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The Children's Book Podcast

@childrensbkpod

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Weekly podcast interviews with #kidlit authors, illustrators, and industry professionals. Host @matthewcwinner. DMs not checked.

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I gave you my words in an earlier post. Now I’m sharing with you my voice.

My friend Stephanie Lucianovic (@grubreport) wrote THE END OF SOMETHING WONDERFUL, a book I have not stopped thinking about. The title came back to me as it became clear that it was time to say goodbye to this podcast.

And so, here we are. Sad to say goodbye, but so, so grateful to have kept such terrific company with you, the listeners, the guests, and the community for over 13 years.

My heart is so full. Thank you for everything. 💕🌈🎧📚 by @childrensbkpod

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the end production of the Children’s Book Podcast.

The show has known many faces, formats, and names. It started as a way for librarians to know authors and illustrators better before inviting them into our schools. It evolved into a blend of craft exploration and a celebration all that we put into the art we make. It’s ending, perhaps, as something more than that.

And while this decision is made on so many different factors, I share now that it’s something I’ve been thinking about for some time.

I believe that this show has served its role in the Kidlit community at just the time it was needed, and now that time has ended. People consume content in ways different to when this show started in 2013. My life has also gone through a great number of changes.

I look forward to whatever projects come next, including writing and publishing, I hope! And I look forward to continuing to be part of this incredible community.

My heart is full from every conversation, every connection made, and every story shared. Those conversations will stay and can be listened to, accessed, and shared for many years to come.

As for me? I’m still here. And I may even post from time to time. I hope to see you here and out in the world, too. I always love running into friends and friends-to-be.

But for now….

Be well, my friends. Be very well. by @childrensbkpod

I've been sitting on this interview for a while, sitting with its wisdom. I'm so excited to share it with you today!

Rachel Orr, editorial agent with Prospect Agency, joins Matthew to talk about growing together and following that gut feeling.

Prospect Agency is an independent literary agency based in the New York City area, offering the highest quality representation since 2005.

I have known of Rachel for some time and love that we have so many mutuals. I have a feeling you may know her as well. How exciting to bring us all together!

Here are a few of the things I learned in this conversation:

NUMBER ONE: Rachel is an editorial agent and says that’s becoming more and more the trend to have agents who also focus on the editorial side of supporting clients.

NUMBER TWO: Rachel is growth-focused with her clients. I love her focus and encouragement for us all to keep writing, take risks, and listen to feedback.

And NUMBER THREE: Rachel talks about encouraging clients to seek the stories that rejuvenate you and remind you of why you’re telling stories in the first place. Excellent advice!

Ready to be rejuvenated?

Click on the link in my bio or listen wherever podcast are found! 🎧 📚 💕

@rachelprospect @prospectagency @boydsmills by @childrensbkpod

This week on the podcast:

JWith the recent passing of Jane Yolen, it has had me in my thoughts and my feelings about those in the kidlit space who have affected and moved me and so many others, not just with their works, but with how they showed up in our lives. I remember an episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood where Mr. Rogers took us to meet his friend, Tomie DePaola. The warmth of his presence and the gentleness of his spirit made it feel like he was a person I could immediately trust.

Many, many years later, when I had grown and began a career as a teacher and school librarian, and had started this very podcast, I had the opportunity to interview Tomie for a book about finding the quiet in the world and in ourselves. Tomie was 83 at the time.

There were things about Tomie’s life that resonated with me deeply and unspoken truths about his identity and his life experiences that I connected with and will hold close. I can still feel a want to hold those details close and keep them just for me. I hope that the books I write one day can reach children the way that those of Leo Lionni and of Arnold Lobel and of Tomie DePaola reached me.

If you are not familiar with Tomie’s work, or if it’s been some time since you last read one of his books, I hope you’ll take this as an invitation to do just that.

Thank you endlessly for making this mark on me, Tomie. I am grateful to have known you, even if so very briefly.

Please enjoy this special encore of my conversation with Tomie DePaola.

Click on the link in my bio or listen wherever podcast are found! 🎧 📚 💕

@boydsmills by @childrensbkpod

This week on the podcast:

Jane Yolen, prolific author and poet of over 400 books, passed recently. The news was devastating and felt across the kidlit community. Jane was a special person to so many. I had a number of memorable interactions with Jane throughout my time in the kidlit space. Each and every time she treated me like one of her own. She treated me like a colleague. She treated me like a friend. She treated me like family. She treated me, I would guess, no different than she treated any of you listening who had the privilege of knowing her, and yet she made me feel altogether singular and special.

She is, without a doubt, a person I strive to emulate in her generosity and in her kindness. She has left the same marks on me and my career and my life as Fred Rogers and Levar Burton and Mrs. Senn, my 2nd grade teacher, and Mrs. Wall, the librarian at the school where I did my internship who inspired me to become a school librarian.

Her impact will continue to be felt and the ripples she made in my life will continue outward for many, many years to come.

If you are not familiar with Jane’s work, or if it’s been some time since you last read one of her books, I hope you’ll take this as an invitation to do just that.

To quote Winnie the Pooh: "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

Miss you, Jane. Love you always, friend.

Click on the link in my bio or listen wherever podcast are found! 🎧 📚 💕

@heidieys @boydsmills by @childrensbkpod

Just when you thought you couldn't love these bookmakers any greater, they sit down in front of mics to talk about making stuff together and your whole world fills with wonder!

Juana Martinez-Neal and Molly Idle, authors and illustrators of Off the Wall: Making Stuff Together (Neal Porter Books), joins Matthew to talk about the journey of a new school year and never having exactly the same class again.

I love both of these guests individually SO MUCH. But talking to them together?! That’s some real bookmaking magic!

Here are a few of the things I learned in this conversation:

NUMBER ONE: Molly and Juana are very different people who have very different ways of making things.

NUMBER TWO: Juana and Molly remind us that if you can just play, it’s a by-pass to any roadblocks. This feels like it has the potential to be a huge unlock for a number of us. I hope that nugget of wisdom serves you as well.

And NUMBER THREE: The path is not easy. There is a good amount of positivity in this conversation, but there’s also a fair amount of conviction and admittance that making books is not for the weak of heart.

Time to learn to play.

Click on the link in my bio or listen wherever podcast are found! 🎧 📚 💕

@juanamartinezn @mollyidle @nealporterbooks @boydsmills by @childrensbkpod

If you are in an elementary classroom that loves reading aloud, it's time to meet the publisher behind some of your absolute classroom favorites!

Nancy Paulsen, president and publisher at Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers/Penguin Random House, joins Matthew to talk about devote most of your time to the work of bringing books into the world.

Nancy Paulsen Books launched its first hardcover list in Fall 2011. The imprint publishes approximately thirty books a year and focuses on picture books that are eye-opening and empowering, and fiction from diverse and distinct voices, especially stories that are inventive and emotionally satisfying.

You know Nancy’s books and you already love her authors. I know this because these books and these voices are universally loved by readers all around the world, myself included. Think of Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s Fish in a Tree or Padma Venkatramen’s The Bridge Home or Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James’ I Am Every Good Thing or Ruth Behar’s Lucky Broken Girl any of the moving and lasting works by Jaqueline Woodson, including Brown Girl Dreaming, The Day You Begin, and Each Kindness.

Here are a few of the things I learned in this conversation:

NUMBER ONE: Nancy is a full time editor and she loves it. Different publishers take on different roles, playing to their strengths. This is one of Nancy’s great strengths and she likens it to the joy of solving a puzzle.

NUMBER TWO: Nancy seeks to publish stories she lovingly refers to as “heart-print” books. Those are the stories that leave a mark and that have the potential to stay with you your whole life.

And NUMBER THREE: Nancy loves publishing books that work well when read aloud. This spoke most strongly to me as a teacher. Not all books carry the voice to be read aloud easily or well. Knowing that this is a quality Nancy looks for is evident throughout her catalog of published titles.

Let’s get to know this one publisher’s approach a little better and, while doing so, remind ourselves that there’s nothing like a book!

Click on the link in my bio or listen wherever podcast are found! 🎧 📚 💕

@nancyrosep @penguinkids @penguinclassroom @boydsmills by @childrensbkpod

Reflection, inspiration, and contemplation throughout AUGUST on the Children's Book Podcast! Look who's coming up! 🎧 📚 💕

08.04.26 - Juana Martinez-Neal and Molly Idle and OFF THE WALL: Making Stuff Together

08.11.26 - Remembering Jane Yolen

08.18.26 - Remembering Tomie DePaola

08.25.26 - Rachel Orr of Prospect Agency

Available wherever #podcasts are found. 📚👍🏽 #kidit #ChildrensBkPod

@juanamartinezn @mollyidle @heidieys @rachelprospect @prospectagency by @childrensbkpod

Your elementary school readers know and LOVE this series so much (and YOU will, too)!!!!

John Patrick Green, cartoonist of Weather or Not (First Second), joins Matthew to talk about the journey of a new school year and never having exactly the same class again.

It is not often that I get to interview someone so widely read in our elementary school library!

Here are a few of the things I learned in this conversation:

NUMBER ONE: John did not grow up loving school. He jokes that it felt more like a prison he was being held in until the requisite age. School is not everyone’s favorite. But I’m glad that John’s books surprise and delight and connect so many readers and make school that much more eventful.

NUMBER TWO: The InvestiGators series has a really quick development cycle. Gotta catch those readers before they age out! John’s making 2-3 books a year with the help of a colorist and, for the Agents of S.U.I.T. series, a co-writer. The joke output must be monumental!

And NUMBER THREE: John’s sense of humor comes from a Muppet sensibility. I think that comes through most clearly when you read an InvestiGators title, where so much of the humor comes across through dialogue and through ridiculous set pieces.

I will not hold you here any longer.

Click on the link in my bio or listen wherever podcast are found! 🎧 📚 💕

@johngreenart @investigatorssuitup @investigators_fanpage @01firstsecond @boydsmills by @childrensbkpod

A conversation about a book about an elementary class obsession!!!!

Sophie Blackall, author of Story Rug (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), illustrated by Phoebe Wahl, joins Matthew to talk about being bound together in community through listening and making things with our hands.

It was wonderful to welcome Sophie to the show and we seemed to connect on just the perfect day. It was a meeting of the mutual admiration society where we dove deep into craft, process, and inspiration.

Here are a few of the things I learned in this conversation:

NUMBER ONE: Sophie loves to explore the stories braided into a community. Every space has such stories, but it often takes being invited or welcomed into such a space in order to earn the right to hear these stories.

NUMBER TWO: This book centers around a classroom obsessed with braiding. Those of you who also teach young children know exactly this kind of class, where there’s always a “something” that the whole class obsesses over and becomes part of the defining characteristics of the class that year.

And NUMBER THREE: Sophie describes herself as being “all curious tangents”. What a great place to find yourself as a storyteller!

Let’s embark on some curious tangents, shall we?

Click on the link in my bio or listen wherever podcast are found! 🎧 📚 💕

@sophieblackall @littlebrown @littlebrownyoungreaders @boydsmills by @childrensbkpod

Turns out I’ve been at this for a while. The show officially became a teenager this month. Cheers to all the listeners. Cheers to all the guests. Cheers to all of the messages and all of the hope shared. Love you all. ❤️🌈📚 by @childrensbkpod

Librarians talking libraries and archives and queer youth FTW!!!

Julie Fiveash, cartoonist of The Froggy Library: Welcome to Soggy Stump (Levine Querido), with colors by Jess Lome, joins Matthew to talk about getting over the challenge of a new project pretending that you know enough about what you’re doing.

A Native librarian making a graphic novel about frogs who are Native and setting up an archive in their library?! Um… yes please!

Here are a few of the things I learned in this conversation:

NUMBER ONE: Archival work! I am a school librarian by trade. We don’t do a ton of archival work, as it happens. Julie makes the process feel electric and important and communal, which it is! This is a world I hope they are able to continue to build out because I am already such a big fan of theirs!

NUMBER TWO: Julie introduced me to the phrase DIT (Do It Together). We throw around DIY like it’s nothing, but DIT has got some serious weight behind it and Julie makes sure to emphasize that together is how Anura and the community will make an archive that will be valued by all.

And NUMBER THREE: The Barnard Zine Library! I honestly had no idea this existed and now it’s all I can think about! I’ll be sure to have a link in the show notes in case you want to browse, too.

Time to enter that glittering world together!

Click on the link in my bio or listen wherever podcast are found! 🎧 📚 💕

@jooliefiveash @levinequerido @boydsmills by @childrensbkpod