On Today's Show

• "This is happening in our world and at the very least you can bear witness to it. That's literally the absolute least you can do. - Sabaa Tahir
  
  

Sabaa Tahir’s (“All My Rage,” “An Ember in the Ashes” quartet) upbringing in the Mojave desert, isolated nearly 100 miles from the nearest city, exposed her to an unforgiving landscape and also many unforgiving truths of humanity. Within this backdrop, one place held significant importance in shaping her worldview: The Motel, a small business operated by her immigrant parents.  As she notes, “The good is what helps you survive, but the bad is what makes you wary and careful and makes you lonely at times.” Sabaa ventured into the realm of academia and later pursued a career in journalism, where her understanding of the world's imperfections deepened. The essence of Sabaa’s stories lies in the raw exploration of sorrow and frustration…and taking action.  

In this episode, Sabaa delves into the experiences of her childhood that left an indelible mark on her perspective of the world. From the motel her parents ran, to sonic booms, to wearing (dreaded) dresses on Mondays, Sabaa’s youth sounds eerily like a superhero origin story. She also opened up about the “outsized impact” of her time copy editing at The Washington Post and its influence on her writing. Sabaa reveals how she channels her outrage to resonate with her coming-of-age readers, validating their shared frustrations and coming to terms with her own.

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Keep up with Jordan and The Reading Culture @thereadingculturepod and subscribe to our newsletter at thereadingculturepod.com/newsletter. Join Sabaa on social @SabaaTahir

***

For her reading challenge, Authors of the Muslim Diaspora, Sabaa wants readers to open up to other perspectives from Muslim diaspora authors, including their cultures, traditions, mythologies, and humor. She curated a fabulous reading list, and I invite you to check it out. Reading challenges are always available at thereadingculturepod.com.

In this episode, we’re once again changing things up for our Beanstack featured librarian. Today we give the mic one more time to Lessa Kananiʻopua Pelayo-Lozada, the current American Library Association president, to share more about the upcoming ALA conference and exhibition. Beanstack has proudly participated in ALA exhibitions for the last eight years! 

Contents
Chapter 1 - The Middle of Nowhere (for real)

Chapter 2 - The Motel

Chapter 3 - One Art

Chapter 4 - The Eyes of an Editor

Chapter 5 - Books Like Sad Songs

Chapter 6 - Back to Fantasy Land

Chapter 7 - Lego Proof Socks

Chapter 8 - Muslim Diaspora

Chapter 9 - Beanstack Featured Librarian

Links

• The Reading Culture
• Sabaa Tahir
• Sabaa's Books 
• The Reading Culture on Instagram (for giveaways and extra content)
• Beanstack resources to build your community’s reading culture
• Sabaa Tahir on growing up in a motel - Vox
• ALA Annual Conference
• The Children’s Book Podcast

Host: Jordan Lloyd Bookey

Producer: Jackie Lamport and Lower Street Media

Script Editors: Josia Lamberto-Egan, Jackie Lamport, Jordan Lloyd Bookey

On Today's Show

• "I think there's recognition that publishing is better the more voices are heard, and the more diverse those rooms can be as well –that it's not just a matter of changing the skin tone of a character, it's that culture is all these things that are seen and unseen, and it's in your world building." - Angeline Boulley 

Angeline Boulley was born into story-telling people. As a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, she was first introduced to the art through generational oral tradition. Yet during her childhood, Angeline struggled with her biracial indigenous identity. In searching for representation through the stories in books she was reading, she realized that the examples she found lacked depth and true experience. 

It wasn’t until her mid-forties that she realized she could write her own experience into existence. For nearly three decades, Angeline had mulled over a story idea, until she decided it was time to write this story. After another decade of working full-time (like really full-time as a mom of three with a big-time DC job) and seeking out time to write, she debuted with her award-winning novel, “Firekeeper’s Daughter.”

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Keep up with Jordan and The Reading Culture on Instagram @thereadingculturepod and Angeline @AngelineBoulley

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In this episode, Angeline explores her long journey to becoming an author and the themes in her latest work, “Warrior Girl Unearthed.” As Angeline says, it is time for a reckoning with the inhumane treatment of indigenous people’s remains still not repatriated throughout the United States. She shares how writing about her relationship to her culture helped her uncover her true identity and her goal to provide younger generations with authentic ideas of indigenous culture. 

For her reading challenge, Still Here, Angeline encourages readers to explore contemporary indigenous writers. While reading these modern stories, she challenges us to compare and contrast what has been taught previously about native cultures. I invite you to check it out, and for Beanstack clients, use the challenge on your site! Reading challenges are always available at thereadingculturepod.com.

In this episode, we’re changing things up for our Beanstack featured librarian. Today we give the mic to Lessa Kananiʻopua Pelayo-Lozada, the current American Library Association president, to share more about the upcoming ALA conference and exhibition. Zoobean has proudly participated in ALA exhibitions for the last eight years! 

Contents

Chapter 1 - Over the horizon (2:16)

Chapter 2 - Summers in Sault Ste. Marie (6:35)

Chapter 3 - Stranger With My Face (12:10)

Chapter 4 - The Fire behind “Firekeeper's Daughter” (16:41)

Chapter 5 - We want our ancestors back (20:49)

Chapter 6 - A Collection of Scalps (24:41)

Chapter 7 - The weight of educating others (27:40)

Chapter 8 - Casting Call (29:46)

Chapter 9 - Reading Challenge (33:37)

Chapter 10 - Beanstack Featured Librarian (34:45)

Links

• The Reading Culture: thereadingculturepod.com
• Angeline’s Boulley: https://angelineboulley.com/
• Angeline’s Books: https://angelineboulley.com/books.html
• The Reading Culture on Instagram (for giveaways and extra content): https://instagram.com/thereadingculturepod  
• Beanstack resources to build your community’s reading culture: Beanstack
• Letter from Shannon O’Loughlin (Choctaw) to Harvard University: http://www.indian-affairs.org/uploads/8/7/3/8/87380358/2021-02-18_harvard_letter_repatriation.pdf 
• Karl May, whose museum Angeline visited in Dresden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_May 
• Lessa Kananiʻopua Pelayo-Lozada: https://www.lessaforlibraries.com/
• The Children’s Book Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-childrens-book-podcast/
  
  

Host: Jordan Lloyd Bookey

Producer: Jackie Lamport and Lower Street Media

Script Editors: Josia Lamberto-Egan, Jackie Lamport, Jordan Lloyd Bookey

In This Episode

• "It is through these books and through this work that I'm doing that I hope that I can be a worthy companion of [children's] journeys, because they have a lot of journeys to go through, and there is nothing more difficult than going through those journeys alone." - Yuyi Morales

Growing up in Mexico in the 60s and 70s, Yuyi Morales wasn’t familiar with children’s books. Instead, she was surrounded by a family of vibrant storytellers, and a mother whose creative side was brought out through her passion to make anything and everything needed around the house. As an adult, Yuyi found herself living in America and learning English, through which she discovered and fell in love with children’s books. A Caldecott Honor recipient and Pura Belpré Award winner, today, Yuyi merges her youth and experience in America to create magical, colorful, and entirely original picture books. 

***

Keep up with Jordan and The Reading Culture podcast on Instagram @thereadingculturepod and Yuyi @yuyimorales 

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In this episode, Yuyi explores her experience as an immigrant to the United States and her constant immigrant journey now that she is living and creating in Mexico. She shares about everything from how her stories helped quell her homesickness to the inspiration for her more recent picture books (including this picture that she references in the show). Notably, Yuyi tells us about how she embraces the magical influences in her storytelling, and her secret to finding joy in every crevice of life, no matter the starting point.

This episode's Beanstack featured librarian is Pam Hamlin, a Family Literacy Specialist at Prince George's County Memorial Library System in Maryland. She has a message for parents and teachers of young children.

As with all episodes, our author guest creates a unique reading challenge that is available on Beanstack and also at thereadingculturepod.com. Listen to the episode to learn more about Yuyi Morales’ reading challenge, Migration Stories. 

Contents

Chapter 1 - The Blue Elephant (2:46)

Chapter 2 - Baby on the Roof (8:09)

Chapter 3 - El Ahogado Más Hermoso del Mundo (11:01)

Chapter 4 - From Mexico to the United States, and back again (20:38)

Chapter 5 - Dreamers (24:34)

Chapter 6 - The Secret to Joy (32:23)

Chapter 7 - Migration Stories (35:46)

Chapter 8 - Beanstack Featured Librarian (37:29)

Show Links

• The Reading Culture podcast homepage: thereadingculturepod.com
• Yuyi Morales: https://yuyimorales.com 
• Yuyi’s Books: http://yuyimorales.com/catalogue/?page_id=1867 
• The Reading Culture pod on Instagram (for giveaways and extra content): https://instagram.com/thereadingculturepod  
• Yuyi Morales on Instagram: https://instagram.com/yuyimorales 
• Beanstack resources to build your community’s reading culture: Beanstack
• Pam Hamlin’s home library (PGCMLS):  https://www.pgcmls.info/
• The Children’s Book Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-childrens-book-podcast/
  
  

Host: Jordan Lloyd Bookey

Producer: Jackie Lamport and Lower Street Media

Script Editors: Josia Lamberto-Egan, Jackie Lamport, Jordan Lloyd Bookey

On Today's Show

• “If you write about the world as it is, there's too much of a danger of it just feeding into our assumption that everything that we live with is right and normal. Whereas if you start to say, well wait, let's project this into the future, or let's see where this comes from in the past, suddenly it opens up a whole new vista about what the present is doing." - M.T. Anderson
  
  

M.T. Anderson's home in small-town Vermont is rumored to be haunted and he relishes the ghost stories told about it. Despite his analog lifestyle and lack of belief in the paranormal, he spends a lot of his time dreaming up sci-fi and fantasy adventures. Aside from just being fun, he considers the genre to hold a unique power in removing our own preconceived ideas and giving us fresh eyes to rethink our values and society.  

M.T. has demonstrated that ability in books like Feed, Landscape with Invisible Hand, and even his historical fiction duology Octavian Nothing. But to realize the power of the genres, he had to overcome the stigma that sci-fi and fantasy were inferior to traditional realism, or as he calls it, “New York realism.”

In this episode, M.T. takes us on his own journey to embracing these genres as a writer, he talks about the growing relevance of their ability to offer societal critiques and representation in the increasingly hostile censorship movements, and he tells us about his new story where he uses a new perspective to learn about the world (his dog’s).

For his reading challenge, Hometown Lore, M.T. challenges readers to find the magic and weird stories hidden in their hometowns. Reading challenges from other author guests are always available at thereadingculturepod.com.

This episode's Beanstack featured librarian is Iuyana Miller, the media specialist at Young Middle School in Atlanta. Along with being the 2022 Media Specialist of the Year for Atlanta Public Schools, she is also referred to as the “book fairy” by her elementary students. Iyuana shares a story of how she ventured beyond her comfort zone to meet her middle school kids where they are and engage them more than she ever imagined.

Contents

Chapter 1 - The Ghost and the Corgi (2:07)

Chapter 2 - The Forest of Massachusetts (4:44)

Chapter 3 - Moominland Midwinter (in winter) (9:46)

Chapter 4 - Building on ruins (16:08)

Chapter 5 - Aliens Make Everything Better (20:18)

Chapter 6 - The truth behind the fantasy (26:37)

Chapter 7 - The magical dog (31:22)

Chapter 8 - Hometown Lore (34:17)

Chapter 9 - Beanstack Featured Librarian (36:05)

Links

• thereadingculturepod.com
• thereadingculturepod.com/mt-anderson
• M.T. Anderson
• https://www.beanstack.com
• https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-childrens-book-podcast/
  https://www.atlantapublicschools.us/young

Creators & Guests

• “I remember everything was so shiny. Like the way that Pat illustrated that book, everything glistened, and main characters were Black and that was really cool for me. It was so colorful. I just wanted to live in that world.” - Shadra Strickland on “Clouds” by Pat Cummings

One of Shadra Strickland’s earliest memories is drawing underneath her grandma’s table. From a young age, she had a visual, creative mind. As the daughter of an English teacher, she was an avid reader, and words were important, but it was picture book illustrations that opened her up to a whole new side of storytelling. With a love for drawing from a young age, Shadra soaked up every color and every shape in those books. As an adult, she has pursued a career in illustrating children’s literature and has earned many accolades.

But throughout her experiences illustrating other authors’ stories, a storyteller within her began to emerge, and in 2023 she made the leap to author-illustrator with “Jump In!”. 

In this episode, Shadra takes us through the important artistic influences and moments in her life that led her to this debut solo picture book. She shares the elements of art that stand out to her and how she applies them to her work, and we also discuss the rise and ethics of AI art.

This episode's Beanstack featured librarian is Jen Siderius, the media specialist at New Market Elementary School in Maryland. She shares a heartwarming story about the value of making different book formats available to students and families.

As with all episodes, our author guest creates a unique reading challenge available on Beanstack and at thereadingculturepod.com/shadra-strickland. Listen to the episode to learn more about Shadra’s challenge, Move It!

Contents

Chapter 1 - Newspaper Clippings (2:33)

Chapter 2 - The Allure of Clouds (6:46)

Chapter 3 - Come on, Rain! (12:32)

Chapter 4 - Jumping in to Jump In! (17:28)

Chapter 5 - Out-hustling the Robots (25:36)

Chapter 6 - Doin’ the double-dutch (27:56)

Chapter 7 - What’s next? (30:58)

Chapter 8 - Move It! (34:04)

Chapter 9 - Beanstack Featured Librarian (35:05)

Links

• The Reading Culture pod
• The Reading Culture pod on Instagram
• Shadra on The Reading Culture pod
• Shadra Strickland
• Shadra Strickland on Instagram
• Beanstack
• Home | New Market Elementary School
• The Children's Book Podcast
  
  

On Today's Show

• "I think there's so much you can do. It's so rich because you have words, you have pictures. Sometimes they say the same things, sometimes they say opposite things. There's such an interplay between the two that I feel like there's so many possibilities." - Victoria Jamieson
  
  

Victoria Jamieson was always an introverted child, but a move across states in middle school pushed her further inward and made her grasp for familiarity. She quickly found comfort in the local library after her mother became the regular host of their summer reading program. While Victoria was an avid reader, burning through Ramona Quimby stories, she also found herself deeply interested in the Sunday comics in newspapers, and eventually comics such as Calvin and Hobbes. 

This lifelong interest in artwork and storytelling would inspire her own career as an author-illustrator. But as Victoria discovered an additional gap in the comic industry for middle-grade literature, she was influenced to take a shot at writing her own graphic novel.

Today, Victoria talks to us about why she loves illustrations in literature, authors that inspired her, and how a dream job rejection inspired her first book.

This episode's Beanstack featured librarian is John Henry Evans, a school librarian at Walter T. Helms Middle School at West Contra Costa Unified School District in California. Today, John Henry shares a moving story about a student, a book, and an unexpected post-it note.

As with all episodes, our author guest creates a unique reading challenge that is available on Beanstack and also at thereadingculturepod.com. Listen to the episode to learn more about Victoria’s challenge of looking through some new “little windows”.

Contents

Chapter 1 - Owner of the library (2:04)

Chapter 2 - Ramona and Beezus (6:57)

Chapter 3 - From Ramona to Rollergirl (11:01)

Chapter 4 - Astrid, The Likeable (15:07)

Chapter 5 - The allure of Lego manuals (18:06)

Chapter 6 - Omar’s Story (24:40)

Chapter 7 - Warm Welcomes (32:27)

Chapter 8 - Little Windows (36:33)

Chapter 9 - Beanstack Featured Librarian (37:45)

Links

• thereadingculturepod.com
• https://www.victoriajamieson.com/
• https://www.beanstack.com
• https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-childrens-book-podcast/
• https://www.wccusd.net/

On Today's Show

• "A lot of my books have characters who are lonely, who are trying to figure out their way, who don't feel seen in the world, who don't know how to use their voice. I want to write books for those kids because I want a safe way for them to navigate all that stuff." - Erin Entrada Kelly
  
  

As an introvert battling depression and bullying, it was easy for Erin Entrada Kelly to feel overlooked by those around her, but she found her place in reading and finding uniquely relatable characters. Not those she shared outward similarities with, but those she was able to empathize with on an emotional level.

Inspired, Erin also began to write her own stories, –something that allowed her to build her own world, her own identity, and provide her with that outlet and sense of control she never felt she had. 

Erin’s admiration for these complex characters and an unrelenting dream of being a writer pushed her into the world of youth literature. Her ability to understand and convey the perspective of vulnerable, unseen children in her writing has found her a closely-bonded, communal audience. 

Erin talks to us today about her favorite books growing up, her path to youth literature, and why she believes kids are not ‘incomplete vessels.’ 

This episode's Beanstack featured librarian is Erin Bechdal, a middle and high school librarian at Beaver Area School District in Pennsylvania. She’ll tell us about her go-to author recommendation for students. 

As with all episodes, our author guest creates a unique reading challenge available on Beanstack and at thereadingculturepod.com/erin-entrada-kelly. Listen to the episode to learn more about Erin’s challenge, Here to There.

Contents

Chapter 1 - The Unseen Child (2:12)

Chapter 2 - Born Writing (8:34)

Chapter 3 - Hurricane Child (11:01)

Chapter 4 - Short Stories, Long Journey (15:02)

Chapter 5 - Incomplete Vessels (20:42)

Chapter 6 - A 200-person hug (24:24)

Chapter 7 - Out-of-place (and time) (30:57)

Chapter 8 - Here to There (33:16)

Chapter 9 - Beanstack Featured Librarian (34:15)

Links

• thereadingculturepod.com
• https://erinentradakelly.com/
• https://www.beanstack.com
• https://www.basd.k12.pa.us/
• https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-childrens-book-podcast/
  
  

On Today's Show

• "I go to the locations in the books when I can, and I go there and I scout them the same way I scouted them when I was shooting documentaries. I'll just kind of walk around the same way I did for years producing television to really figure out the best way to take advantage of a location." - James Ponti

As a child, James Ponti was not a reader. Instead, he discovered an interest in storytelling through film. James’ mother’s own love for movies, coupled with her artistic career piqued his curiosity about the life of a creative. Throughout his 25 years of experience in visual media, James continued to master his understanding of storytelling techniques, characters, and worldbuilding. Additionally, location scouting for the screen would go on to inspire some of the backdrops for his most famous works.

James’ unique perspective from his start in visual storytelling allowed him to become the immersive, illustrative author that he is today. In this episode, James shares about movies that influenced him, how locations inspire his work, and his transition from movies and television to kidlit. 

As with all episodes, our author guest creates a unique reading challenge that is available on Beanstack and also at thereadingculturepod.com/james-ponti. Listen to the episode to learn more about James’ challenge, Mystery Author. 

Contents

Chapter 1 - The Great Escape (1:46)

Chapter 2 - All The President’s Men (4:43)

Chapter 3 - Santa’s Slay ‘79 (6:21)

Chapter 4 - On The Hospital Floor (8:38)

Chapter 5 - From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (12:25)

Chapter 6 - In Good Company (24:37)

Chapter 7 - Co-Conspirators (28:04)

Chapter 8 - Mystery Author (31:33)

Chapter 9 - Beanstack Featured Librarian (33:01)

This episode's Beanstack featured librarian is Kathleen Durant, the Librarian at Camden Middle School in Kershaw County, South Carolina. Listen to the end to hear her creative approach to make reading new books a fun experience for kids.

Links

• https://www.jamesponti.com/
• https://www.beanstack.com
• https://www.thereadingculturepod.com/james_ponti

On Today's Show

The author of the “Prophecy” trilogy and “Spirit Hunters” series and the founder of We Need Diverse Books, Ellen Oh is equal parts no-nonsense and hilarious truth-teller. 

• "We all know the importance of representation in books and how life-affirming it can be for those who are historically underrepresented. Books are powerful. There's a reason for all this book banning. Books are more important than ever.” - Ellen Oh

Ellen Oh learned early on that she would have to fight against the bullies at her school. Growing up as a Korean-American in New York City, she experienced discrimination often. Public libraries became her safe haven, a place to escape and let her imagination wander. Even as an adult, Ellen finds solace in them and wrote her first novel at the library.  

On this episode, Ellen joins us for a live conversation at the 2023 American Libraries Association LibLearnX conference in New Orleans to share more about how racism and social injustice inspired her writing and her activism. In this wide-ranging conversation, Ellen shares very personal stories, her work as founder of We Need Diverse Books, as well as her sentiments on, ‘soft censorship’ and the recent spate of book bans disproportionately impacting the diverse books she has fought so hard to cultivate. Ellen is truly a one-of-a-kind author, mom, and activist. 

Contents

Chapter 1 - The library a.k.a the babysitter (2:52)

Chapter 2 - Spreading the horror (4:04)

Chapter 3 - Don’t Feed the Tiger (7:11)

Chapter 4 - The Joy Luck Club (10:01)

Chapter 5 - We Needed “We Need Diverse Books" (14:42)

Chapter 6 - Soft censorship (24:36)

Chapter 7 - What can you do? (25:55)

Chapter 8 - The power of a librarian (28:49)

Chapter 9 - You Are Here: Connecting Flights (31:38)

Chapter 10 - Books Save Lives (33:26)

Chapter 11 - Listener Questions (37:26)

Links

• beanstack.com
• ellenoh.com
• thereadingculturepod.com/ellen_oh
• diversebooks.org

On Today's Show

• " When I sat down and I decided I wanted to start writing, what I started writing was something that bothered me." - Nic Stone
  
  

After Nic Stone graduated college, she went on a trip to Bethlehem in Israel to connect with the story behind her faith. But instead of a religious experience, she found herself moved by the stories of the people who live in the city in the present day. Stories that she decided also needed telling.

In this episode, Nic joins us to share more about how she found her voice and why she tells the stories she does. She'll speak about the importance of connecting with kids to understand their perspective on life, and why, despite being fearful of backlash over the release of her most recent book, she is still optimistic about the future of reading freedom in the classroom. She also shares her unique reading challenge for our listeners!

Contents

Chapter 1 - Little Nic, the liar (2:18)

Chapter 2 - The lead coat (5:40)

Chapter 3 - The story we really need (7:55)

Chapter 4 - The Picture of Dorian Gray (11:13)

Chapter 5 - What kids want (18:16)

Chapter 6 - Visiting Jabari (24:05)

Chapter 7 - What about breakfast? (27:04)

Chapter 8 - How to Be a (Young) Antiracist (28:33)

Chapter 9 - Dear whom? (32:10)

Chapter 10 - Mirror, Mirror (34:13)

Chapter 11- Beanstack Featured Librarian (34:41)

This episode's Beanstack featured librarian is Rita Smith, the Children and Teens Librarian at Hershey Public Library in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Stick around until the end to hear the heartwarming story that reminded her of the value libraries play in the community.

Links

• http://www.nicstone.info/
• https://www.thereadingculturepod.com/nic_stone
• https://www.hersheylibrary.org/
• https://beanstack.com