The Magic Pod-Conversations with Kidlit Creators on Stories, Childhood, & Identity

In Episode 12 — the Season 1 finale of The Magic Pod — we sit down with Zenia Wadhwani, a Canadian author whose books celebrate South Asian heritage with warmth, joy, and a deep sense of community.

Zenia's family traces its roots back to Sindh — a homeland that was lost during the partition of India in 1947. In this conversation she takes us into that loss and what it means to carry a culture when there is no land left to return to. She also takes us into her books — 'Twas the Night Before Diwali, Once Upon a Sari, and Fly in the Chai — stories that say to every South Asian child: you belong somewhere. You come from something beautiful. And that something lives in you.

We talk about community at the center, the diversity within South Asia that the world so often flattens into one, and why anything and everything in your life can be a story.

This episode is for every child who has ever wondered where home is — and every grown-up still trying to answer that question for themselves.

In Episode 11 of The Magic Pod we sit down with Reem Faruqi — Pakistani American author, photographer, and doodler who grew up between Abu Dhabi and Georgia and has never stopped writing about what it feels like to belong everywhere and nowhere all at once.

Reem takes us back to libraries in Abu Dhabi, sad mail in the mailbox, and a brother's offhand comment that sent her back to her manuscript one more time. She takes us through the slow, stubborn, beautiful process of becoming a published author as a Muslim woman from South Asia — and why she kept going even when the rejection pile grew taller than her hope.

We talk about Lailah's Lunchbox, Amira's Picture Day, Zarina Divided, and the graphic novel Ways to Lose that is waiting for a publisher brave enough to say yes. We talk about partition and identity and what it means to write historical fiction rooted in your own family's pain.

And we talk about the one piece of advice she gives every writer who wants to give up — keep trying. Even if it takes years.

This episode is for every child who has ever felt unsettled — and every family that has made a home out of stories.

In Episode 10 of The Magic Pod we sit down with Pooja Makhijani — journalist, picture book author, and one of the most quietly persistent voices in South Asian children's literature today.

Pooja grew up in Central New Jersey reading fifteen library books in three days and dreaming of stories. She published her first picture book Mama's Saris in 2007 — one of the first picture books by a major publishing house to feature a contemporary South Asian American family. And then life happened. But she never stopped writing. And this year she has two books out that prove exactly why.

We talk about Bread Is Love — a sourdough baking story that has nothing and everything to do with being South Asian. We talk about Together for Mama — the first picture book about postpartum depression, written by a woman who lived it, for the children who need to understand it. And we talk about what it means to keep going when the time keeps passing anyway.

This episode contains a conversation about postpartum depression and postpartum rage. If you are listening with young children please use your own discretion.

This episode is for every parent who ever wanted to give up — and every child who deserves to know that their grown-up is human too.

In Episode 9 of The Magic Pod we sit down with Meera Sriram — engineer turned picture book author, two-time South Asia Book Award winner, and one of the most lyrical voices writing for children today.

Meera grew up in India paying to borrow books from a tiny neighborhood lending library, dreaming of white picket fences and wondering what sausage tasted like. She moved to the United States at the turn of the millennium, became a chip designer in Silicon Valley, and then walked away from all of it because she realized that children like her own were missing from the books on her shelves.

We talk about grief and The Yellow Suitcase. We talk about dumplings as a metaphor for humanity. We talk about Amrita Sher-Gil — the trailblazing artist who straddled two worlds and found her sweet spot in the blending of both. And we talk about the one thing Meera tells every child at every school visit — share a mirror and seek a window.

This episode is for every child who has ever felt like their story was missing — and every grown-up who decided to do something about it.

A note on credits:

Meera believes deeply in giving people their due. In this episode she credits Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop — professor emerita at Ohio State University — for the mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors framework. It belongs to her and we are grateful she created it.

In the rapid fire, Meera recommended the following books. Please seek them out:

Watercress — written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin (Caldecott Medal winner)

Spanish Is the Language of My Family — written by Michael Genhart, illustrated by John Parra (Pura Belpré Award-winning illustrator)

A Year of Kites: Traditions Around the World — written by Monisha Bajaj, illustrated by Amber Ren (New York Times bestselling illustrator)

Bread Is Love — written by Pooja Makhijani, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu — find it at thediasporabookshelf.com

Find all of Meera's books at thediasporabookshelf.com

In Episode 8 of The Magic Pod we sit down with Rajani LaRocca — Harvard-trained physician, Newberry Honor recipient, and author of over a dozen books for children. Picture books, novels in verse, nonfiction, and now her debut YA. She does it all.

Rajani takes us back to Louisville, Kentucky in the 1970s — a one-year-old who immigrated from Bangalore, an only child who found siblings in books, and a girl who discovered Amar Chitra Katha in a tiny library in India and felt something click into place in her DNA. She takes us through the nonfiction book about cuts and scrapes that made her want to become a doctor, and the high school teacher who said four words that changed everything — who says you have to choose?

We talk about Raksha Bandhan and patterns and little girls who are good at math. We talk about the Newberry phone call and the shiny sticker. We talk about a Tamil phrase that means I'll go and come back — Poyto Varen — and why we never say goodbye to the people we love.

This episode is for every child who has ever been told they have to pick one thing — and every grown-up who is still unlearning that.

In Episode 7 of The Magic Pod we sit down with Toba Adina-Jao — an Afghan-American author born in Kabul, raised in California, and deeply rooted in the culture, food, and love of the community she carries with her everywhere she goes.

This episode contains a conversation about the refugee experience. If you are listening with young children, head to our Substack for a companion post with tools and resources on how to talk to your child about refugees and immigration with care and respect.

Toba takes us back to a kitchen in California where a mom's hands fold bolani, where three children line up in a train — one wetting, one filling, one sealing — and where every recipe is a love letter to a country she has never been back to. She takes us through her family's refugee journey from Afghanistan, the first grade classroom party where her mom's raisins, almonds, and chickpeas came home untouched, and the moment she realized there were almost no Afghan children's books in the world.

So she wrote one. And then another. And a third is on the way.

We talk about food as a bridge, language as a gift, and why we are far more similar than we are different if we take the time to pause and look at one another.

This episode is for every child who has ever brought something from home that nobody touched — and every grown-up who remembers what that felt like.

In Episode 6 of The Magic Pod we sit down with Anoosha Syed — a Pakistani Muslim illustrator and author who was born in Lahore, grew up across Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Switzerland, and Canada, and is now based in Dallas. She has illustrated over a dozen books including Bilal Cooks Daal, I Am Perfectly Designed, Sari Sisters, and A Hug for Punch. As an author-illustrator she debuted with That's Not My Name, followed by The Salt Princess.

Anoosha takes us through what it means to be always the new kid, to grow up across seven schools in five countries, and to find your way back to your own culture and heritage through the stories you tell. We talk about names, folk tales, and the big secret she shares with every child who wants to be an artist — anyone can do this.

And on September 1st her newest book Love in Every Language arrives — a sequel to That's Not My Name about the love that lives in actions, not words. Pre-order it now.

This episode is for every child who has ever been told that creativity is only for certain people — and every grown-up who is still unlearning that.

In Episode 5 of The Magic Pod we sit down with Anu Chouhan — a Punjabi-Canadian illustrator, author, and video game artist based in Vancouver, whose art blends South Asian heritage with anime, nature, and global fashion in the most beautifully distinctive way. Her graphic novel projects include illustrating Whatever After: Fairest of All for Scholastic and Aru Shah and the End of Time: The Graphic Novel for Rick Riordan Presents. She is also the illustrator of A Dupatta Is... and Henna Is... And in 2024 she made her author-illustrator debut with Hair Oil Magic — an official selection for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in 2025.

Anu takes us back to a childhood of Disney princesses, Chandamama comics, and ghost stories from her dad's village in Punjab — and forward to the moment she poured all of that memory and love into Hair Oil Magic.

We talk about the ritual of hair oiling, why it belongs to every child regardless of gender, and what it means to slow down long enough to let a parent's hands remind you that you are loved. We also talk about what it takes to pursue a creative life when your family is quietly hoping you will go to law school.

This episode is for every child who has ever sat still long enough to let someone love them — and every grown-up who remembers what that felt like.

In Episode 4 of The Magic Pod we sit down with Moniza Hossain — a Singaporean author of Bengali descent, now based in Manchester, whose books are inspired by her heritage and the communities she loves. You might know her from Street Puppy, Masjid Cat — winner of the Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award 2026 and a finalist in the Muslim Book Awards 2025 — or from Ritu in the Sun, a tender, honest story about colorism told across two generations.

Moniza takes us back to a childhood in Singapore steeped in Bengali stories and English fiction, and forward to the moment a 14-year-old girl told her that her skin had been ruined by a holiday tan — and how that one word changed everything.

We talk about mirrors and main characters, theater of the lap, and why the world needs more children who grow up loving the color they are in.

And Moniza has a brand new middle grade novel coming this September — Bad Things Happened Here. It is spooky, it is tender, and you can pre-order it now.

This episode is for every child who has ever been told they are too much or not enough — and every grown-up who is still unlearning that.

In Episode 3 of The Magic Pod we sit down with Jyoti Rajan Gopal — an award-winning picture book author, a mom, and a forever kindergarten teacher. Her books have earned starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Booklist, and BookPage, and she is the recipient of an ALA 2024 Stonewall Honor Book Award.

Jyoti grew up across five countries — Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, China, and India — belonging everywhere and nowhere all at once. She takes us through the languages she carries, the books that shaped her, and the saris passed down from her mother and grandmother that inspired My Paati's Saris.

We talk about raising multilingual kids, why taste tests work better than forced reading lists, and why it's okay for children to fail.

This episode is for every parent of a little one, every teacher who believes in bringing their whole self to the classroom, and every child learning that they don't have to choose just one part of who they are.