Just Dads Reading Books

It's a picture book episode! This time we're tackling Writer/Illustrator Peter H. Reynolds who has a sharp focus on artist expression and trying to encourage and uplift kids. Some of it reads like motivational speaking, but when it works it works exceptionally well!

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

On this special presentation of Just Sads Reading Books, Matt and EJ grapple with how to get your kids to read important books. Do our children care about Newberry medal winners, or is that just for us? Or is it all Captain Underpants?

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

What an exciting week for everyone. EJ read AND watched, for the first time in his life, one of Matt's favorite movies, Howl's Moving Castle. Matt had never read the book, so they're both entitled to a bit of whimsy, charm, and magic and it'd be great if you joined in!

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

So today begins a project we've wanted to do for a long time. EJ and Matt both grew up on A Series of Unfortunate Events, and it's high time we relived it! We're starting really fast by burning through the first 3 books, The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window, but we promise not every Lemony Snicket episode will be so many books at once. But let's see how the memory of these books, the Jim Carrey movie, and the recent Neil Patrick Harris series live up to a modern reread.

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

We missed our best friend in the whole world. We haven't seen what Timmy Failure is up to since episode 2 of the show and it was time to check in on our favorite Failure. This time: more plot, less polar bear...

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

We're following up last week's heavy teen novel with a much lighter teen novel. IEitLoaC is a book about a girl with no arms. But more than that, it's like if Freaks and Geeks took place in an old western theme park.

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

We found one! Today's book is a recent Science Fiction entry in the Young Adult category and I'll tell ya this: It does not hold back. We wondered aloud before whether sci-fi was at times too cerebral of a genre to be a mainstay in the world of young fiction, but The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera didn't get that memo. It visceral, authentic, and emotionally told and gets top marks from this show.

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

It's time to dive into the deep end on our journey through children's fantasy books with Christopher Paolini's Eragon. It's a thick book about a fantasy word with magic and dragons, what more could you ask for?

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

We've got another week of PICTURE BOOKS! Last week was the patently fiction surrealism of David Wiesner and this week is a 180 degree turn into the non-fiction of Sophie Blackall. She covers a very broad range in the books she's written herself or illustrated for and we want to get a sense of what it's like to do heavy research for a children's book.

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ

It's picture book time! David Wiesner is a THREE TIME Caldecott winner and felt deeply nostalgic for these two millennials. Come exam wordless children's fiction with us and what it means to engage in books WITH your kid.

If you want to chat with us and recommend books or tell us your reaction to book we've covered on the show, please email us at [email protected]

Music by Russian Baths: https://open.spotify.com/artist/07N9Lr8AIzUbDzjPXUXTLr?si=vegRwDLXSF-IpupxjuEPJQ