Why Kids Need Picture Books, Graphic Novels, and Tough Conversations
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
Release Date: 03/19/2026
Why Kids Need Picture Books, Graphic Novels, and Tough Conversations
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
In this episode of Reading with Your Kids, Jed welcomes two guests who celebrate the power of stories in very different – but equally inspiring – ways. First, picture book author Linda Ravin Lodding joins from Stockholm to talk about her new book, It Started with a Book Ban. Linda and Jed reflect on how reading aloud is a “performative” act that builds deep family bonds, invites questions, and helps kids think about causality and consequences. Linda explains that her story follows Edwin, a boy who discovers his favorite space book has vanished from the library. Soon, more and more...
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Art, Ancestors, and the Stories We Share With Kids
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
In this warm and thoughtful episode of Reading With Your Kids, we’re treated to two beautiful celebrations of art, family, and our relationship with the world around us. First, Jed talks with Steph Littlebird, author-illustrator of You Are the Land. Steph shares how her debut picture book explores a child’s deep connection to the land, rooted in Indigenous, place-based identity in the Pacific Northwest. She explains that in her culture, the land is a relative, not a resource—mountains, hills, and rivers are family. By helping kids see themselves as part of nature rather than separate...
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What If Your Best Friend Moved Away… and Goldilocks Sued the Bears?
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
On this lively episode of Reading With Your Kids, host Jed Doherty welcomes two fantastic guests who are using story to spark big conversations with kids and families. First up is Shana Tartogsz, author of the middle grade fantasy The Under Wild: Relic of Thieves. Shana takes us deep into her richly imagined world, where the realm of the living and the realm of the dead are separated by wild, shifting landscapes and mythical creatures. We meet Anya, a living girl dealing with the heartbreak of her best friend moving away, and learn how her story connects with Senka, the underworld-dwelling...
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Teaching Empathy Through Birds & Books
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
Latin Grammy–nominated musician and debut picture book author Sonia de los Santos joins Jed to talk about birds, borders, and the magic of bilingual stories. Sonia shares the inspiration behind her new picture book La Golondrina, based on her song of the same name. The story follows a young girl who becomes fascinated with swallow birds while visiting her grandmother, and slowly begins to see her own migration story reflected in their long journeys. Sonia connects this to her real life, growing up in Monterrey, Mexico, then moving to the New York City area to pursue musical theater,...
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The Shocking Truth About Playtime and Read‑Alouds in Today’s Classrooms
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
Join Jedlie for a heartfelt, high‑energy double feature celebrating the power of stories, family, and big feelings. First up, speech therapist and children’s author Kimberly Delude chats about her picture book series “Freddie the Fly.” Freddie is a lovable little fly who struggles with listening, reading nonverbal cues, and social skills. Kimberly shares how a single bored student in grad school inspired her to create fun, kid‑friendly stories instead of dry, adult‑focused “do this, don’t do that” materials. She and Jed dive into why reading with kids builds vocabulary,...
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Unforgetable Stories Of Love & Survival
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
In this heartfelt and adventurous episode, Jed welcomes Jessica Collins and Lisa Malamed to celebrate their upcoming picture book Where’s Big Dog: A Story of Loss and Love. Inspired by Jessica’s beloved golden doodle Lucy, the book gently helps children and adults navigate the loss of a pet. Jessica and Lisa share sweet, funny memories of Lucy—like how she’d jingle her collar instead of barking to wake Lisa up—and talk about how deeply pets become part of the family. They explain that the dogs in the book aren’t named or gendered so any reader can see their own pet in the story....
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Your Dog Is The Best Children's Book Critic
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
Reading With Your Kids” welcomes two wonderful guests who celebrate the magic of stories, family, and imagination. First, New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff joins Jed to talk about her new middle grade fantasy, The After Myth. Tracy shares how the excitement of a new book release never fades, especially when a story is as personal as this one. She reveals that her heroine Penelope and sidekick Fifi are secretly based on her real-life college best friend and herself. Tracy describes The After Myth as a Greek‑mythology‑inspired adventure set at Naximanders Academy, where...
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Get Off The Bench & Play!
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
On this episode, I welcome Andrea Goldner, affectionately known as Nanni Andi, to talk about her picture book Nanni Andi and Our Adventure to All Friends Park and her lifelong work as a nanny. Andrea shares how, after raising her own kids, she went “back” into childcare because it’s what she truly loves and does best. Calling herself a “new wave Mary Poppins,” she explains why reading to children from newborn age is so powerful: it builds vocabulary, confidence, and, most importantly, a deep emotional bond. Andrea describes how her stories prepare kids for real-world...
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Why Reading With Your Kids Still Matters In A Divided World
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
In this episode, Jed welcomes third grade teacher and debut picture book author Alex Friedrichs to talk about his heartwarming new book, Sweet Rescue. Alex shares how the story was born in the most surprising way—a 4 AM dream that sent him and his wife straight to the coffee pot so he could get the idea down before it disappeared. That dream later became the basis for a story his team created on the Amazon kids’ show Play-Doh Squished, where judges said it “sounds like a movie,” and eventually evolved into his published picture book. Alex introduces us to Hungry Joe, a ravenous little...
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History, Harmony & Hope
Reading With Your Kids Podcast
On this episode of Reading With Your Kids, we’re celebrating two very different – but wonderfully complementary – books for young readers. First, Jed talks with Maria Dolores Aguila, author of the middle grade novel in verse “The Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez.” Maria shares the powerful true story behind her book: the 1931 Lemon Grove incident in California, when Mexican and Mexican American children were illegally segregated into a makeshift “school” in a converted barn. Their families organized, chose Roberto Alvarez as the lead plaintiff, and won a court...
info_outlineIn this episode of Reading with Your Kids, Jed welcomes two guests who celebrate the power of stories in very different – but equally inspiring – ways.
First, picture book author Linda Ravin Lodding joins from Stockholm to talk about her new book, It Started with a Book Ban. Linda and Jed reflect on how reading aloud is a “performative” act that builds deep family bonds, invites questions, and helps kids think about causality and consequences. Linda explains that her story follows Edwin, a boy who discovers his favorite space book has vanished from the library. Soon, more and more things in the town are banned – even the color green and the letter “S” – until the world grows smaller, darker, and more absurd. Through vivid visuals and a palette that darkens as bans pile up, the book gently explores censorship, choice, and fairness for young children, while affirming that books can be both mirrors and windows for every child.
In the second half, Jed talks with Matthew Loux, author–illustrator of the middle grade graphic novel My Journey to Japan: Escape to Yokai Mountain. Matthew shares how his love of manga, anime, and Japanese culture led to a fun, fast-paced adventure about twins visiting Japan who meet a young yokai and journey to a mountain full of mythical creatures. Along the way, the book weaves in kid-friendly pages on Japanese culture. Matthew also describes his process as a comics creator and art teacher, and encourages parents to fully value comics and graphic novels as real reading that powerfully engages kids’ imaginations.