In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with Shaun Tan—the Oscar-winning author and illustrator of The Arrival—to talk about his new visual novel, Hometown, a wildly imaginative, dreamlike story about a girl who must decide whether to trust a stranger who tells her she doesn't belong in the perfect world she's always known.

Shaun shares the story behind the story—how Hometown developed on its own timeline rather than as a deliberate companion to The Arrival's 20th anniversary, why he still doesn't fully understand why themes of home, displacement, and belonging keep resurfacing in every book he makes, and what he hopes a reader might carry from Hometown decades from now. He talks candidly about the despair that shadows every burst of creative inspiration, why he's learned to treat failure as simply "part of the process," and why he finds negative reviews more interesting than frustrating.

Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review.

Highlights:

• Sketchbook Confessions: A rapid-fire round covering pencil-first habits, one word for his art style ("unexpected"), and one word for what home means to him ("familiarity")
• The Arrival at 20, Hometown Arriving New: Why the pairing of his two milestone books this year was pure coincidence, not design
• The Same Story, Different Points of View: Shaun's honest uncertainty about why home, displacement, and belonging keep resurfacing in nearly every book he's made
• The "Steaming Garbage Pile" Part of the Process: How embracing creative despair and failure has made making books a happier experience after two decades
• Belonging With Critical Thinking: Why Hometown's young heroine gathers many points of view before deciding where she belongs—and what that says about belonging in general

Notable Quotes:

"Belonging is essential. Feeling of belonging is essential. But it's got to be some critical thinking about that, because otherwise it's gonna end in chaos." —Shaun Tan

"I'm making books to have a conversation with people, and as broad a group of people as possible. That's what interests me." —Shaun Tan

Books Mentioned:

• Hometown by Shaun Tan: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• The Arrival by Shaun Tan: Amazon | Bookshop.org

About Shaun Tan: Shaun Tan is an award-winning author and illustrator known for visual narratives that explore home, displacement, and belonging, including The Arrival, The Lost Thing, and Tales from Outer Suburbia. In 2011, the animated short film adaptation of The Lost Thing won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Tan lives in Australia.

Visit: https://www.shauntan.net/

Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze / Guest: Shaun Tan / Editing: Kelly Rink/ Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with National Book Award–winning author Shifa Saltagi Safadi to talk about her new novel in verse, Sisters Alone—a heart-stopping story about two sisters, trapped alone by a sudden blizzard, who must survive the storm and finally tell each other the truth.

Shifa shares the story behind the story—how a childhood memory of stealing a library book about dolphins first made her realize she was a reader, why she still wrestles with imposter syndrome even after winning the National Book Award for Kareem Between, and what she wants young readers to take from Rama and Leena's fire-and-ice sisterhood. She reads the opening pages of Sisters Alone aloud and gives listeners a first look at her upcoming picture book, The Kaabah Cat.

Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review.

Highlights:

• The Dolphin Book Confession: How stealing a nonfiction book about dolphins from her second-grade ESL classroom became the moment Shifa first knew she was a reader—and the years-later confession that followed
• Imposter Syndrome, Even Now: Why winning a National Book Award for Kareem Between didn't quiet Shifa's self-doubt—and how she keeps writing anyway
• Fire and Ice: Building Rama and Leena as two sisters with opposite ways of surviving grief, and why both had to feel equally true
• Why Verse: How the spare, poetic form of Sisters Alone became the only way to hold intrusive thoughts, grief, and a blizzard all at once
• A Preview of THE KAABAH CAT: A first glimpse into Shifa's picture book coming this January, about a boy's prayer, a runaway cat, and a joyful romp around the Kaaba

Notable Quotes:

"Sisterhood and love and honesty and opening up to those who love you—that is a strength. It's not a weakness at all to be honest with other people about what our demons are." —Shifa Saltagi Safadi

"Writing just has to come from the heart. And that's definitely not AI... we're sharing our hearts with the world as writers, and it's scary to share your heart with the world." —Shifa Saltagi Safadi

Books Mentioned:

• Sisters Alone by Shifa Saltagi Safadi: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• The Kaabah Cat by Shifa Saltagi Safadi: Amazon | Bookshop.org

About Shifa Saltagi Safadi: Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the National Book Award–winning author of Kareem Between, the Amina Banana series, and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. Born in Syria, Shifa immigrated to the U.S. with her parents as a young girl and is a bilingual Arabic/English speaker. She holds a bachelor's degree in English literature, is a former English teacher, and once reviewed Muslim books on her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog. Shifa is passionate about spreading a love of reading to children through storytimes and school visits, and hopes readers of every background will find themselves in her stories.

Visit: shifasafadi.com

Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze / Guest: Shifa Saltagi Safadi / Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with Caldecott Medal-winning author and illustrator Matthew Cordell to talk about his new picture book, 102—a cozy, topsy-turvy nighttime adventure about a sick child who follows a cricket into a hidden, miniature world on a quest to help a family of mice make a very specific batch of soup.

Matt shares the wild story behind the book's art—drawn entirely with a scented, multi-colored ballpoint pen he found in his kids' art supply stash—along with his own soft spot for owls as an avid birder, why curiosity is the thing that drives his work most, and how fatherhood continues to shape the stories he tells. Along the way, they also get a first look at his forthcoming picture book biography, STARMAN.

Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review.

Highlights:

• The Pen Behind the Book: How a scented ballpoint pen from his kids' art stash became the sole tool for an entire picture book—and why it took sixteen of them to finish
• The Owl Spread: Matt's love of birding, and what it was like illustrating a creature he knows intimately with a tool that offered almost none of his usual control
• Soup as a Story Shape: Why 102 is the second time Matt has built a quest around delivering soup, echoing his earlier book Evergreen
• Curiosity as a Compass: Matt's belief that children's curiosity is the most inspiring force he knows—and why he thinks the world needs more of it
• A Preview of STARMAN: A first glimpse into Matt's next book, a picture book biography of David Bowie, out September 1st

Notable Quotes:
"It's a pretty wild, surreal story... I drew the whole book with a multi-colored ballpoint pen I found in my kids' art supply stash. It took 16 of these pens to do the whole thing—not to put too fine a point on it!" —Matthew Cordell

"Children are bursting with curiosity, potential, and creativity. They are the best and most inspiring audience in the world." —Matthew Cordell

Books Mentioned:

• 102 by Matthew Cordell: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• Evergreen by Matthew Cordell: Amazon | Bookshop.org

• STARMAN by Matthew Cordell: Amazon | Bookshop.org

About Matthew Cordell:
Matthew Cordell has illustrated many books for children, including The Only Fish in the Sea and Follow That Frog, both by Philip Stead. He has also written and illustrated numerous picture books of his own, including Hello, Neighbor!: The Kind and Caring World of Mister Rogers, Bear Island, and Wish. His work has been published in languages including Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, French, and Italian. Matthew's books have been Best of the Year selections by The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe, and his wordless picture book Wolf in the Snow received a 2017 Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor and the 2018 Caldecott Medal. He lives in suburban Chicago with his wife, author Julie Halpern, and their two children.

Visit: matthewcordell.com

Credits:
Host: Bianca Schulze
Guest: Matthew Cordell
Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with 2026 Randolph Caldecott Gold Medalist Cátia Chien to celebrate her luminous picture book Fireworks, created with author Matthew Burgess.

Cátia takes us from the bowling alley parking lot where she received the Caldecott call, to the childhood in Brazil that inspired the book's heartbeat—two sisters discovering the world together on a steamy summer day. Along the way, she shares her philosophy of experimentation over mastery, her belief that children feel everything deeply before they can name it, and why honoring a child's inner world is at the core of everything she makes.

Read the transcript on ⁠The Children's Book Review.

Highlights:

• The Bowling Alley Caldecott Call: The unforgettable moment Cátia received the news—and how her husband and eight-year-old son each responded
• Awards and Inner Validation: The conversations Cátia had with her son about external recognition versus what it means to make art for yourself
• The Opening Spread: Why the book begins with grandma's kitchen—and how that image of love sets the foundation for every page that follows
• The Staggering Finale: Cátia walks through the intimate, luminous final spread and what she was trying to capture about a child's inner world
• Translating Sensation Into Art: How she approached—what does sound look like? what does heat feel like?—and why play is always her starting point
• Experimentation Over Mastery: Her studio practice today and how she knows when a piece is done
• The Librarian Who Changed Everything: How Mrs. Novosel handed picture books to a teenager who couldn't yet speak English
• A Thousand Worlds: The origin story of her free picture book directory celebrating BIPOC creators
• What Children Can Hold: Why protecting children from complexity can leave them feeling alone—and how picture books can be the bridge

Notable Quotes:

"When someone thinks that your work is not good, it's their opinion of the work. The most important question is: what do I think? And then I ask myself—what do I have to learn?" —Cátia Chien

"Take my love with you. That's what this book is. It opens with grandma feeding them so their bellies are full of love and courage before they venture out." —Cátia Chien

"I wasn't a big talker when I was a kid, but I was a big feeler. I felt everything so big." —Cátia Chien

Books Mentioned:

• Fireworks by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Cátia Chien: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• The Bear and the Moon by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Cátia Chien: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz, illustrated by Cátia Chien: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• The Longest Letsgoboy illustrated by Cátia Chien: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠

About Cátia Chien:

Cátia Chien is the 2026 Randolph Caldecott Gold Medalist for Fireworks. A Brazilian Taiwanese painter and visual artist, she is also a New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated award winner, a two-time Society of Illustrators Gold Medalist, and a three-time Golden Kite Award winner. Her acclaimed works include The Longest Letsgoboy, The Bear and the Moon, and A Boy and a Jaguar (ALA Notable Book; Schneider Family Book Award). She has also worked as a visual development artist on animated films including Wish Dragon and The Little Prince. She is the founder of A Thousand Worlds—a free, curated picture book directory celebrating BIPOC creators. She lives with her family in the Bay Area of Northern California.

Visit: ⁠https://www.catiachien.com⁠A Thousand Worlds: ⁠https://www.athousandworlds.com⁠

Credits:Host: Bianca SchulzeGuest: Cátia ChienProducer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with illustrator Z.B. Asterplume to talk about baking joy, courage, and community into Rainbow Cookies, written by Lesléa Newman. When a beloved neighborhood bakery faces backlash over a heart-shaped, rainbow-striped Pride cookie, young Cookie refuses to let that be the end of the story—and what follows is a quiet act of community that reminds readers of every age what love in action looks like.

Z.B. shares how this collaboration came together through an SCBWI connection, why her pen name carries the fingerprints of everyone who has helped her make books, and what it means to illustrate a story that doesn't flinch. She also talks color palettes, digital barrettes, and why the process — not the end game — is the whole point.

Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review (coming soon).

Highlights:

• Inclusive Is the Word: What Z.B. hopes every child carries with them after the last page
• ZB Asterplume Is Not One Person: The story behind the pen name and why collaboration is baked into every book she makes
• The Villain Gets Very Little Airtime: Why Lesléa's decision to focus on action over intolerance was the choice Z.B. connected with most
• The Line Around the Block: The book's most joyful spread and why every tiny vignette tells its own whole story
• A Book as a Constant: Why Z.B. believes a beloved picture book never changes—and why that permanence is the gift she most wants to give young readers
• Don't Focus on the End Game: Z.B.'s honest advice to picture book creators on staying in the process, even when it takes 20 years

Notable Quote:

"The words in that book don't change. They might change meaning for you as you shift. But the book itself doesn't say, I didn't say that. It's not a moving target like so much of the rest of the world can be." — Z.B. Asterplume

Books Mentioned:

• Rainbow Cookies by Lesléa Newman, illustrated by Z.B. Asterplume: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• To Knit a Ghost by Z.B. Asterplume, illustrated by Heather Brockman Lee: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Sometimes a Tiger by Z.B. Asterplume: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠

About Z.B. Asterplume: Z.B. Asterplume is the author-illustrator of Sometimes a Tiger and the illustrator of Rainbow Cookies. Her forthcoming book To Knit a Ghost arrives July 20, 2026 from Penguin Random House. A longtime SCBWI Rocky Mountain member, she lives in Colorado. https://asterplume.com/

Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze | Guest: Z.B. Asterplume | Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with award-winning author and illustrator Philip C. Stead to talk about A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic: Or, Like Lightning in an Umbrella Storm, his uproarious debut middle grade novel from Neal Porter Books.

Best known as the Caldecott Medal–honored creator behind the Amos McGee books, Philip shares what it felt like to step into the novelist's chair and why middle grade has always been the genre closest to his heart. He traces his love of books like The Phantom Tollbooth, The Westing Game, and Roald Dahl, and pulls back the curtain on his writing process—200 words a day, carved in stone—and the feedback that led him to tell Bernadette's story out of order.

Whether you're a parent hunting for funny middle grade books for kids 9–12, an educator drawn to stories that trust young readers, or a writer curious about how a picture book creator builds his first novel, this episode is a celebration of heart, humor, and why every choice matters.

Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review (coming soon).

Highlights:

• From Picture Books to Middle Grade: Why Philip felt like an "imposter" stepping into the novelist's chair—and why middle grade has always been his first love as a reader
• The Books That Made Him a Reader: How Roald Dahl, Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, and Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game shaped his sense of what a book can do
• 200 Words a Day: Philip's deceptively simple writing practice and how he treated each word as if "carved in stone"
• The Out-of-Order Revelation: How one friend's honest feedback unlocked the book's unusual structure—and why he never looked back
• A Castle on 24 Goats: Where Bernadette, Adelbert the forgetful magician, and a Boat That Does Not Grant Wishes actually came from
• 24 Chapters, 24 Morals: Why Philip gave himself this arbitrary boundary, and the throwaway phrase that became his favorite of them all
• Heart Over Cleverness: The guiding principle that kept the book from feeling "cute but dead"
• The Influence Nobody Knows: The lesser-known Norton Juster book Philip discovered at 19 that became the most important influence of his career

Notable Quotes:

"A thing stored in the brain is never as important as a thing stored in the heart." — from A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic

"Cleverness belongs mostly to the maker and really can't belong much to the person experiencing the art. But heart really can." — Philip C. Stead

"If you're a writer and you're listening to this, just figure out how you write and how you do it. How do you put one word in front of another, in front of another? And whatever that answer is, that's the right way to do it." — Philip C. Stead

Books Mentioned:

• A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic: Or, Like Lightning in an Umbrella Storm by Philip C. Stead: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and Erin Stead: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster: Amazon and Bookshop.org
• Alberic the Wise, and Other Journeys by Norton Juster: Amazon and Bookshop.org
• The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: Amazon and Bookshop.org
• A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer: Amazon and Bookshop.org
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig: Amazon and Bookshop.org
• Swimmy by Leo Lionni: Amazon and Bookshop.org
• The Twits by Roald Dahl: Amazon and Bookshop.org
• The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo: Amazon and Bookshop.org

About Philip C. Stead: Award-winning author and illustrator of picture books, including the Caldecott Medal–winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee and A Home for Bird. A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic is his debut middle grade novel. He lives and works in Michigan. Visit him here: https://www.numberfivebus.com/

Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze | Guest: Philip C. Stead | Audio Editor: Kelly Rink | Producer: Bianca Schulze

Episode Sponsor: https://www.rickwilliamsbooks.com/

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with legendary children's book author and SCBWI co-founder Lin Oliver to talk about Pooch on the Loose, the first book in the brand-new series The After-School Kindness Crew, co-written with Academy Award–winning actress and Mind Up founder Goldie Hawn.

Lin shares how a single phone call from Goldie blossomed into a creative partnership rooted in a shared concern for children's mental health—and how the two set out to write books where, in the publisher's words, kindness meets chaos. She introduces the trio at the heart of the series—Tony, Mia, and River—three "outlier kids" thrown together in Ms. Gold's fourth-grade classroom, and pulls back the curtain on her decades-long love affair with humor as a "gateway" into the hearts of young readers. She also explains how she and Goldie found a way to weave Mind Up's brain breaks directly into the story so that the reader at home is invited to pause and breathe right alongside the characters.

Whether you're a parent looking for funny, big-hearted chapter books that model resilience, an educator searching for stories that show kids what it looks like to choose kindness, or a writer curious about how a 50-year kidlit legacy keeps evolving, this episode is a joyful celebration of why every kid deserves to feel seen on the page.

Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review.

Highlights:

• A Phone Call with Goldie: How an unexpected conversation turned into a co-authoring partnership Lin had previously turned down with countless other celebrities
• Three Outlier Kids: Why Lin built Tony, Mia, and River as kids who don't fit in with their peers
• Humor as a Gateway: The story of a mother who heard her son laughing through his bedroom door at night—and why that moment shapes every book Lin writes
• Brain Breaks on the Page: The lightbulb moment when Lin and Goldie realized they could write mindfulness directly into the story for both the characters and the kid at home
• Even Lyle Deserves Love: Why the class bully gets compassion too, and how Mind Up's framework of choice runs underneath the comedy
• The Accidental Founding of SCBWI: How a 22-year-old Lin and Steve Mooser started what is now the largest children's writing organization in the world
• Hopeful, Not Happy: Lin on the one rule that separates children's literature from adult literature
• What's Next for the Crew: A sneak peek at Slam Dunk Day (book two) and a community TV talent show adventure (book three)

Notable Quotes:

"If you start with humor, hopefully there's subtext of plot and storyline and heart and values there. But if you start with the humor, you've got the kids." — Lin Oliver

"You don't have to have a happy ending, but you have to have a hopeful ending. There's a difference there." — Lin Oliver

"If you don't see yourself on the page, you'll go looking for yourself in all the wrong places." — Richard Peck, quoted by Lin Oliver

Books Mentioned:

• The After-School Kindness Crew: Pooch on the Loose by Goldie Hawn and Lin Oliver, illustrated by Breanna Chambers: Amazon or Bookshop.org

About Lin Oliver: New York Times bestselling author of more than 65 children's books, including the Hank Zipzer series (with Henry Winkler), Alien Superstar, and Detective Duck. Co-founder and longtime executive director of SCBWI.

About Goldie Hawn: Academy Award–winning actress, producer, bestselling author, and founder of MindUP, a global children's mental health program that has reached over 7 million children in 48 countries. Visit: https://www.mindup.org/

Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze | Guest: Lin Oliver | Audio Editor: Kelly Rink | Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes back New York Times bestselling author Andy Griffiths and, for the very first time on the podcast, illustrator Bill Hope, to talk about their wildly fun, reader-inside-the-story series, You and Me.

Andy shares how fan mail from kids asking to be put inside the Treehouse books planted the seed for an entirely new kind of adventure—one where the reader is always the co-star. Bill reveals what it felt like to get the secretive call from the publisher, how he solved the puzzle of illustrating characters with no visible identity, and why he still considers his work a long, joyful attempt to scratch the same itch sparked by a Quentin Blake how-to-draw book at age ten. Together, they pull back the curtain on a creative partnership built on high-pressure play, a very low boredom threshold, and Bill's ongoing mission to sneak a human being into at least one illustration.

Whether you're a parent looking for books that work at bedtime for every age in the room, a teacher wanting highly illustrated adventures that do the heavy lifting so young readers can focus on the fun, or a kid who has ever wondered what it would be like to jump into a story yourself — this episode is a joyful celebration of two books that prove the silliest ideas are worth working very, very hard on.

Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review (coming soon).

Highlights:

• The Fan Mail That Started It All: How letters from kids asking to be put inside the Treehouse books gave Andy the idea for an entirely new series
• High-Pressure Play: What it felt like for Bill to audition for the biggest job of his career — and why Andy and Jill's secret weapon is a very low boredom threshold
• The Cardboard Box Solution: How Bill solved the puzzle of illustrating two characters with no visible identity—and why first-person perspective alone was never going to work
• Johnny Knucklehead Was Supposed to Be a Side Character: How a fifth sketch became the series' most beloved agent of chaos—and why he keeps getting bigger with every book
• Themes That Emerge from the Fun: Why the quiet life lessons in both books weren't planted there, they grew
• Pity the Reader: Andy on Kurt Vonnegut's guiding principle and why every creative decision comes back to making reading as pleasurable as possible

Notable Quote:

"There's no wrong answers, no jokes that are too silly. You sort of put a lot of stuff out there — it's a long period of me just pitching dumb stuff at Andy and seeing what sticks." — Bill Hope

Books Mentioned:

• You and Me and the Land of Lost Things by Andy Griffiths and Bill Hope: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• You and Me and the Peanut Butter Beast by Andy Griffiths and Bill Hope: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• 101 Books to Read Before You Grow Up (Revised Edition) by Bianca Schulze: Amazon⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠

About Andy Griffiths: New York Times bestselling author of The Day My Butt Went Psycho!, the Treehouse series, and many more. Named the Australian Children's Book Laureate. Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Project. Visit: andygriffiths.com.au

About Bill Hope: Artist and illustrator living in the Blue Mountains, Sydney. His graphic novel An Interior Life won the Golden Ledger award for Australian Comics. Visit: billhope.com.au

Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze | Guests: Andy Griffiths and Bill Hope | Audio Editor: Kelly Rink | Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes author and teacher librarian Jolene Gutiérrez and John Tonai, son of Minoru "Min" Tonai, to discuss the powerful picture book Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp.

Jolene shares how a childhood lesson from her grandparents about Amache — a Japanese American incarceration camp in southeastern Colorado — planted a seed that grew into a decades-long mission to bring Min's story to young readers. From their first phone call in 2017 to a signed contract in 2023, Jolene and Min built a collaboration rooted in trust and a shared belief that this history must never be forgotten. John reflects on his father's quiet, behind-the-scenes advocacy, the emotional weight of signing books in his absence, and what it meant to finally stand at the door of his father's barrack at Amache and realize that every repeated story had been living inside him all along.

Whether you're a teacher looking for a picture book that opens honest conversations about civil rights and injustice, a parent wanting to share difficult history with care, or a reader who believes the best books are both feeling books and discussion books, this episode is a moving celebration of one unbreakable family — and the storytellers who made sure their truth reached the children who need it most.

Read the transcript on ⁠The Children's Book Review⁠.

Highlights:

• A Seed Planted at Twelve: How Jolene first learned about Amache from her grandparents — not her history class — and why that gap became the driving force behind this book
• Six Years in the Making: Why Jolene shifted from a broad nonfiction project to one person's intimate story — and what that journey to publication looked like
• Walking Through His Front Door: John's experience photographing Amache and realizing his father's endlessly repeated stories had been living inside him all along
• The Fire in Min: What Jolene saw in Min that told her this wasn't just a story about the past — it was a warning and a promise about the future
• The Words Are Fixed, the Interpretations Are Infinite: On what it means for a story to leave its author's hands and become the reader's own

Notable Quote:"He was telling this story so that it never happens again." —Jolene Gutiérrez

Books Mentioned:

• Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp by Minoru Tonai and Jolene Gutiérrez, illustrated by Chris Sasaki: ⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠

About Jolene Gutiérrez:Jolene Gutiérrez is an author and teacher librarian whose work is rooted in bringing underrepresented histories to young readers. Unbreakable is her debut picture book. Visit: ⁠https://www.jolenegutierrez.com/⁠

About John Tonai:John Tonai is the son of Minoru "Min" Tonai, whose lived experience as a Japanese American child incarcerated at Amache is the heart of Unbreakable. Following his father's passing in 2023, John and his sisters have carried the book forward with care. Visit: ⁠https://www.unbreakablemintonai.com/⁠

Densho — Min Tonai's oral history interviews

• Interview I: ⁠https://ddr.densho.org/interviews/ddr-densho-1000-354-1/⁠
• Interview II: ⁠https://ddr.densho.org/interviews/ddr-densho-1000-302-1/⁠
• Densho main oral history collection: ⁠https://densho.org/collections/oral-history/⁠

Amache National Historic Site

• NPS official page: ⁠https://www.nps.gov/amch⁠

Chris Sasaki

• Personal website: ⁠http://www.csasaki.com⁠
• Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/christopher_sasaki/⁠

Credits:

Host: Bianca Schulze

Guests: Jolene Gutiérrez and John Tonai

Audio Editor: Kelly Rink

Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes author and audiobook narrator Sandra Nickel to discuss her luminous, lyrical picture book biography, The True Ugly Duckling: How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan.

Sandra shares how a lifetime of loving fairy tales collided with a deep personal connection to neurodivergence—and how a strange, tender, relentlessly creative boy from Denmark became the perfect vessel for a story about what happens when your differentness is exactly what makes you extraordinary.

From writing in complete silence to choosing a fairy tale structure over a traditional biography, Sandra reveals why emotional distance is one of fairy tales' greatest gifts, how she crafted a book for every child who has ever felt like they were too much for the world around them, and why Hans Christian Andersen might be the most quietly radical figure a child reader could encounter today. Whether you're a parent of a kid who masks, an educator looking for a biography that reads like a bedtime story, or a reader who has ever had a door shut in your face and wondered if you should stop knocking, this conversation is a warm and tender celebration of the children the world almost missed.

Read the transcript on ⁠The Children's Book Review⁠.

Highlights:

• Strange Child, Extraordinary Legacy: How the very qualities that made Hans Christian Andersen an outsider became the source of his enduring genius—and why Sandra wanted children to see themselves in that
• The Fairy Tale Structure Decision: Why Sandra chose to write a biography that feels like a fairy tale—and what emotional distance a fairy tale can offer that a straight narrative cannot
• Writing Toward the Child Who Needs It Most: How Sandra thinks about the child reader she can't quite define—the one who may never have a label but is walking around feeling like they're too much for everybody
• It Was Always the Children Who Loved Him: The remarkable fact that it was adults who kept shutting doors on Andersen—and children who kept his heart going
• He Just Kept Reinterpreting the Direction: On perseverance, inner voice, and what it looks like to keep following your true self even when the path keeps shifting
• Seven, A Remarkable Pigeon: Sandra's picture book, written at the same time, and why these two stories about using your differentness as your superpower will always be linked
• A Love Letter to Seekers: What Sandra most wants the child reading this book to feel—and why she hopes they'll go straight to Andersen's own stories next

Notable Quote:

"What made him strange is exactly what made him extraordinary." —Sandra Nickel

Books Mentioned:

• The True Ugly Duckling: How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan by Sandra Nickel: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• Seven: A Most Remarkable Pigeon by Sandra Nickel: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠

About Sandra Nickel:Sandra Nickel is the author of several picture books for young readers, including The True Ugly Duckling: How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan and Seven: A Remarkable Pigeon. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and brings both a writer's craft and a deeply personal lens to stories about children who feel different. Her work champions neurodivergent kids, outsiders, and anyone who has ever had to find their own way to the door. Visit ⁠https://sandranickel.com/

Credits:Host: Bianca SchulzeGuest: Sandra NickelAudio Editor: Kelly RinkProducer: Bianca Schulze