The Children's Book Podcast

Sonja K. Solter (@SolterK) shares WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT I KNOW. Tori, our young protagonist, tells us her story, beginning with why she does not want anything to do with uncle Andy. But it’s those around Tori whose job it is to believe her, and that does not come easily at first. Sonja’s book is as much about being a survivor as it is about believing the victim. It is about sexual assault, but it’s also about the ripples traveling outward from trauma. It is a story I read, was challenged by, and returned to several times, and it’s a story I think belongs in your awareness and on your bookshelves as well. You can access even more information about this book and its author by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/blog. Get a copy of this book and support independent bookstores (and this podcast) by visiting our BookShop Store.   Thank you to this week's sponsor: Bookclub (Patreon) Libro.fm And to the generous support from our Patrons. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message

Seamus Kirst (@SeamusKirst) shares PAPA, DADDY, & RILEY, which is illustrated by Devon Holzwarth. This book, I think, speaks to a question many of our kids ask themselves: “Is my family right? Is this how families are supposed to look?” That question is one no child should ever have to ask, but it can come up as kids form their understanding of the world. We compare. We learn. We try to figure out what’s right, what’s wrong, and what is just different from our own experience. In the case of this story, a classmate questions Riley, who is dropped off at school by her two dads. The classmate wants to know who is Riley’s mom. And the way Riley is confronted causes in her a lot of internal questioning.  “But the thing that makes a family a family, as Riley’s Daddy reminds, “is…” an answer I’ll make you wait to hear. And it will be worth it! You can access even more information about this book and its author by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/blog. Get a copy of this book and support independent bookstores (and this podcast) by visiting our BookShop Store.   Thank you to this week's sponsor: Bookclub (Patreon) Libro.fm And to the generous support from our Patrons. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message

Danielle Dufayet (@DanielleDufayet) shares YOU ARE YOUR STRONG and FANTASTIC YOU!. I first connected with YOU ARE YOUR STRONG, Danielle’s debut picture book, when I was moved by the way her text gave space for readers to acknowledge their feelings. Using language that affirms difficult or confusing feelings and exploring where we find our strength or what pulls strength out was, to be frank, an approach I found quite disarming as I read. It was as if I hadn’t realized what feelings I was holding onto and encountering YOU ARE YOUR STRONG held up a mirror to what emotions I was afraid to face. Her next book, FANTASTIC YOU!, similarly spoke the words I knew I needed to hear as a child, and I needed to hear even now as an educator and a parent and a person walking in the world. Naturally, Danielle and I spend time in this conversation exploring that very idea of self-acknowledging hurt or pain or sadness and self-regulating in order to love and care for yourself and others. I hope you, too, find strength in these words and in this conversation. You can access even more information about this book and its author by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/blog. Get a copy of this book and support independent bookstores (and this podcast) by visiting our BookShop Store.   Thank you to this week's sponsor: Bookclub (Patreon) Libro.fm And to the generous support from our Patrons. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message

Anastasia Higginbotham (@AHigginBooks) shares NOT MY IDEA: A BOOK ABOUT WHITENESS. Anastasia’s Ordinary Terrible Things book series has taken on the topics of divorce, death, and sex using straightforward language and respecting the reader with each page. Her most recent entry in the series is called NOT MY IDEA: A BOOK ABOUT WHITENESS and it has been one of my most-talked about books ever since a colleague shared it with me at the beginning of this school year. Anastasia talks at length about the work that went into creating this book, laying the art from found materials, handwriting the text, and crafting the story around her own experience of processing racial injustice and White supremacy. It’s an absolutely exceptional book and one that provides the necessary space and language for confronting Whiteness and working against the historic and ongoing oppression of Black men, women, and children. You can access even more information about this book and its author by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/blog. Get a copy of this book and support independent bookstores (and this podcast) by visiting our BookShop Store.   Thank you to this week's sponsor: Bookclub (Patreon) Libro.fm And to the generous support from our Patrons. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message

Michael Genhart (@MGenhart) shares ACCORDIONLY, a picture book about two grandfathers with, at first glance, not a whole lot in common. What they do share is not only a love of the accordion but, more importantly, a family. Michael’s work tends to live in a space of welcoming and family. I know him previously from RAINBOW: A FIRST BOOK OF PRIDE, a soft introduction to rainbow families, as well as LOVE IS LOVE, a picture book that reminds us, as Lin Manuel Miranda once said, that love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love, and that love is for everyone and between anyone. You can access even more information about this book and its author by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/blog. Get a copy of this book and support independent bookstores (and this podcast) by visiting our BookShop Store.   Thank you to this week's sponsor: Bookclub (Patreon) Libro.fm And to the generous support from our Patrons. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message

Jewell Parker Rhodes (@jewell_p_rhodes) shares BLACK BROTHER, BLACK BROTHER. In her new middle grade novel, Jewell explores colorism, the school-to-prison pipeline, the history of Alexandre Dumas, and the sport of fencing. Donte and Trey are brothers, but Donte’s skin is dark, like his mom’s, and most new people have a hard time believing that they’re brothers, especially because Trey’s skin is light. Donte’s school, it’s fair to say, labels him as a problem because of the color of his skin. The people in Donte’s life all play critical roles in his survival, for help or for harm, and when Jewell weaves fencing and an Olympic medaled coach into the whole mix, what results is a moving and thoughtful story about race, dignity, and family. You can access even more information about this book and its author by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/blog. Get a copy of this book and support independent bookstores (and this podcast) by visiting our BookShop Store.   Thank you to this week's sponsor: Bookclub (Patreon) Libro.fm And to the generous support from our Patrons. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message

I want to take a moment to speak directly to all of you about recent events. Eric Garner. Michael Brown. Trayvon Martin. Freddie Gray. Janet Wilson. Pamela Turner. Christopher Whitfield. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd. Their deaths alongside the deaths of countless others at the hands of the police and the hands of fearful White people are tragic, intolerable, and remembered.  These black lives matter. ALL black lives matter. These black experiences matter. ALL black experiences matter. These black voices matter. ALL Black voices matter. These black stories matter. ALL black stories matter. As I continue to record and produce episodes with people from all across our country writing stories for all different children, I want to reiterate my commitment to using this platform to lift marginalized voices and their stories. This work is ongoing, though it is also of the moment, and I will continue to communicate my value of these stories and these voices through the interviews I conduct and share in the weeks and months and years to come, bringing you voices speaking their truths, speaking for justice and visibility, sharing stories that see and lift up our children, especially those who so seldom are seen and lifted up. I encourage you to listen again to voices you’ve heard on this show. Voices like Cheryl and Wade Hudson and their book WE RISE, WE RESIST, WE RAISE OUR VOICES. Voices like ANGELA JOY and her book BLACK IS A RAINBOW COLOR. Voices like Breanna J. McDaniel and her book HANDS UP! Voices like TONY MEDINA and his graphic novel I AM ALPHONSO JONES. And voices like MAHOGANY BROWNE and her book WOKE: A YOUNG POET’S GUIDE TO JUSTICE. These and other books are here and have been here for you and for readers. There are other exceptional books, for more than I could possibly cover through interviews on this show, but I will continue to bring forward and lift up those books that are changing our world by seeing our kids and affirming their beauty and strength and world-changing presence. For now and for always, in solidarity. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message

Aram Kim (@StudioAram) shares LET’S GO TO TAEKWONDO!, a picture book that follows the same characters we met in NO KIMCHI FOR ME! into a setting not just about learning the martial arts, but also about bringing awareness to your mental health. I asked Aram if taekwondo was an interest shared from childhood. It wasn’t and, in fact it was something she spent time and experience learning. And from that comes this quote that I think introduces our conversation perfectly: “If I resist learning something new, I’m not qualified to write this book.” My friends, what Aram delivers readers is both qualified and beautiful. You can access even more information about this book and its author by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/blog. Get a copy of this book and support independent bookstores (and this podcast) by visiting our BookShop Store.   Thank you to this week's sponsor: Bookclub (Patreon) Libro.fm And to the generous support from our Patrons. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message

Charles Waters (@waterscharles) shares DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD: POEMS, QUOTES, AND ANECDOTES FROM A TO Z. Charles and Irene Latham were last on this podcast two years ago to share CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?: POEMS OF RACE, MISTAKES, AND FRIENDSHIP. Their new book together, DICTIONARY FOR A BETTER WORLD, is beautifully illustrated cover to cover by Mehrdokht Amini. The layout of the book is stunning, beginning with a poem addressing a culturally responsive topic, explaining the poetic form, expanding on the poem with an anecdote, and then inviting readers to take one small action or do one small activity relating to the topic. It’s a powerhouse of a book and I think this interview will speak for itself in that regard. Plus, hearing Charles recite poems is one of my favorite things ever! You can access even more information about this book and its author by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/blog. Get a copy of this book and support independent bookstores (and this podcast) by visiting our BookShop Store.   Thank you to this week's sponsor: Bookclub (Patreon) Libro.fm And to the generous support from our Patrons. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message

Victoria Jamieson (@JamiesonV) and Omar Mohamed (@dantey114) share WHEN STARS ARE SCATTERED, a graphic novel based on Omar's experience as a Somalian refugee Kenya. Omar's story is one that you won’t soon forget. It is a story about family and about surviving. It’s a story about education and advocating for yourself. In Omar’s experience, he says “the worst part about being in a refugee camp is that it’s monotonous and boring.” This is where Victoria’s skills as a storyteller and cartoonist shine. The comic has a strong sense of setting, helping give purpose to all of it’s characters and how their lives intersect. WHEN STARS ARE SCATTERED is the first book since safe-at-home that I’ve connected over with a student. Emma, one of my 3rd graders, share it over Zoom during one library class and we each immediately fell into a moment of book love as we realized we were each reading the same story. Emma and her sister Hannah are mentioned throughout this conversation, as well as the amazing ways these readers were touched by Omar’s story, a glimpse of how readers are connecting with the book across the country. I’ll end with Omar’s words, as they’ve been on my heart since recording this interview. “The simple thing we do for a human being may change their entire life.” You can access even more information about this book and its author by visiting www.matthewcwinner.com/blog. Get a copy of this book and support independent bookstores (and this podcast) by visiting our BookShop Store.   Thank you to this week's sponsor: Bookclub (Patreon) Libro.fm And to the generous support from our Patrons. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/childrens-book-podcast/message