Free podcast intended to give children home on summer vacation encouragement, entertainment, and inspiration

EASTHAMPTON—Janice Beetle of Janice Beetle Books will launch a 20-day series of free podcasts for children and families on her website at JaniceBeetleBooks.com starting June 22. 

Called Poem Pods, the homegrown broadcasts are narrated by Beetle and her feisty 11-year-old grandson Eli.

A blog that will post on June 22 will offer a complete Poem Pod schedule, outlining posting dates, the names of interviewees, conversation topics, and that day’s activities. The pods themselves will begin on June 23 and post daily through July 12.

“As Eli and I say in our homegrown broadcasts, Poem Pods are fun poems and fun stories for fun people,” Beetle said. “My hope is that they give children encouragement, entertainment, and inspiration to get them thinking creatively as a summer without camps and public swimming pools begins.”

Poem Pods are theme-based and explore concepts like family, friendship, inspiration, vulnerability, fears, and asking for help. When the day’s poem is about family, for instance, Beetle and her grandson discuss the importance of family, and they interview a family member. 

At the start of each segment, Beetle and her grandson talk about Beetle’s writing inspirations and education, starting when she was six years old, and her grandmother gave her a notebook. 

The poems, written by Beetle years ago for her two daughters, are short and silly and cover topics from dogs and cats to family, raindrops, love, and friendship. They follow the introductory conversation and are in the middle of the podcast. “Much like a pea is in the center of a pea pod,” Beetle said.

After the day’s poems are read, Beetle and her grandson have lively and interesting conversations on that day’s theme and offer children an activity. And in 11 of the pods, they bring on a guest, and Eli conducts an interview that extends the discussion. 

The interviews also offer a closer look at the inspirations of others along with an education into what it’s like to be a writer, a medical professional, or an air traffic controller, for instance.

Along with each audio post, each episode will also feature a written transcript in the blog feed for those who would rather read than listen. Or, some could choose to listen while reading along.

To receive an email when the Poem Pod schedule posts, and to receive each day’s new Poem Pod post, sign up for the blog at JaniceBeetleBooks.com.

Beetle is a longtime writer and editor from Western Massachusetts. Janice Beetle Books LLC centers around book development and publishing and is based in Easthampton.

Through Janice Beetle Books, Beetle works with writers of all skill levels—as well as nonwriters—to help them carry a book idea through to publication. She also offers writing coaching services.

Beetle, of Easthampton, holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Westfield State College. She also runs Beetle Press, a PR firm offering writing, editing, and digital marketing services to business owners and leaders of nonprofit organizations.

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