Shows
Kidlit Happy HourEp. 37: Dan Santat, Joanna and Caroline on Launch Day, the State of Publishing and HopeDan Santat joins Joanna and Caroline to celebrate the launch of their book The Day the Books Disappeared! They share an honest conversation around the impacts of book banning, challenges within the publishing industry at large, and the need for art that continues to push back.
To snag swag and copies of The Day the Books Disappeared signed by both Joanna and Caroline, order from Linden Tree Books
To get swag and a signed, personalized copy by Caroline, order from Politics and Prose
2025-07-151h 05Kidlit Happy HourEp. 36: Conflict: Jacqueline Woodson on Organic Discovery and How Picture Books Are the Ultimate TeacherHere are some highlights from our episode with the #1 NYTimes bestselling, National Book Award-winning, former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jacqueline Woodson:
Starting stories with questions
Writing "quiet" books that speak loudly
The wisdom of young people, especially before that wisdom is silenced
Deconstructing “show don’t tell”
How to write about complicated topics with honesty and hope
Separating yourself as a writer from the character and the story
The questions Jackie is wrestling with right now
Some things that have (and haven’t) changed about publishing
Jacqueline Woodson is an American wri...
2025-06-1056 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 35: Voice: Namrata Tripathi on Jazz Odysseys and the Toothy Work of Excavating TruthHighlights from our conversation with Founder and Publisher of Kokila, Namrata Tripathi:
The power of celebrating not just our communal work, but also ourselves
Voice as an essential point of view with no illusion of neutrality
How cheap workarounds subvert the hard work of uncovering our own voice
The power of words like “intuition” (despite how it may come off as fluffy or weak)
Supporting writers in identifying who they are actually in conversation with on the page
The lifelong work of knowing how to be more honest with ourselves and the world
The priceless bit of pub...
2025-05-2755 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 34: Joanna and Caroline Are Back After a Five-Month Hiatus!They’re back!!! Here are some highlights from Joanna and Caroline’s first episode after their five-month KLHH hiatus:
Joanna’s major recent life events!
Caroline’s crisis of faith around her Enneagram number
Book launches and Big Book Energy
Where Caroline and Joanna have been finding hope recently
What’s next for Kidlit Happy Hour
Some links from today’s episode:
Preorder BECOMING BOBA along with the Jilly Bing doll bundle
This American Life episodes:
#857 Museum of Now
#850 If You Want to Destroy My Sweater, Pull this Thread as I Walk Away
#859 Chaos Graph
#849 The Narrator
2025-05-1345 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 33: Voice: Raina Telgemeier on Emotions as Truth and the Power of EmojisHere are some highlights from our conversation with the NYTimes bestselling, award-winning cartoonist and graphic novelist Raina Telgemeier:
Why hearing her teacher's name was the first time Raina ever considered "voice"
One gripe with Judy Blume
How her voice has (or hasn’t) changed since middle school
Power and difficulty of putting yourself back in headspace of child self
Forming three dimensional pictures from memories
Why emotional arcs matters more than details
Sneak peek behind the scenes of her next graphic novel: The Cartoonist Club
Raina Telgemeier is the #1 New York Times bestselling, multiple Eisner Award–winning creat...
2024-12-051h 06Kidlit Happy HourEp. 32: Voice: Aida Salazar on Embarrassing Your Characters and Writing as a Spiritual PracticeOur conversation with Aida Salazar is here! Aida shares about how one workshop radically changed her approach to voice, why writing is a spiritual practice, how she stays open to receiving stories from our ancestors, and so much more.
Aida Salazar is an award-winning author, arts activist, and translator whose writings explore issues of identity and social justice. Her critically acclaimed verse novels and picture books have received numerous awards including: a Caldecott Honor, the Malka Penn Award, the Américas Award, Tomás Rivera Book Award, International Latino Book Awards, California Library Association Beatty Awa...
2024-11-141h 01Kidlit Happy HourEp. 31: Character: Jasmine Warga on Robots, Geese, Turtles and the Alchemy of WritingHere are some highlights from our conversation with NYTimes-bestselling, award-winning author Jasmine Warga!:
Excavating not simply WHAT your characters want, but WHY they want it
The necessity of internal contractions
Becoming a collector of ideas and moments throughout the drafting and revision process
How images drive her plotting process
The role of alchemy in storytelling
The consistent theme at the root of her stories, and writing for our inner 10-year-olds
The art of crafting the twist
Jasmine Warga is the #1 New York Times-bestselling author of middle grade novels Other Words For Home, The Shape of Thunder, A S...
2024-10-3154 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 30: Character: Adib Khorram on Keeping Your Mental Filing Cabinet Full and Why NSYNC Transcends Backstreet BoysHere are a few highlights from our conversation with the award-winning Adib Khorram:
How his notes app has come to be bursting with character ideas and peoples' idiosyncrasies
Impact of theater school on character-building
Operating as a subconsciously-driven artist
How his starting place for creating character differs from other authors
Prioritization of character vs plot vs world building
Revision as the time to sharpen or dull edges of character
Why you may want to think twice before eating a D.C. taco from a gas station
ADIB KHORRAM is the author of DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT O...
2024-10-2250 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 29: Character: Randy Ribay on Asking the Right Questions and Graphing Relationships in WritingHere are highlights from our conversation with award-winning, NYTimes-bestselling author Randy Ribay:
How characters explore the same internal questions he’s grappling with in his own life
Writing towards ideas rather than adhering to a firm outline
Doing the work of finding your own process
What compels a reader to take off their own mask
The genius of Succession’s character building
Why Caroline gets all Randy’s royalties on the next book
Randy Ribay is an award-winning author of young adult fiction. His most recent novel, Patron Saints of Nothing, earned five starred re...
2024-10-101h 08Kidlit Happy HourEp. 28: Setting: Grace Lin on Writing Where You Want to Be and the Myth of the "Real Writers"Highlights from our episode with the bestselling, awards-winning, queen herself, Grace Lin:
Picking a setting where you *want* to spend time
Identifying as a storyteller vs. a writer
Why she is the 1% of writers who do NOT start their story with character
Her pals persistence and doggedness
The role of faith in writing
How publishing has shape-shifted over the past 30 years
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon” and the Theodor Geisel Honor for “Ling and Ting.” Her novel “When the Sea Turned to Silver” was a Nation...
2024-09-2459 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 27: Setting: Liz Garton Scanlon on Creating Context and Chasing Stories Through a DreamscapeHere are some highlights from our conversation with award-winning, bestselling author Liz Garton Scanlon:
📚 Why setting is not relevant only in hsitorical fiction or fantasy and how it impacts every single experience of ourselves and our characters
📚 Setting as context, and reverse engineering elements of craft
📚Honoring the rhythms of being a s l o w writer
📚 Stories emerging in a dreamscape
📚 How what we know about our fledgling stories becomes self-perpetuating; ask the questions questions, follow the pathways
📚 What to do with envy in a publishing...
2024-09-101h 08Kidlit Happy HourEp 26: Theme: Minh Lê on Burying Telephone Wires and Leaving Space for ConnectionHighlights from this episode include:
Starting with a story and discovering theme along the way
Propping up a story with telephone poles and burying the wires in between
Leaving space for readers to lean in and discover things for themselves
Minh Lê is the award-winning author of household favorites Drawn Together (winner of the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature), Real to Me, The Blur, Lift (an Eisner Award nominee). He also writes popular middle grade graphic novels, including Green Lantern books and Enlighten Me. He is also a has been a contributor to a number of n...
2024-08-2758 minKidlit Happy HourEp 25: Theme: Laurel Snyder on Maintaining an 8 year-old Brain and Creating in the Face of CapitalismWe're thrilled to introduce our first guest of Season 2, the brilliant author Laurel Snyder. Highlights in this episode include:
Theme bumping against character, setting, plot and more in order to find its path
Writing from the heart in a capitalist system
Writing like a cook, not a baker
Why the outline changes the minute she starts writing
The realities of loving, and envying!, authors like Kate Messner
Episode links:
Laurel's episode on the Commonplace Podcast with Rachel Zucker
The Ezra Klein Show podcast episode with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy
Laurel S...
2024-08-2054 minKidlit Happy HourEp 24: We're back! Caroline and Joanna Kick off Season 2In which we share ways we've taken our KLHH guests' advice to live life as inspiration for craft, and attempt to buckle down for this upcoming year - because the year actually follows the academic calendar, right?
We've got things cooking for you this season, and we hope we can find ways to connect with our listeners more. One way you can do that is by dropping your questions for upcoming guests on our KidlitHappy Hour IG! We're excited to be back for Season 2 - we've already got some gems ready for you!
2024-08-1321 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 23: Reflections: Joanna and Caroline on Taking Leaps That Make No Sense and Our Favorite Moments From This Past YearIt’s our final episode of the inaugural season of Kidlit Happy Hour!!! Join us as we surprise one another with favorite moments from each episode, reflect on the season, and talk through where we’re going from here.
We will officially be back in August with our second season that is PACKED TO THE BRIM with brilliant minds across kidlit. In the meantime, be sure to follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen and catch up on any episodes you missed!
2024-06-251h 11Kidlit Happy HourEp. 22: Finding Audience: Claribel A. Ortega on Cultivating Real Community and No "Little Book Energy"Highlights from our conversation with NYTimes bestselling and award-winning author Claribel A. Ortega:
The #1 way to connect to your audience
Claribel's tried and true mantra in publishing
Risks and benefits of sharing your writing journey online
Why writing your interests into your stories is a smart bet
The joys of trolling (not the kind you may be thinking) and why she loves receiving "hate mail" from readers
The brilliant approach to making self-promo work for you
Why supporting the writing community is everything, and focusing on online conversation vs. discourse
Ways to cultivate in-person community
What it's like drafting in Windin...
2024-05-151h 01Kidlit Happy HourEp. 21 Finding Audience: Emily Lyman on Reframing Self-promo and Why Good Marketing is StorytellingSome highlights from our conversation with marketing guru Emily Lyman:
Reframing self-promotion as a celebration with your community
Individuals understand their “brand”
Good marketing IS storytelling
Why sharing your values, even if controversial, generates more loyal connections and community
Empathetic marketing
Emily spent nearly a decade working in-house with global publishers such as Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster managing both corporate and title marketing initiatives. Emily is now the CEO and Founder of Branch and Bramble, a digital marketing company. As an award-winning data artist, Emily specializes in blending data with heart and va...
2024-05-0854 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 20: Finding Audience: Cynthia Leitich Smith on Story as a Circle and Making Magic Out of NothingHere are select highlights from our conversation with NYtimes bestselling, award-winning author Cynthia Leitich Smith:
Story as a circle, gathering, and communal effort
Figuring out where your voice can best serve and where your heart beats with hope
Building on “and” instead of “vs”
Inviting people into the conversation AND being a part of the conversation
Social media dynamics as both tricky and powerful
Approaches to book promotion that start locally
How we can never surrender progress made by generations before
Only asking kids to take on battles we’re willing to engage in ourselves
Cynthia...
2024-04-031h 00Kidlit Happy HourEp. 19: Polishing Story: Tavita Pritchard on Trusting the Process and Letting 5-Year-Olds Feel Their FeelingsHighlights from our conversation with football coach Tavita Pritchard:
Centering relationships over x’s and o’s
How who you are shows up on the tape
How embracing his family history guides his coaching style
Believing in your process instead of over-indexing on an individual result
Connections between coaching and the writing process
Pritchard played quarterback at Stanford University from 2006-09 and joined the coaching staff in 2010. He worked his way from a graduate assistant, to defensive assistant, to running backs coach, to wide receivers coach, to quarterbacks coach, and ultimately assumed the role o...
2024-03-191h 10Kidlit Happy HourEp. 18: Polishing Story: Andrea Davis Pinkney on Screaming on the Cyclone and Our Page One PactHighlights from our conversation with Andrea Davis Pinkney:
- Why riding the Coney Island cyclone is one of the earliest steps to polishing a manuscript
- Relying on an inner circle that we trust with our unpolished work
- Physically dIsmatling a piece and then stitching it back together
- Making homemade audio book read alouds as part of the revision process
- The "page one pact" and “hook, pull, hold"
- How to push part deluding ourselves that we've done our best work
...
2024-03-0549 minKidlit Happy HourEp 17: Polishing Story: Lil Miss Hot Mess on Doing Nails, Dolly Parton, and Killing Our DarlingsHighlights from this episode with Lil Miss Hot Mess include:
Why nail polish is like writing a book
Writing for kids through the lens of performance arts
Why theater kids run the world
Lil Miss Hot Mess is a drag queen, activist, and children’s book author, known for her work with the #MyNameIs campaign and Drag Queen Story Hour. She has appeared on Saturday Night Live as a backup dancer for Katy Perry with a group of drag and ballroom performers. She is also a university professor with a PhD from NYU.
IG: @lilmisshotmess
2024-02-2049 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 16: How to Build a Story: Erin Entrada Kelly on Writing Organically and Trapping Guinea Pigs in a WellHere are a few highlights from our conversation with Erin Entrada Kelly:
Building stories grounded in a single character
The gift of writing in your head
Why all roads lead back to one word: “organic”
The power of writing in longhand
Why novels should be like a blanket, not a quilt
Feeding your creative soul, and why it counts as writing time
Emotional tension vs. external tension
Remembering that characters are living, breathing people… not pieces on a chess board
Secrets hidden in her books… hint: Wuthering Heights fans and Trekkies will delight!
Erin Entrad...
2024-02-0858 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 15: How to Build a Story: Angel Barreto on Making Samgyetang and That One Scene From the BearHere are a few highlights from our conversation with Angel Barreto, one of the most creative and celebrated chefs in the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond:
Staying true to the traditional values of a dish while adding your own voice
How working within constraints can bring out innovation and creativity
How his family history as sharecroppers influenced his passion for food
Why being the first person of color to have a #1 restaurant in DC is both remarkable and disheartening
Navigating the tension of appreciation and appropriation
Why the best chefs know the history of the food they c...
2024-01-3148 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 14: How to Build A Story: Jerry Craft on Writing Authentic Feel-Goods and Characters with Body OdorHighlights from this episode with Jerry Craft include:
Why building a story is like building a house
How eavesdropping enriches characterization… and body odor
Evolution of attending book conferences as a fan to becoming a headline author
Tricks to building a series that continues to feel fresh and relevant
Resistance to writing stories with horrific events, especially while centering Black characters
Exploring small, mesmerizing details that will crack open a kid’s world
Jerry Craft is the NYT bestselling author and illustrator of many books for kids including graphic novels New Kid and Class...
2024-01-2350 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 13: How to Build A Story: Nic Stone on Walking Barefoot in Her Yard and Personifying EmotionsHighlights from this episode with Nic Stone include:
Nic’s famous mnemonic for the writing process, including a behind the scenes sneak peek to her third book in the Dear Martin series
The two questions to ask when working on a new story
The experience of having FUN while writing and how each book is a form of self-exploration
Reading (rather than avoiding) comp titles during the drafting process
Living an emotionally honest life in order to achieve emotional resonance on the page
Neurodivergence as a gift and the power of centering mental health
The power (and...
2024-01-161h 10Kidlit Happy HourEp. 12: Finding Ways into Story: Frankie Quiñones on Moving Past Fart Jokes to Sharing His TruthHighlights from this episode with Frankie Quiñones include:
Deriving inspiration from witnessing others people’s art and vulnerability
How laughter leads to the emotional center
Developing confidence to share painful traumas on stage and bring the audience along with him
Process of developing hilarious, detailed and heartfelt characters inspired by his family
Two overshares that span opposite end of the spectrum, from mortification to celebration
Frankie Quiñones is a stand up comedian, actor, and creator best known for his characters like Creeper, Juanita Carmelita, and countless others. His online videos have millions of views and will...
2023-12-2844 minKidlit Happy HourEp 11: Finding Ways into Story: Yuyi Morales on Getting Lost and Feeling Your Way HomeHighlights from this episode with Yuyi Morales include:
The impact of environment on storytelling
Reframing what it means to write and work
Toggling between anguish and joy in the writing process
Community as a necessary guide to story
How the rampant dehumanization during a certain presidential candidacy impacted her decision to write her own immigration story... and invite others to tell their own
Power plants and finding the story within
Yuyi Morales is the NYT bestselling, award-winning author and illustrator of beloved children's books, including Dreamers, Bright Star, Nino Wrestles the World, and so many more. She...
2023-11-2849 minKidlit Happy HourEp 10: Finding Ways into Story: Christina Soontornvat on Listening to Songs 500 Times and Earning EndingsHighlights from this episode with Christina Soontornvat include:
Crying on planes and the power of music to unlock stories
Giving ideas the time and space to gestate (like babies!)
Feeling a way through story with intuition
The tension between confidence, pressure, and a constant pull to make other people happy
Christina Soontornvat is the beloved author of over a dozen books for children of all ages. Among countless other awards, Christina has received three Newbery Honors. The first two were both in 2021 for her middle grade fantasy A Wish in the Dark as well as her non-fiction...
2023-11-1446 minKidlit Happy HourEp 9: Writing Truth: Karla Souza on the Visceral Truths and an Asymmetry of PowerHighlights from this episode with award-winning actress Karla Souza, who you may recognize from her starring roles in hit shows How to Get Away with Murder, Home Economics, or film La Caida (Dive) include:
Feeling visceral alarm bells of truth in the body
Coping with the backlash of truth-telling; her #metoo realities
Finding courage to continue telling the truth in the face of asymmetrical power systems
An overshare that will have you spitting out your drink in laughter
Karla Souza is an award-winning writer and actress with starring roles in How to Get Away with Murder, Home...
2023-11-0148 minKidlit Happy HourEp 8: Writing Truth: Carlos Andrés Gómez on Saying Things Everyone Else is Too Terrified to SayHighlights from this episode with award-winning poet, speaker, actor, and equity and inclusion strategist, Carlos Andrés Gómez include:
Being briefly broken and breaking through creative walls
Uncovering truth through writing
Wrestling constantly with self-deception and truth
Learning to get vulnerable
Carlos Andrés Gómez is a Colombian American poet, speaker, actor, and equity and inclusion strategist from New York City. He is the author of Fractures, winner of the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, Hijito, winner of the Broken River Prize and a #1 SPD bestseller, and the memoir Man Up: Reimagining Modern Manhood, released by Penguin R...
2023-10-2545 minKidlit Happy HourEp 7: Writing Truth: Liz Kleinrock on Representation as Low-Hanging Fruit and Finding Our North StarHighlights from this episode with acclaimed educator, consultant, author, and antibias antiracist facilitator Liz Kleinrock include:
Distinguishing truth and fact, holding multiple truths, intersectionality, and nuance
Representation is the low-hanging fruit; moving toward affirmation
The consequences of speaking truth and holding on to our North Stars
Liz Kleinrock is an author, educator, consultant and antibias antiracist facilitator. She received the Learning for Justice’s Award for Excellence in 2018, delivered a TED Talk called “Education Everywhere” that’s been watched by millions, and released her bestselling Start Here Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work In Your Sch...
2023-10-1847 minKidlit Happy HourEp 6: Writing Truth: Maggie Tokuda-Hall on Trashing Drafts and Caping for the Giving TreeHighlights from this episode with acclaimed author Maggie Tokuda-Hall include:
Writing protagonists that are not role models
The magic of the 25k word count and refusing to string along dead writing and trashing drafts
Her thoughts on determining what are *her* stories to tell
Why telling truth to kids matters and untangling what "age appropriate" means
Mermaids, serial killers, and another perspective on The Giving Tree
An overshare that should empower us all to say NOPE!
Maggie Tokuda-Hall is the author of many books, including Love in the Library, and her debut young adult novel The Mermaid...
2023-10-0355 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 5: What is Story? Reflections with Joanna and CarolineIt’s just the two us of us on today’s new episode!!! We are reflecting on the question that guided the first three interviews of the season: What is Story? Here are some highlights:
🎙️A few beloved, and perhaps distinguishing, qualities of kidlit creators
🎙️Wondering as a precursor to liberation
🎙️Showing (vs. telling) a story’s relevance
🎙️The beauty and challenges of podcasting so far
🎙️More overshares…!
🎙️Introducing our NEXT guiding question, which kicks off next Tuesday, October 3rd
Anddddd.... Joanna’s latest book SAY MY NAME, illust...
2023-09-2628 minKidlit Happy HourEp 4: What is Story? Michelle Li Says You Learn Something, You Feel Something, You Do SomethingHighlights from this episode with award-winning news anchor and founder of The Very Asian Foundation include:
Going viral for being "very Asian"
Relevance making a story AND stories making things relevant
Navigating the tension of truth-telling in the news
Michelle is a news anchor and reporter at KSDK, the NBC affiliate. Michelle’s reporting has been honored with a national Peabody Award, four national Murrows, and multiple regional Emmys– often for covering topics related to race or gender inequities. Her work has been on CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, and The Washington Post. Michelle's went viral in her resp...
2023-09-1952 minKidlit Happy HourEp. 3: What is Story? Donna Barba Higuera and Drinking Every Time You Hear the Word ”Wonder”A few (of the many!) highlights from this episode with New York Times bestselling, Newbery Medal and Pura Belpré Award-winner Donna Barba Higuera include:
🎙️ The value of wondering, and whether being a "wonderer" is inherent or learned
🎙️ Writing for ourselves and other members of the “nerd herd” (not critics)
🎙️ Integrating emotional facets of oral storytelling into the written form
Donna Barba Higuera has created some of the most beloved characters and stories across age groups in recent years, including her Newbery Award winning THE LAST CUENTISTA, LUPE WONG WON'T DANCE, EL CUCUY IS SC...
2023-09-0547 minKidlit Happy HourEp 2: What is Story? Dan Santat on Holding Multiple Complexities and Harry WinklerHighlights from this episode with Caldecott medalist, Dan Santat include:
Name dropping gone wrong
Creating emotional resonance
The reality behind shiny medals
Dan Santat has published some of the most celebrated and influential and bestselling children's books including DRAWN TOGETHER, AFTER THE FALL, THE AQUANAUTS, and FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING, and Caldecott medal winner, THE ADVENTURES OF BEEKLE. He created the show, The Replacements for Disney Channel, has illustrated for clients like The Wall Street Journal.
IG: @dsantat
Website: https://sites.google.com/g.risd.org/dansantat/home
2023-08-2256 min
Kidlit Happy HourEp 1: Introducing Kidlit Happy HourWelcome to the very first episode of Kidlit Happy Hour. HUZZAH!!! In this episode, you'll learn more about our big, juicy vision for this podcast. Some highlights include…
How we became friends (Hint: donuts and sprinklers)
Our path to podcasting and where we hope it leads
The first overshares of the season (no happy hour is complete without one!)
We are so thrilled you are here and hope you will stay to build this space with us.
2023-08-0721 min