Kidliterate

In our house, a weekly family meeting on Sunday afternoons helps set expectations, troubleshoot issues, and - best of all - make plans for FUN! In today's episode Sarah does a deep dive into how family meetings work in the Powers house, from what, when, why, and how they happen to sample agenda items and ideas for making them fun for kids of different ages.

As more families start to travel again this spring and summer, we’re chatting about our own wanderlust, and how it relates to the media we consume. We talk about where we’ve been, where we’d like to go, and how the books we read and the shows we watch have inspired our travel goals. Plus we’ve got updates to what we’re reading (and listening to), and what YOU’re reading too. Join us!

Sponsor Spotlight: Ana Luisa

Ana Luisa designs ethically-made jewelry with a conscience, with new styles released every Friday. Allegra loves these Sia earrings and Sarah’s a huge fan of the Mara ring. Visit www.analuisa.com/kidlit to shop for timeless, beautiful jewelry pieces.

Links we discussed:

Books:

Murder Is Bad Manners

Time Traveling With A Hamster

The Baby-Sitters Club Super Special #6: New York, New York!

The War That Saved My Life

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

Shows:

The Aquarium

Taste The Nation

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

The Amazing Race

Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry

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What we’re reading:

What you’re reading:

Email us at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!

Behind the books we read, the podcasts we love, the movies we watch, and the music we listen to are the methods by which we consume the media. From smart speakers to apps, headphones to charging solutions, today's episode is all about the tech in our lives that helps us consume the media we love.

It's easy to get excited about new books at the library or in stores, but sometimes we forget just how many great books we already have at home. In today's episode Sarah and Allegra each choose four books - across multiple age levels and genres from picture books through YA fiction - to spotlight from our home shelves. We share why we chose them, why we love them, and who else might love them too.

From encyclopedias to biographies, nonfiction additions to your home library make for great learning--and fun--at all ages. In Episode 29 we share some of the reasons we love a well-curated nonfiction collection, recommendations for capturing kids' natural interest through nonfiction books, tips for reluctant readers, and more.

From animated comedies to edgy documentaries, 1990s mega-hits to new releases, our family is big into streaming television lately. Today’s episode is fully of recommendations for TV shows to watch as a family as well as shows specifically for elementary-aged viewers, tweens, and teens. As always, we round out the episode with book recommendations inspired by what we’re reading AND what you’re reading with your kids these days. Join us!

Links we discussed:

We mentioned our past episode on Survivor vs. The Amazing Race

Sarah and Allegra love listening to Office Ladies to supplement our watching of the American version of The Office

The World’s A Little Blurry, the Apple TV+ documentary about Billie Eilish, has mature content but was such a great watching experience for parents/teen together

All Creatures Great & Small, on PBS, is family-friendly but possibly a little slow for kids

Gravity Falls (Disney Plus)

We Bare Bears (Netflix)

Wandavision (Disney Plus)

Nailed It! (Netflix)

The West Wing (Amazon, HBO)

We are part of the Amazon Affilates Program, which means if you click through one of our Amazon links and make a purchase, we earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks!

What we’re reading:

Sarah is reading Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at Any Age by Sanjay Gupta

Allegra is about to start This Tender Land: A Novel by William Kent Krueger

What you’re reading:

Joyce, mom to a 5-year-old and 3-year-old is loving Rodham: A Novel, by Curtis Sittenfeld

With Max, age 5, she’s reading aloud Magic Tree House: Merlin Missions and Ivy & Bean

They’ve enjoyed audiobooks The Lighthouse Family series by Cynthia Rylant; Winterbourne Home for Vengeance and Valor by Ally Carter; and the Henry Huggins books by Beverly Cleary

Joyce’s 3-year-old’s current favorite picture books are Madeline, Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, and the Pigeon books by Mo Willems

Email us at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!

Let’s talk about food and cooking–and the media that helps us make and eat yummy stuff! In Episode 27 we share our favorite ways to get kids inspired in the kitchen, from magazines to cookbooks, TV shows to apps. Allegra talks about a multi-course, internationally-inspired meal she recently made from scratch for a school project, and, as always, we round out the episode with what we’re reading and what YOU’re reading. Join us!

Links we discussed:

Highlights Magazine

Subscription Box Services

KidStir

Raddish Kids

America’s Test Kitchen Kids

Cookbooks

American Girl Baking

Favorite Cakes

Masterchef Junior Cookbook

TV Shows

MasterChef Junior

Kids Baking Championship

Top Chef Junior

Chopped Junior

Apps

Toca Kitchen

Toca Kitchen Monsters

Toca Kitchen Sushi

NYTimes Cooking App (Apple | Google)

Gadgets & Gifts

Small chefs knives, like these that we’ve had for years

Wilton Decorating Piping Tip Set

Other episodes we mentioned

Magazine Subscriptions For Kids & Teens

TV Shows To Watch As A Family

We are part of the Amazon Affilates Program, which means if you click through one of our Amazon links and make a purchase, we earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks!

What we’re reading:

Sarah is reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Allegra is reading Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari and The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

What you’re reading:

Amibeth emailed us a great list of book recommendations based on what she is reading to, and with, her three boys, ages 6 and 3 (twins!):

Connor (Age 6):

Zoey and Sassafras series by Asia Citro

Real Pigeons series by Andrew McDonald

Dragon Masters series by Tracey West

Pet Shop Private Eye series by Colleen AF Venable

13-story Treehouse Series by Andy Griffiths

Read Alouds to Connor:

Frank Einstein Series by Jon Scieszka

Encyclopedia Brown by Donald Sobol

Samantha Spinner and the Super Secret Plans by Russell Ginns

Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris

Read Alouds with all 3 kids:

Toys Go Out series by Emily Jenkins

Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

Mouse and the Motorcycle Series by Beverly Cleary

I (mom, Amibeth) am reading:

Sophie Kinsella books

Nora Ephron’s Heartburn

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Email us at [email protected] – we’d love to hear from you!

Listening to audiobooks is a great way to pass the time on car rides or during long days at home, and we have some specific suggestions for HOW to get your kids hooked on listening to great books. In today's episode we share ideas for getting started with audiobooks (even with very young children), plus some specific titles that we love for little kids and several more our bigger kids have been loving lately. As always, we wrap up the episode with what we've been reading and what YOU've been reading.

If you're listening, you probably identify as a reader. But do you give much thought to WHERE, WHEN, and HOW you read? Today's episode is all about our family's reading habits; with two grownups and three kids, we run the gamut between late-night marathon readers to early birds who read in the morning, and everything in between. In this episode we also chat about electronic vs. paper books, reading in bed vs. outside, and more. Plus we'll share what we're reading and what YOU're reading.

Whether it's through an old attic, a mysterious tree house, or a speeding Delorian, the idea of traveling through time to another era makes for great storytelling. Inspired by a new television series that hooked us recently, we look at time travel as a genre: from why we love it to how different authors handle it. We offer some book, TV and movie suggestions for other fans of time travel and, of course, we also share what we're reading and what YOU've been reading lately.