The Children's Book Podcast

Francesca Cavallo (@francescavallo), co-author of GOOD NIGHT STORIES FOR REBEL GIRLS (@rebelgirlsbook) with Elena Favilli, made history when REBEL GIRLS became the most successful crowdfunding book campaign in history. The REBEL GIRLS books have recently gotten treatment as audiobooks at the hands of audio producer Julie Wilson (@JuliannaNWilson) and Julie assembled a striking cast to add to the o...

Dr. Debbie Reese (@debreese) is the author of the popular blog, American Indians in Children's Literature. A Nambe Pueblo Indian woman, Debbie is a founding member of the Native American House and American Indian Studies program at the University of Illinois. Debbie joins me to talk about ALSC's recent decision to change the name of their lifetime achievement award from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Aw...

Selina Alko (@SelinaAlko) and Sean Qualls (@sean_qualls) are the illustrators of CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?: POEMS OF RACE, MISTAKES, AND FRIENDSHIP, an powerful and unmistakable work of poetry for children and readers of all ages. This is part two of a two part interview focused on the book. The previous episode featured CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? authors Irene Latham and Charles Waters. You can access e...

Irene Latham (@Irene_Latham) and Charles Waters (@waterscharles) are the authors of CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?: POEMS OF RACE, MISTAKES, AND FRIENDSHIP, an powerful and unmistakable work of poetry for children and readers of all ages. This is part one of a two part interview focused on the book. The following episode features CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR? illustrators Selina Alko and Sean Qualls. You can acc...

5 years. 450 episodes. What started as "What it...?" has grown in time to be an unmistakable presence in the children's literature community. How we got there, in large part, is because of listeners like you! And where we're going on the road ahead is just as exciting as where we've been. Thanks for being on this journey together with us. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-bo...

The Gaithersburg Book Festival happens each May in beautiful, downtown Gaithersburg, Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC. This year I was invited to interview bestselling YA author Gayle Forman during one of the festival sessions and I'll be sharing that conversation with you in an upcoming episode, but I also recorded a handful of quick pop-up conversations with authors and illustrators as w...

Danielle Anderson-Craig (@Dandersoncraig) is the author of THE MAGIC OF WE, a beautiful debut picture book about what it means and how it feels to savor togetherness with someone special. It celebrates the instant connection we experience when we encounter a soul partner at any age or stage of life, and the story that inspired the book is something very special in and of itself. You can access eve...

Sheetal Sheth (@sheetalsheth) is the author of ALWAYS ANJALI, an affirming picture book about deciding for ourselves how we want the world to see us. Sheetals shares that she lavishes in books about the mundane, those stories that could take place on any day and in any place, but that show us something about ourselves. Sheetal has a storied background and it's fascinating to see all of those parts...

Mitali Perkins (@MitaliPerkins) is the author most recently of YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR, but the paperback release and audiobook release of TIGER BOY, Mitali's 2015 novel, is what first drew me closer to her writing. This story of a boy living in Kolkata, attending school, and becoming involved in the rescue of a tiger pup was as beautiful as it was awakening to me, as life in the Sunderbans is...

Arree Chung's newest picture book is called MIXED and it's due out at the beginning of July. It's a story of simple color theory, but it's also a story of what makes us the same and what makes us different. It's a story of mixing colors together, but it's also a story about new life and making the world more colorful. Arree (@arreechung) says that to make this story as relatable as possible, he ha...

We can do more good together. Today I'm asking for your help. Consider becoming a patron of The Children's Book Podcast by visiting www.patreon.com/matthewcwinner. Your support will help fund more interviews here and on location. It will help raise greater awareness for diverse books and the people that make them. And it will help expand the listenership to new, like-minded folks who care deeply a...

Rob Sanders (@RobSandersWrite) recently published his first nonfiction picture book, entitled PRIDE: THE STORY OF HARVEY MILK AND THE RAINBOW FLAG. Rob shares that this book is "just like any other book about equality", and he's not wrong, but I think the strongest quality of this book, thanks both to Rob's words and Steven Salerno's art, is that PRIDE saves space for the reader to ask questions,...

Eric Bell (@IAmEricBell) made his middle grade debut with ALAN COLE IS NOT A COWARD, a funny and poignant story about the trials of middle school when you're coming of age—and coming out. Eric and I talk about writing boys that are the emotional core of the story and how their relationships to one another are, in so many ways, exactly what every child is seeking as they grow up. I know I did. The...

Dave Eggers recently published a middle grade novel called THE LIFTERS, which centers around a boy named Gran who's looking for a chance to be a hero and a small town named Carousel with a big mystery. A young woman catches Gran's eye, if for no other reason than her strong sense of purpose, and following her leads Gran into a world beyond anything he's ever seen. It's the kind of story with a mag...

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow and Ebony Glenn are celebrating their picture book debut with MOMMY'S KHIMAR, a story about young Black American Muslim girl who loves to play with her mother's khimars. Jamilah uses her debut to emphasize the importance that children find joy and happiness in their identity. I love Jamiliah's reminder that there are a lot of muslim girls who are just happy, so why not ma...

Jessica Love makes her picture book debut as both author and illustrator in JULIAN IS A MERMAID, a story about a young boy who imagines himself turning into a mermaid after encountering three women dressed as mermaids on the subway. The story is spacious, and here is what I mean by that. There is room in this story for readers to make their own connections, to build their own understandings. As Je...

Hey there, podcast listeners. Today, May 5th, some news was brought to my attention that relates to a recent episode of The Children's Book Podcast. Author Junot Diaz faces sexual conduct allegations and an overwhelming number of women shared their own testimonies through the #metoo hashtag over the past 24 hours. Junot Diaz was featured on a recent episode of the podcast along with illustrator Le...

Alison Green Myers and George Brown are the Program Director and Executive Director, respectively, of the Highlights Foundation, a retreat center in the beautiful Pocono Mountains in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Each year, the Highlights Foundation offers more than 40 workshops covering a wide range of topics and offering encouragement for both beginning and published authors and illustrators. Worksho...

Veera Hiranandani is the author of THE NIGHT DIARY, a middle grade novel that takes place during the Partition of India in 1947. The story centers around Nisha, a 12-year-old girl who journals daily to her late mother. Nisha uses this channel to process the events going on around her, and to find her place among a country newly divided. Nisha is half-Muslim, half-Hindu, an as her family is forced...

Jewell Parker Rhodes is the best-selling author of NINTH WARD and TOWERS FALLING. In GHOST BOYS, her newest middle grade novel, Jewell shares a beautiful and devastating story about a young black boy killed by a police officer. About writing the story, Jewell says "I wasn't sure I was going to make it through." Jewell writes with great strength, conviction, and love, leaving an undeniable story th...

Juana Martinez-Neal makes her picture book debut as both author and illustrator in ALMA AND HOW SHE GOT HER NAME, a story that carries with it a simple and sincere message: everybody has a name, and every name has a story behind it. Juana talks about not have the distance from her own story to maintain a more autobiographical focus, and yet in turning her gaze to the fictional Alma she opens up th...

Megan McDonald is the best-selling author of the JUDY MOODY series which see's the release of it's 14th book this month in JUDY MOODY AND THE RIGHT ROYAL TEA PARTY. Megan talks about how she came to know Judy and how, through exploring stories from her own childhood as the youngest of five daughters, Judy came to be in the format we know her from today. You can access even more information about t...

Samantha Berger is the best-selling picture book author of CRANKENSTEIN, SNOOZEFEST, and MARTHA DOESN'T SAY SORRY. Mike Curato is the author illustrator of the LITTLE ELLIOT series, and the illustrator of WORM LOVES WORM by JJ Austrian and ALL THE WAY TO HAVANA by Margarita Engle. They first picture book together is called WHAT IF... and it publishes on April 10, 2018. Sam and Mike are no stranger...

Ben Clanton is the author illustrator of PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY, the newest book in his NARWHAL AND JELLY graphic novel series. In this newest installment Narwhal breaks his meal routine of all waffles all the time in order to try a new treat at Jelly's suggestion with hilarious results. This series is hilarious and one of the things I love most about these books has been the opportunity to read...

Vesper Stamper is the author illustrator of WHAT THE NIGHT SINGS, a lushly illustrated novel about a teen Holocaust survivor, who must come to terms with who she is and how to rebuild her life. The question driving Vesper's writing was this: How do people subjected to unfathomable tragedy not just survive, but go on to thrive? The human spirit is a curious and, at times, unbreakable thing. Stories...