Little Poet Robert Frost: Two Roads

by Kate Coombs, Carme Lemniscates (Illustrator)

Introduce brilliant babies to the world around them with Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken.” Little Poet Robert Two Roads introduces toddlers to Frost’s beloved poem, “The Road Not Taken” through Kate Coombs’ sweet story, the entire Frost poem spread throughout the book, and Carme Lemniscates’ beautiful and engaging art, teaching them when you can Be Adventurous and Be Yourself, that can make all the difference. Take a walk, chose a path, and see what awaits you! Kate Coombs is an award-winning author of original fairy tales, poems, middle-grade fantasy novels, and picture books, including the critically acclaimed Water Sings Blue, which won the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for 2012, and seven books in the bestselling BabyLit series. She lives in Bountiful, Utah. Carme Lemniscates is an award-winning author, illustrator, and designer of children’s books. In 2010 she founded Lemniscates Studio (www.lemniscates.com) in her home city of Barcelona to create her own children’s book projects, which she both writes and illustrates. Carme also illustrated best-selling author Jennifer Adams’ I Am a Warrior Goddess and Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s Grandma’s Gardens.

Genres: Poetry, Childrens, Nature, Picture Books

22 pages, Board Book

Published March 10, 2020

About the author

I was born in Spokane, Washington, but I spent most of my childhood in Camarillo, California, which is about an hour's drive north of Los Angeles. Whenever possible as a child, I read books—books, books, and more books. The rest of the time I rode my bike with my sister, Loni, or looked after my little brother and sister. Sometimes we went to the movies at an old theater we called "The Sticky Theater" because there was always soda spilled on the floor. I was already a fan of fairy tales and comedy, so it shouldn't surprise you to hear that my favorite movie when I was a child was Snow White and the Three Stooges.

I began writing stories, poems, and plays in grade school. For the plays, I would write myself parts like The Glorious Queen and my sister parts like The Quiet Servant Girl. She was a pretty good sport about it!

When I was a teenager, I played bells in the marching band and oboe in the concert band. For a while I wanted to be a concert oboist. I even learned to cut and tie my own double reeds, a tricky task. Next I dreamed of becoming an artist. But once I got to college and started studying art, my first love—books—came back and grabbed me, so I ended up majoring in English. I eventually worked as a college writing teacher, an editor of coffee table books and technical manuals, and a grade school teacher. I later worked as a home teacher, driving around Los Angeles to teach seriously ill students. I've been teaching on and off for years, instructing students in every single grade from K-13, kindergarten to college!

While I was teaching, I was also writing stories in my free time. I wrote a lot of stories, which gave me practice and helped me become a better writer. After a while I started sending my stories to publishers, asking to have them made into books for kids. It took a long time, but eventually my dreams came true—now I'm a published writer!

Six Fun Facts
My dad used to call me Kate the Great.
I was once attacked by a monkey.
When I see a dry leaf on the sidewalk, I go out of my way to step on it and hear the crunch.
I have six brothers and sisters. We're all adopted and from four different ethnic backgrounds.
I can flicker my nostrils really well.
My favorite color is the blue-green at the top of an ocean wave when it catches the light just before it falls.

Reviews

[María Eugenia · Rating 4 out of 5]

El poema original se puede leer en plan épico y en plan broma*, así que me hace gracia que en la adaptación también haya dos niveles, arriba en pequeño los versos originales y debajo el texto adaptado para niños. XD

Me encanta la idea de esta colección de Babylit dedicada a los poetas. Las ilustraciones son muy bonitas, muy en la línea de otros libros de Babylit.

*Robert Frost escribió el poema original (The road not taken) como broma para un amigo (Edward Thomas)... y ni el amigo pilló la broma. 🤭

[Tiny Paper Forest · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really lovely book that would be great as a first poetry book for a young toddler. I like the explanation of the poem as well as the original text. The illustrations are just gorgeous. It’s also great as a talking point for nature adventures with your toddler. We like this book a lot.

[Bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I’m not meant to read poetry because even this baby version confused me lol

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the mash up of the poem, the illustrations, and the author’s own commentary.

[Tera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and accessible way to introduce kids to poetry

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great way to get a wonderful poem into your child's imagination, and tasteful illustrations that pair very well with the text. This book is two poems in one, Frost's original text alongside a "kids version." The kids version isn't necessary, we skip it and just read Frost's text.

[Izzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

So cute! A great way to pass down nerdy literature to your baby. It's definitely simplified, but I think the abstract nature of the book is great for a baby.