative and have fun!
Once the puppet is finished, spread joy by using the puppet as a side kick (like I do in my story times) to share LOVE IS KIND (or another story of your choice) with a special person in your child’s life – either in person or virtually!
FOR EXTRA FUN: Take a picture of your child’s puppet or you and your child reading with the puppet and send it to me. With your permission, and I will double check to make sure I have it, I will share the pictures on Facebook and my blog so we can all enjoy each other’s creativity!
INTERESTED IN PURCHASING A COPY? LOVE IS KIND is available wherever books are sold, but if you live locally, and want to show support for an indie bookstore — Anne, at The Town Bookstore if Westfield, NJ is offering 10% off any of my books (for a limited time only). Simply mention that you watched my Facebook Live Story Event. If you’d like the books signed, mention that to Anne and we’ll make it happen! The phone number for The Town Book Store is (908) 233-3535. You can also email Anne, at anne@townbookstore.com
This post is inspired by children’s author, Rebecca Gomez’s wonderful Read. Discuss. Do! initiative where she pairs a picture book with an engaging follow-up discussion starter and activity. Check out the hashtag #ReadDiscussDo for a wealth of creative book-themed ideas!
Now for my special Christmas edition:
Pairing a faith-based Christian picture book with an activity is a great way to spark meaningful conversations with our kids about what Christmas is really all about – Jesus! With that in mind, here’s an activity that I created for my Sunday school kiddos last year. The activity was given as a gift, wrapped in paper and included the finger puppets along with the instructions. I instructed them not to open until Christmas Eve, but you could modify that to meet your needs. However, keep in mind that they liked the mystery of not being able to open the gift right away. It added to the excitement. Afterwards, I heard back from families that it was a big hit! I think what the kids liked best about this nativity-themed activity was that it was phrased as a “special Christmas assignment” and what parents liked best about it was that it brought the significance of Christmas into the conversation in an engaging, kid-friendly way.
If you choose to recreate this “SPECIAL CHRISTMAS ASSIGNMENT” for your family, Sunday school class, or homeschool co-op, here’s what you will need.
First, ahead of time, make or order some simple nativity themed puppets – one set per child or one set per family. I ordered mine from Oriental Trading.
On sturdy paper, type up the instructions – as seen in the picture above.
When it’s time to open the gift, be sure to have several of your family’s favorite nativity-themed picture books on hand. Of course, I would LOVE if you included my nativity-themed picture book GOODNIGHT, MANGER in the mix and here are a few other suggestions (both new and old) to get you started:
GOODNIGHT, MANGER (Zonderkidz) written by Laura Sassi and illustrated by Jane Chapman.
THE LITTLE SHEPHERD (Beaming Books) written by Elizabeth Jaeger and illustrated by Irene Montano
WHO IS COMING TO OUR HOUSE? (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers) written by Joseph Slate and illustrated by Ashley Wolff
‘TWAS THE EVENING OF CHRISTMAS (Zonderkidz) written by Glenys Nellist and illustrated by Elena Selivanova
CHRISTMAS IN THE MANGER (HarperFestival) written by Nola Buck and illustrated by Felicia Bond
GOOD NEWS! IT’S CHRISTMAS! ( Our Daily Bread) written by Glenys Nellist and illustrated by Lizzie Walkley
4. After reading and talking about the book, give your children the gift of time and creative materials like Legos, blocks, cardboard, markers etc. to plan their puppet show.
5. Watch their nativity-themed productions, then marvel together at the wonder of Jesus – the real gift of Christmas!
CLOSING THOUGHT: What nativity-themed picture books would you add to my list? Thank you!
Laura Sassi Tales 