The Children's Book Review: Growing Readers Podcast

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall to talk about Stella & Marigold: Past and Presents, the third book in her early chapter book series with Annie Barrows, and Story Rug, her new picture book illustrated by Phoebe Wahl. From a mysterious drawing hidden behind the sofa to a classroom braiding scraps of fabric into something extraordinary, both books celebrate the stories we carry and the people we make them with.

Sophie shares how Stella and Marigold were born on one of her annual writing retreats with Annie, and why the two set out to write a sibling relationship built on kindness rather than rivalry. She also opens up about what it felt like to hand her own manuscript to another illustrator for the first time, and why the pictures she’d seen so clearly in her head simply “evaporated” once Phoebe’s drawings arrived.

📖 Read the transcript on The Children’s Book Review: (coming soon)

Story Rug video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBMZVnyL2dI&feature=youtu.be

Highlights

• Rapid-fire warm-up: Pavlova, Blackwing pencils, a traveling Chinese inkstone, and a studio mess that rates a ten.
• Twenty-plus years with Annie Barrows: From Ivy + Bean to Stella & Marigold, and the morning walks that come before coffee.
• Cool colors and hot colors: Why Stella is drawn in blues and Marigold bursts off the page in reds, yellows, and oranges.
• The hurdle between head and page: Sophie’s encouragement for kids, and grown-ups, to keep drawing even when the result doesn’t match the picture in their mind.
• Specificity over sameness: Why real, quirky details matter more than ever in a world of AI-generated art.
• Ziamara and the elastic nature of time: How Past and Presents explores the children who came before us and those who will come after.
• Procreate and Paperlike: How Sophie keeps her digital work feeling like pencil and paint.
• Letting go with Story Rug: Why handing the pictures to Phoebe Wahl felt like “water through my fingers.”
• Braiding parties and a very catchy song: How Story Rug has inspired real rag rugs in classrooms and bookstores.

Notable Quotes

“Let’s lean into the weird gristly knobbly bits.” —Sophie Blackall

“Books are by nature collaborative, and I think that’s why we love them so much.” —Sophie Blackall

“You can be each other’s greatest ally.” —Sophie Blackall

Books Mentioned

• Stella & Marigold: Past and Presents by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• Story Rug by Sophie Blackall, illustrated by Phoebe Wahl: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• Stella & Marigold (Book 1) by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• Ivy + Bean by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sophie Blackall: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• Farmhouse by Sophie Blackall: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• Hello Lighthouse by Sophie Blackall: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• Charlie & Mouse by Laurel Snyder, illustrated by Emily Hughes: Amazon | Bookshop.org
• Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas: Amazon | Bookshop.org

About Sophie Blackall

Sophie Blackall is a two-time Caldecott Medalist and the illustrator of more than 60 books for children, including Finding Winnie, Hello Lighthouse, Farmhouse, and the bestselling Ivy + Bean series. Originally from Australia, she is also the founder of Milkwood, a creative retreat for the children’s book community in New York’s Catskill Mountains. Story Rug is her first picture book illustrated by another artist.

Visit: https://www.sophieblackall.com/

Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze | Guest: Sophie Blackall | Editor: Kelly Rink | Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes back Academy Award–winning director, writer, and Pixar animator Alan Barillaro to talk about the second book in his illustrated middle-grade series, Bunns Rabbit: The Return of the Spirit Rabbit. In this sweeping sequel, Bunns leaves her sheltered meadow for the sea and has to decide what kind of hero she will be in a world that isn't sure it wants one.

Alan shares the story behind the story: the bedtime readings with his mother that inspired the book's dedication, why an Emily Dickinson poem about hope opens the book, and how a hopeful fox and a doubting albatross carry the idea that the future is never set. He also gets candid about craft, including how he handles feedback, how he gets through a bad creative day, and why he paints ten versions of an illustration. He closes with a first look at his upcoming picture book, Today Will Be Eaten.

Read the transcript on ⁠The Children's Book Review.

Highlights:

• Stopping at Gollum's Riddle: How Alan's mother read to four kids at once, and paused The Lord of the Rings mid-riddle so they could solve it overnight. That memory shaped both the dedication and the bedtime-read-aloud structure of Bunns Rabbit.
• From Belonging to Responsibility: Book one was about Bunns accepting who she is. In book two, she has to ask what she owes the wider world, a story that grows up alongside its readers.
• Hope Is the Thing with Feathers: Why Alan opens with Emily Dickinson, and how the fox and the albatross argue about whether the future is already written.
• Symptoms, Not Remedies: Alan's approach to feedback. He listens for where a reader got "bumped" instead of taking their suggested fix, which keeps a creator's unique voice intact.
• Bad Days and Ten Paintings: Saving research for the evening so a rough writing day sets up a good morning, and painting many versions of a piece so no single one becomes precious.

Notable Quotes:

"I see too many artists give up on that unique voice too quickly and take the quick fix. And the quick fix makes your story like everybody else, and it's not unique to you." —Alan Barillaro

"My biggest hope would be a kid puts that down and says, you know what, I can read The Golden Compass... because I feel confident." —Alan Barillaro

Books Mentioned:

• Bunns Rabbit: The Return of the Spirit Rabbit by Alan Barillaro: ⁠Amazon⁠ | ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• Bunns Rabbit by Alan Barillaro: ⁠Amazon⁠ | ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• Where the Water Takes Us by Alan Barillaro: ⁠Amazon⁠ | ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
• Today We'll Be Eaten by Alan Barillaro: ⁠Amazon⁠ | ⁠Bookshop.org⁠

About Alan Barillaro: Alan Barillaro is an Academy Award–winning director, writer, and animator who spent more than 25 years at Pixar Animation Studios. His directorial debut, the animated short Piper, won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. He is the author and illustrator of the novels Where the Water Takes Us and Bunns Rabbit, and his picture book Today Will Be Eaten is forthcoming.
Visit: ⁠alanbarillaro.com⁠

Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze / Guest: Alan Barillaro / Editor: Kelly Rink / Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes aboard retired Navy Captain, aviation lawyer, and author Mark C. Fava to talk about Andy the Admiral and the USS Shipshape, the first book in his Shipshape Shipmates series.

Inspired by the best leaders Mark served with and by his own Navy father, Andy the Admiral takes young readers onto a bustling aircraft carrier where kindness, good manners, honesty, and teamwork keep everything shipshape. Mark shares how three decades in uniform, a career built on words, and a lifetime of fatherhood came together in a picture book full of heart, humor, and hidden surprises.

Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review.

Highlights:

• It's All in the Inflection: Why "shipmate" can be a scolding or a compliment, and how "Well done, shipmates" became the heart of the book
• A Floating City of 5,000: The doctors, dentists, cooks, mechanics, and pilots who keep an aircraft carrier running
• Finally Getting Sea Time: How a two-week carrier cruise, after 30 years in land-based P-3 aircraft, shaped the book
• Every Word Matters: What a career in law taught Mark about wordsmithing, and why he writes with outlines, lists, and yellow highlighters
• Why the Navy Teaches Friendship: Everyone has a job and everyone depends on each other, at sea and at home
• "Son, Make Me Proud": The father who pinned on Mark's Navy bars, handed down his sword, and told him to take care of his sailors
• You Don't Have to Be Perfect: Mark's advice for kids who dream of joining the Navy, from building paper rockets to not giving up on hard subjects
• Perseverance, Passion, and Persistence: The publishing lessons Mark learned the hard way, including why he waited to launch after the holidays
• Easter Eggs Ahead: Captain the Black Cat, Skipper the Sea Dog, and sneak peeks at Patrick the Pilot and Riley the Rescue Swimmer

Notable Quotes:

"Everybody has a job and everybody is looking to the other person to complete their job." —Mark C. Fava

"Do the best you can, but you don't have to be perfect." —Mark C. Fava

"I hope they remember that there is a reward for being kind to each other." —Mark C. Fava

Books Mentioned:

• Andy the Admiral and the USS Shipshape by Mark C. Fava, illustrated by Agus Prajogo and Yohanes Bastia: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Lessons from the Admiral: Naval Wisdom and Sea Stories for Leaders by Mark C. Fava: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Coming soon: Patrick the Pilot and Riley the Rescue Swimmer

About Mark C. Fava:

Mark C. Fava is a career aviation lawyer and retired U.S. Navy Captain who served 30 years, six on active duty and 24 in the reserves, commanding three units, including a P-3 squadron. As a naval flight officer, he flew missions tracking Soviet submarines in the P-3 Orion. He is a vice president at the world's largest aerospace company and the author of Lessons from the Admiral: Naval Wisdom and Sea Stories for Leaders. Andy the Admiral and the USS Shipshape is his first picture book and the launch of the Shipshape Shipmates series. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with his wife and three daughters.

Visit: https://theshipshapeshipmates.com/Author website: https://markcfava.com

Credits:

Host: Bianca Schulze

Guest: Mark C. Fava

Editor: Kelly Rink

Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Megan E. Freeman to discuss her YA novel in verse, The Secret to Belonging. Megan shares how she turned the experience of being the "invisible child" in a family shaped by a sibling's addiction into a story about longing, courage, and creating joy from the ashes of despair.

From the moment a college fund vanishes to the scholarship that sends her protagonist to a remote corner of Norway, Megan reveals the craft choices behind this lush, aching story: why she wrote the entire novel in second person, how her own exchange year above the Arctic Circle shaped the setting, and why first love is one of many discoveries rather than a rescue. Megan also reads a passage from the book and talks about recording her own audiobook. Whether you're a teen who feels unseen, a parent, an educator, or a lover of novels in verse, this conversation is a reminder that the secret to belonging may be closer than we think.

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

Highlights:

• From Middle Grade to YA: How The Secret to Belonging sat fallow for two years before Megan returned to finish it
• The Invisible Child: Writing about the collateral damage of addiction from the sibling's point of view
• The Reader as Confidant: Why second person let the protagonist tell her unvarnished truth
• Losing the Lifeline: The college fund as the inciting incident, and the parachute that opens after the fall
• Arctic Norway: Megan's own exchange year, learning a language, and feeling like a toddler
• Belonging on Her Own Terms: A first love that isn't a Cinderella story
• The Five-Pointed Star: Why every child needs trusted adults beyond their parents
• Reading and Recording: A passage from the book and the surreal experience of narrating the audiobook

Notable Quotes:"The reader is her true and only confidant." —Megan E. Freeman

"I think that the secret to belonging is in here. It's in yourself. And it's just a question of excavating that and figuring out what that secret is for you in your situation, in your life." —Megan E. Freeman

Books Mentioned:

• The Secret to Belonging by Megan E. Freeman: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Alone by Megan E. Freeman: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Away by Megan E. Freeman: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Me (Moth) by Amber McBride: Amazon or Bookshop.org
• Listen to the Girls by Crystal D. Giles: Amazon or Bookshop.org

About Megan E. Freeman:Megan E. Freeman is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of novels in verse for young readers, including Alone and Away. She spent her junior year of high school as an exchange student in northern Norway, an experience that inspired The Secret to Belonging, and now lives in Colorado. Visit: https://www.meganefreeman.com/

Natalie Foss:

https://www.instagram.com/nat.foss/

Credits:Host: Bianca Schulze

Guest: Megan E. Freeman

Editor: Kelly Rink

Producer: Bianca Schulze

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/