Series Finale! The end of one thing + the beginning of another. Celebrating the last 100 years + looking to the future. Letting go + going on. And … there’s nothing else like a picture book.   GUESTS:  Loren Long Diane Capriola Shaina Birkhead And Matthew Winner    References and Further Reading:  Little Tree The Cinder-Eyed Cats Mommy, Please Don't Go To Work Montessori Planes of Development Jacqueline Woodson Legacy Speech Little Shop of Stories Decatur Book Festival  Children's Book Council Every Child a Reader The Rabbit hOle Fred Rogers, 2001   For a TRANSCRIPT of this episode, click HERE.

Artists, authors, autism and an episode where I take a closer look and a different view.   GUESTS: Felicia Bryan and Eliyanna Kaiser   References and Further Reading: Bank Street College of Education The Enduring Appeal of Where the Wild Things Are There’s a Mystery There, Jonathan Cott The Surprising Ingenuity Behind “Goodnight Moon” What Writers Can Learn from Goodnight Moon Knufflebunny Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Line Up the Books Neurodiversity: Some Basic Terms & Definitions Autism Speaks Your Personal Penguin Drag Queen Story Hour Jacqueline Woodson’s acceptance speech

One of my guiding questions about the magic of books is - well, it’s kind of weird. Follow along to see where it takes us. GUESTS: Julie Bliven Courtney Hinshaw Shaina Birkhead Kelly Baker Matthew Winner Diarra "Crckt" Leggett Clare Hollander RESOURCES: What Kinds of Books Excite a School Librarian, by Matthew Winner The Children’s Book Podcast Will Schwalbe Reid’s Read-Alouds Boomerang Brings Back the Book Bus Making A Difference In Young Lives Through Children’s Outreach   For a TRANSCRIPT of this episode, click HERE.

It’s back to the beginning of life as we think about first books, family identity, and the all important read-aloud.   GUESTS: Winford and Judy Akins Jenny Horsley Janice Dobbs Mary Gallagher Grace Stedje-Larsen and of course Julia and Clara REFERENCES: First Book Imagination Library Reach Out and Read KC Barbershop Books TED Talk: How to Inspire Every Child to be a Lifelong Reader Teach a Child to Read With Children’s Books The Read-Aloud Handbook - Jim Trelease The Read-Aloud Family - Sarah MacKenzie Reading Magic - Mem Fox 13 Words   For a TRANSCRIPT of this episode, click HERE.

"You'll know it's time to turn the page when you hear this sound." But wait. It's so much more than a page turn.  GUESTS: Lauren Ranalli Dr. Debbie Reese Julie Bliven  Vanessa Nielson   REFERENCES: American Picturebooks from Noah’s Ark to the Beast Within, Barbara Bader Children’s Picturebooks; The Art of Visual Storytelling, Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles Kidlitcollege.com The Great Latke Cookoff, Lauren Ranalli Rahma Rodaah We Need Diverse Books Corinne Duyvis Looking at Pictures in Picture Books, Jane Doonan Charlesbridge Julie Bliven You Are My I Love You, Maryann Cusimano Love; illustrated by Satomi Ichikawa Sol Book Box Reading Magic, Mem Fox “The Exposure Advantage: Early Exposure to a Multilingual Environment Promotes Effective Communication” For a TRANSCRIPT of this episode click HERE.  

But wait. What if you are surrounded by so many mirrors that you can’t imagine anything beyond your own world? What if you have so many windows you never see yourself? GUESTS: Dr. Debbie Reese Nicole Johnson Matthew Schmidt Charlotte Anderholt   REFERENCES & FURTHER READING: 2015 Diversity in Children’s Literature (inforgraphic) American Indians in Children’s Literature We Need Diverse Books Oyate’s Books to Avoid - Knots on a Counting Rope How to Read a Racist Book to Your Kid The Danger of a Single Story   For a TRANSCRIPT of this episode, click HERE.

When words and pictures come together, there’s magic. But, wait. What if you can’t read or hear the words? What if you can’t see the pictures?   GUESTS: Karen Smith Tara Miles Courtney Hinshaw   REFERENCES & FURTHER READING: Knots on a Counting Rope by Bill Martin, Jr., John Archambault, illustrated by Ted Rand Seedlings Braille Books for Children Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center Reading to Deaf Children: Learning from Deaf Adults I Am Enough by Grace Byers, illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo Ramona Recommends Thank You, Mr Falker by Patricia Polacco Dialog in the Dark Starbucks Opens First US Sign Language Store   For a TRANSCRIPT of this episode, click HERE.

Reading together creates a sacred and important meeting space for us to bond. But wait. If we're going to say that books are magic, is it always good magic? GUESTS: Vanessa Nielson, Courtney Hinshaw, Megan Dowd Lambert, Alastair Heim, Alice Ozma, Kelly Baker REFERENCES & FURTHER READING: Reading Picture Books With Children by Megan Dowd Lambert A Family of Readers by Roger Sutton and Martha V. Parravano The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma Alastair Heim a gyroscope video See What We See Fred Rogers   For a TRANSCRIPT of this episode, click HERE.

Picture books are comprised of words and pictures … but they’re really made up of so much more than that. GUESTS: Daniel Miyares Lauren Vaughan Yockel Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop   ADDITIONAL AUDIO: Audio of Avi’s acceptance speech is used with permission from The Association for Library Service to Children, the American Library Association, and Weston Woods. Audio of Jessica Love is used with permission from Matthew Winner of The Children’s Book Podcast.   REFERENCES & FURTHER READING: Daniel Miyares Children’s Picturebooks: The art of visual storytelling by Martin Salisbury and Morag Styles Words about Pictures: The Narrative Art of Children’s Picture Books by Perry Nodelman Picture This by Molly Bang Looking at Pictures in Picture Books by Jane Doonan Visual Thinking Strategies Finding the Space Between Words and Images: Inside an Illustrator’s Process by Daniel Miyares Writing is Naming the World by Avi - 2003 Newbery Award Acceptance Speech Jessica Love (The Children’s Book Podcast #438)   For a TRANSCRIPT of this episode, click HERE.

Here is the second of the two beginnings I've chosen for my exploration - and for this we'll use the magic of time travel.    GUESTS: Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop and, of course, Julia and Clara   REFERENCES: Free Within Ourselves: The Development of African American Children's Literature (2007)  Rudine Sims Bishop  Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children's Literature (2008) Leonard S. Marcus  Randolph Caldecott: The Man Who Could Not Stop Drawing (2013) Leonard S. Marcus  A Little Pretty Pocket-Book (1787) The Diverting History of John Gilpin (1878) Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors (1990) Rudine Sims Bishop The All-White World of Children’s Books (1965) Nancy Larrick Additional RESOURCES: “African American children's literature: past and present” (April 21, 1997) John Newbery: Instruction with Delight (2013) Sarah Albee    For a TRANSCRIPT of this episode, click HERE.

Here is the first of two beginnings for my exploration on children's literature + something else that's magic.    GUESTS: Kelly Baker Will Schwalbe   REFERENCES: Child Psychology: A Very Short Introduction by Usha Goswami Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, Who Explored Babies' Mental Growth, Dies at 99 USA Philatelic / Volume 23 / Fall 2018   FOR A TRANSCRIPT OF THIS EPISODE, CLICK HERE.

In this episode you will meet the people in my book club(s), learn the inspiration for this podcast’s name, and find out the correct way to sing “Caps! Caps for Sale! 50 cents a cap!”   GUESTS Judy and Winford Akins Damon Akins Will Schwalbe and, of course, Julia and Clara   REFERENCES: Fisher Price My Little People Busy Town The Three Pigs by David Wiesner Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Moser, illustrated by Blair Lent Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by Rudyard Kipling The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe   For a transcript of this episode, click here.

The Beginning of Your Life Book Club will launch in November - National Picture Book Month! Subscribe now so you won't miss Episode 1!