I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journeys.

New blog banners. Kidlit drinks. Ostrich illustrations and fleshy agents. Hot men of children’s literature. Critical race theory! This conversation has it all!

As you may have surmised, we do indeed have children’s author, librarian, podcaster, storyteller, funnyperson, blogger, and reviewer Betsy Bird on the podcast this week, for a much-hyped conversation that delivers.

Betsy is an absolute wealth of knowledge, fitting for a librarian, speaking to people who want to learn more. She’s got stories galore from her years as a librarian, a blogger for the School Library Journal, and as author of several books, among them the recent middle grade Long Road to the Circus. She’s also a podcaster with her sister on the weekly podcast Fuse 8 n’ Kate.

Obscure references abound in this convo, sure, but there’s a lot of non-cliché heart with this humor too.

FYI, chances are that you may forget by the time you get to the end of this episode, but just in case you don’t, or if you read the ep notes while listening, you’ll hear us cut off sort of abruptly at the end. That’s because there’s more in store! Our next episode will feature some friend-submitted questions in an off-schedule bonus convo with Betsy.

And finally, find out more about Betsy at her website, betsybirdbooks.com.