We're celebrating the glorious arrival of spring with a look back at the The Wind in the Willows! Hop into your tiny canoe and watch Toad be a complete sociopath, revel in the many miniature English teas, and wonder where the heck the female inhabitants of the river and wood have disappeared to. Plus: how Beatrix Potter, A.A. Milne and Kenneth Grahame created the anthropomorphism mold; Disney's take on Toad, Mole and Rat and how it scarred us; celebrating Ernest H. Shepard's perfection.

This episode was a listener request - thanks, Joe! If you'd like to make a request, please email us at [email protected]!

MUSIC: Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This is an ultimately-not-so-miniature MINI EPISODE about A Wrinkle in Time (2018)! We may not be the intended audience for this film, but we are still going to talk about it! Spoilers ahead, so please listen after seeing the film if you're interested in checking it out for yourself (we do recommend it to any fan of the book).

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We're completing the Tamora Pierce *Holy Trinity* by following up our episodes on Alanna & Daine with the stoic Keladry of Mindelan! Discover why Grace and Madeleine think Kel is the most relatable of Tortall's warriors, and fall in love with this wise-beyond-her-ten-years hero all over again. This book is surprisingly prescient, and Kel's personal war against hazing, misogyny and outdated values within the knighthood is sure to resonate.

PLUS: Our greatest battle-based fears; favorite medieval combat weapons; not nearly enough Pretend Food; could spidrens be any grosser?

As always, please get in touch with recommendations, corrections, your favorite Numair fan art and more at [email protected]!

MUSIC: Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Are Madeleine and Grace the two princesses? Definitely not - but we are still honoring them with one of our most tangent-heavy episodes yet. Even though we're not perfect parallels between Addie and Meryl, we're thrilled to discuss our favorite Gail Caron Levine book, The Two Princesses of Bamarre. Find out why we prefer this book to Ella Enchanted, listen to us argue over whether Vollys is a great dragon or a terrible dragon, and learn even more about how spiders ruin lives. Whether you're a cowardly princess or a courageous princess (or even a bishonen sorcerer), there's something to appreciate.

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A book so perfect for our podcast mission that it has actually been requested by multiple listeners, A Tale of Time City burst into our lives with all the force of a butter-pie being poked into your eye. Listen in to hear us gush over Diana Wynne Jones' fascinating sci-fi/fantasy time travel extravaganza, and then argue over what a butter-pie might be like in real life for far too long. As inhabitants of an unstable era, we can all benefit from a different perspective. Big thanks to Kate and Madeline for their requests!

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

To follow up our episode on The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, we rewatched The Neverending Story (1984) and an episode of The Neverending Story: The Animated Adventures of Bastian Balthazar Bux (1995). This episode features our brother Patrick! We have a lot of thoughts about these adaptations!

DISCLAIMER: We love fantasy literature and most of our episodes are unflinchingly positive. This is not one of those episodes. This is a highly critical review of Neverending Story-inspired media by three cynical adults who have just spent four straight hours watching a movie and television show made for children. If you do not want to hear grumpy jerks talking about a movie that you love, it's definitely best to skip this one!

Falkor. Atreyu. BBB aka Bastian Balthazar Bux aka Boo... Bad Bro (okay we're reaching but stick with the alliteration please). All your old friends are living on forever in Michael Ende's The Neverending Story - but that's a story for another time. Listen in as Grace grows furious discussing hungry heroes on quests, Madeleine creates the Giant Spider Meter and both of us manage to forget nearly every character's name (but the sheer number of proper nouns does us no favors). In all seriousness, this fascinating novel places familiar folk characters in an entirely new framework and the results are pretty cool. Fans of the 1984 film should definitely check out the source material - there's just no comparison. Hop on your luckdragon and hang tight!

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This is a Very Special Episode about Seattle's Book-It Repertory Theatre production of Howl's Moving Castle! If you're in the Seattle area, we urge you to check out this show ASAP - it's about to close. Beautiful, creative, and totally faithful to the book, this musical adaptation was everything we could have asked for.

Disclaimer: this episode was recorded on our mom's couch and in the throes of a Christmas-candy induced sugar high. Production quality not guaranteed. Check out our Howl's Moving Castle and Witch Week episodes for more Diana Wynne Jones goodness!

Dragonsong holds within its pages every form of miniature dragon we could ask for - dragon babies, baby dragons, and even baby dragon babies (we've never been more on brand). But that's not the only reason we've loved this book since Grace stole our copy from her 5th grade classroom. By turns triumphant and devastating, Anne McCaffrey's classic novel about a gifted, determined and resilient young woman with a penchant for taming fire lizards born into a family that couldn't care less gives outsiders everywhere a rallying cry. We discuss fantasy elements within a sci-fi world, the irrepressible power of music, and the monotony of fish-based cuisine. You don't even need to go *between* to listen, so dive in!

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback and Thatched Villagers by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

We saw Terry Pratchett: HisWorld at the Salisbury Museum - and we have thoughts! This episode features Grace and our mother, Elise - Madeleine was not able to join us on the trip but she was there in spirit. Enjoy!

Photos of the exhibition are up on our website, dragonbabiespodcast.com.

MUSIC - Pippin the Hunchback by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) - Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/