Kathleen Long Bostrom with her father, Myron C. Long, after receiving her Doctor of Ministry in Preaching degree from McCormick Theological Seminary.
Career
Achievements
Membership
Authors Guild
Society of Midland Authors
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
Awards
Distinguished Alumna
2013
Kathleen Long Bostrom became a Distinguished Alumna of Princeton Theological Seminary in 2013.
David Steele Distinguished Writer Award
2014
Kathleen Long Bostrom, receiving David Steele Distinguished Writer Award from the Presbyterian Writers Guild, highest writing honor given in the Presbyterian Church.
Kathleen Long Bostrom, receiving David Steele Distinguished Writer Award from the Presbyterian Writers Guild, highest writing honor given in the Presbyterian Church.
(Featuring the charming Little Blessings characters by Ele...)
Featuring the charming Little Blessings characters by Elena Kucharik, What Is God Like? uses questions asked by children ages 3 to 6 to answer fundamental questions about who God is and what he is like.
Papas Gift: An Inspirational Story of Love and Loss
(Papa’s Gift is a poignant story of the love and loss betw...)
Papa’s Gift is a poignant story of the love and loss between a little girl and her grandfather. They are the best of friends. They do everything together - make snow angels and snowflake sandwiches, and build snow chickens. They make up funny words and stories sitting in Papa's creaky, old rocking chair - until one day Papa Clarence falls ill and eventually dies. Clara can't understand why God took her Papa away. Why didn't God answer her prayer? She no longer liked doing the things they had done together. She did not even want to sit in the creaky, old rocking chair. Through a special gift Clara had received from Papa, she begins to understand that although she can't see her grandfather with her eyes anymore; she can always see him with her heart.
(The book comprises twenty-eight days of devotions for eac...)
The book comprises twenty-eight days of devotions for each month of the year, so that readers can begin using the book during any month. Each week's devotions, prayers, quotations, and "Spirit Boosters" focus on one Bible passage, which is read each day of that week. Each week ends with a "Sabbath Celebration," a time for quiet prayer, reflection, and renewal. The "Spirit Boosters" for each week are divided into "Reaching In" and "Reaching Out" sections. They offer suggestions for ways to be kind to yourself and to others while nurturing your own faith.
(Little children throughout the world wait impatiently for...)
Little children throughout the world wait impatiently for Christmas to arrive. As parents know, it can seem as if the days just crawl by. Now your family can learn and put to use Advent traditions from the country of Germany during the Christmas season. No doubt mothers have long been inventing ways to keep young children occupied during the Advent season - like Gerhard Lang’s mother, who in the mid-1800s helped her young son count the days on a calendar of cookies. In 1908, the grownup Gerhard, a printer, created the first commercial Advent calendar, twenty-four tiny pictures in the form of a calendar, from his fond memories. Waiting for Christmas tells the story of the young Gerhard - a story children everywhere will recognize as their own - and teaches us that we must wait patiently as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
(Bostrom, author of the popular books 99 Things to Do Betw...)
Bostrom, author of the popular books 99 Things to Do Between Here and Heaven and Making Space for the Spirit, offers fun, practical, and thought-provoking ideas for nurturing the spiritual lives of children, parents, and families. Each of the 99 entries includes a Scripture passage, a theoretical or practical suggestion for weaving together faith and daily life, and a provocative challenge that encourages readers to spend some time contemplating the lessons learned.
(As morning dawns, the zookeeper makes his rounds, exhorti...)
As morning dawns, the zookeeper makes his rounds, exhorting animals to wake up, comb their hair, and stand up straight. When human visitors arrive, the observations begin to flow: "My, what silly things they do, all these creatures at the zoo. Walking on all kinds of feet, dancing to an inner beat. Babies riding on their backs, on their bellies, snug in sacks. Hear the silly sounds they speak, as they howl and squawk and shriek!" But just who is talking about whom? With a clever twist and a new, sturdy board book format, this book will have even the youngest children begging for a trip to the zoo.
(In Rufus and Ryan Say Their Prayers, Ryan leads his monke...)
In Rufus and Ryan Say Their Prayers, Ryan leads his monkey, Rufus, through their bedtime rituals, including saying prayers. He lets Rufus know that prayers are talking to God, and are a way of giving thanks and asking for blessings.
(Now that his family has moved to California, Matthew has ...)
Now that his family has moved to California, Matthew has doubts as the holiday season approaches. Palm trees? No snow? It's all wrong. Little sister Lucy thinks everything is wonderful, but Matthew knows better. And to top it off, the sudden disappearance of his beloved dog, Jasper, settles it. This will be the worst Christmas ever. Or will it? Surprising events on Christmas Eve just might change everything and maybe this new place can feel like home to Matthew after all.
Kathleen Long Bostrom is an American author, who served as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church for 30 years but focuses on writing. Most of her books are for children.
Background
Kathleen Long Bostrom was born on November 1, 1954, in Los Angeles, California, United States. She is the daughter of Myron C. Long, an aeronautical engineer, and Mary Virginia Long, a homemaker, whose maiden name was Anderson. She grew up in San Pedro. A shy child, Kathleen clammed up when introduced to strangers, but had no problem being vocal around people she knew.
Kathleen Long Bostrom about that time: "I had a lot of energy and enthusiasm for life, and I knew my own mind. I insisted on wearing a cowboy hat and holster while I was still in diapers, and Zorro later became my favorite hero. Yet I wore white gloves while riding my tricycle around the driveway. I loved playing outdoors and was good at sports, and kept up with my younger brother and his friends until they hit puberty and could hit a baseball further than I."
She wanted to be a teacher, and get married and have fourteen children. Kathleen wrote her first book in sixth grade, coauthored and co-illustrated by her best friend. They called it "Two Girls on Fantasy Island."
Education
Kathleen Long Bostrom received a Bachelor's degree from California State University in 1976. She earned a Master of Arts in Christian Education in 1980 and a Master of Divinity in 1983 from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in 2000.
In 1983-1991, Kathleen Long Bostrom was an associate pastor in the Church of the Covenant. She worked as a co-pastor in Wildwood Presbyterian Church in 1991-2013.
Her first serious thoughts about being a writer came in 1992. "The writing fever began to spread to other areas of my life. As I worked on sermons, drove in the car, or rocked my children to sleep at night, words continued to tumble and tangle within me. And, being a mother, it was a natural progression that soon these words began forming into stories to tell my children. So I began to write: lullabies, poems, tales of dogs finding their way in the world - everywhere I looked, I found a story waiting to be put to words. My children, of course, thought my stories were wonderful," - she said.
But Kathleen Long Bostrom had received over 250 rejections before she sent her manuscript to Tyndale House, a religious publishing house based in Wheaton, Illinois. On September 23, 1996, the editor called her to say that they would publish her book. "I cannot describe my elation! Even for a writer, words are inadequate. After all those years of hard work, persistence, anonymity, hours of writing and mailing and rejection, I felt like Cinderella at the ball. The glass slipper fit! I had found my editor and my publisher - and they had found me," - she remembered. Two months later, Tyndale House called to offer her a contract on another book. The original book they accepted - "What Is God Like?" - became the first in a series of five books. She placed manuscripts with various publishers, hired an agent, and continued to write.
Kathleen Long Bostrom has won awards for preaching and she is often requested to speak for groups at the national level. She has published numerous articles in various journals and newspapers and she is the author of over three dozen books, most of them for children. Kathleen Long Bostrom is included in a 2003 edition of "Something About the Author" and "Contemporary Authors," two of the premier reference sources for information on children's authors. Her books have sold well over two million copies in the 18 years, and her Little Blessings books are printed in 20 languages, including Chinese, Russian, and Indonesian. The Italian translations can be found in the Vatican bookstore in Rome, Italy.
(Little children throughout the world wait impatiently for...)
2006
Religion
Kathleen Long Bostrom has been an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church since 1983.
Views
Quotations:
"I believe that it is my responsibility as an author to encourage young writers. I speak to classes at schools and without shame tell the kids about my many rejections. My message to them: Don’t give up! Read! Write! Follow your heart! Not everyone wants to be a writer/author, but for those of us who do, it is well worth the wait."
Membership
Presbyterian Writers Guild
,
United States
Authors Guild
,
United States
Society of Midland Authors
,
United States
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators
Personality
Kathleen Long Bostrom is a strong person, who has never given up receiving rejections to publish her books at the beginning of her career as a children's book author. She said: "I had sermons and articles published, but I never let go of my wish to publish books for children. All along, my writing felt to me like a "call." There was a force, greater than my own will, urging me on. I sensed a deeper purpose to my obsession with the written word, that somehow God would use my books to reach out to children and adults and answer their questions about faith."
Physical Characteristics:
Kathleen Long Bostrom suffered from chronic pain due to a condition diagnosed as fibromyalgia, and so she began walking in the mornings trying to relieve some of the stiffness in her muscles. Morning walks and nature admiration gave her inspiration to write.
Interests
reading, walking, writing, yoga
Sport & Clubs
swimming, tennis
Athletes
Rafael Nadal
Connections
Kathleen Long married Greg Richard Bostrom on June 27, 1981. They have three children: Christopher Richard, Amy Kathleen, and David Michael.