Scholastic Reads

Our podcast about children’s books and the joy and power of reading

About the show

Scholastic's podcast about the joy and power of reading, the books we publish for children and young adults, and the authors, editors, and stories behind them. We’ll explore topics important to parents, educators, and the reader in all of us.

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Episodes

  • Openly, Honestly Bill: Bill Konigsberg on Reading and Writing with Pride

    June 8th, 2017  |  34 mins 8 secs
    children's books, children's literature, lgbtq, pride month

    Award-winning author Bill Konigsberg joins us in the studio for this week's episode, just in time to celebrate Pride Month.

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    Writing About War for Young Readers

    May 25th, 2017  |  34 mins 59 secs

    Memorial Day is a time of reflection and patriotism. But we recognize that it can sometimes be challenging to explain what we're celebrating — and the realities of war — to children. In this episode, we talk with authors C. Alexander London (Dog Tags and Tides of War series), Kate Messner (Rolling Thunder), and Lauren Tarshis (I Survived series) who share with us why and how they write about war for their young readers.

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    Meet the Kids Press

    May 11th, 2017  |  36 mins 13 secs
    kids press

    This week, we're introducing you to four members of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps. Each year, 10- to 14-year-olds around the world are selected to be a part of the award-winning program. These young journalists report news for kids, by kids, covering breaking news, entertainment, and sports events from their hometowns and on the national stage. With us this week are kid reporters Esther Appelstein, Adedayo Perkovich, Titus Smith III, and Maxwell Surprenant, to talk about their experience during the past year. We're also joined in the studio by Michael Cappetta, a Scholastic News Kids Press Corps alumnus who is now a producer at NBC Universal, who shares some memories of his experience as a Kid Reporter.

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    Emma Donoghue Plus One

    May 4th, 2017  |  23 mins 4 secs
    books, children's books, education, emma donoghue, reading

    This week, we're talking with Emma Donoghue (author of the award-winning novel for adults Room), about her first book for children, The Lotterys Plus One. She's joined by her editor, Arthur A. Levine, to talk about the process of transitioning from writing for adults to writing for children; where the inspiration for Sumac Lottery and her big, unruly family came from; and the role Emma's own chlidren play in her creative process.

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    A Celebration of Poetry

    April 20th, 2017  |  46 mins 8 secs
    books, calvin trillin, children's books, children's literature, poetry, poets, reading, writing

    This week, we're celebrating Poetry Month by talking about the power and joy of poetry.

  • Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters

    April 6th, 2017  |  36 mins 36 secs

    Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst are trying to change how we read. In their new book, Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters, the award-winning authors and literacy educators explore a new approach where reading is viewed as a transformational experience rather than a practice of decoding, recalling, and responding to questions. As Bob says, "We're looking for the replacement of artificial and formulaic reading with REAL reading." This week, Kylene and Bob join us in the studio to talk about how teachers can start implementing changes in their classrooms today, ways parents can be reading role models for their children at home, and why it's more important that kids recognize how a text makes them feel than remember the main character's name.

    Additional Resources:

    Guests:

    • Kylene Beers, EdD, is an internationally known and respected authority in literacy education. She is a past president of the National Council of Teachers of English and has received an NCTE Leadership Award. She has served as a consultant to the National Governor’s Association Education Committee, was the editor of the national literacy journal Voices from the Middle, taught in the College of Education at the University of Houston, held a reading research position in the Comer School Development Program at Yale University School of Medicine, and has most recently served as the Senior Reading Advisor to the Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University.
    • Robert E. Probst, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of English Education at Georgia State University and was a research fellow for Florida International University. He has served as a member on the Conference on English Board of Directors, an NCTE journal columnist, and a member of the NCTE Commission on Reading. He was awarded the NCTE Exemplary Leadership Award presented by the Conference on English Leadership.
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    Multiplatform Storytelling: The Team Behind Horizon

    March 29th, 2017  |  34 mins 38 secs

     

    What do you do with a story that's too big to be contained in a book series? This week, we're talking about Horizon, a new multiplatform adventure for 9- to 12-year olds. Joining us in the studio are New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld (Uglies, Leviathan, Afterworlds), game designer Gavin Brown, and editor Nick Eliopulos to talk about the unique approach Scholastic's multiplatform team takes to storytelling. As Nick says, "The books that we love become these spaces that we want to play in." 

     

    Additional Resources:

    Guests:
    • Scott Westerfeld is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Uglies series, which has been translated into 35 languages; the Leviathan series; Afterworlds; and many other books for young readers. He was born in Texas, and alternates summers between Sydney, Australia and New York City.
    • Nick Eliopulos is an editor at Scholastic.
    • Gavin Brown is a digital product director at Scholastic.
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    Amazing, Delightful, Happy Dreamer

    March 23rd, 2017  |  35 mins 26 secs

    Author Peter Reynolds is redefining what ADHD stands for. In his world, and in his new picture book, Happy Dreamer, it's simply an acronym for Amazing Delightful Happy Dreamer. This week, we talk with Peter and educator Lester Laminack about how we can encourage dreamers of all forms to feel included, engaged, and welcomed whether it's at home, in the classroom, or on the playground.

    Additional Resources:

    Guests:

    • Peter H. Reynolds is an author and illustrator of children's books, including The Dot, Ish, The North Star, and Happy Dreamer. He is also the founder of the educational media company FableVision.
    • Lester Laminack is an award-winning author and educator and Professor Emeritus from Western Carolina University where he taught writing workshop, children's literature, and reading. 
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    Once Upon a Fractured Fairy Tale

    March 10th, 2017  |  21 mins 43 secs

    How many times have you heard the story of Cinderella? Or Beauty and the Beast? Probably dozens. And yet somehow, they never get old. No matter how they're told and re-told, we know good will triumph over evil, our heroine will find love, and everyone will live happily ever after. But why do those stories have so much appeal?

    Today, we have two fairy tale experts joining us to share their thoughts on why these stories have endured generation after generation: authors Sarah Mlynowski and Garth Nix. Sarah and Garth are two writers who have often fractured, or re-told, fairy tales. Sarah, for her bestselling Whatever After series, and Garth, in his most recent YA novel, Frogkisser!. 

    Additional Resources:

    Guests:


    • Sarah Mlynowski is the New York Times bestselling author of the Whatever After series, the Magic in Manhattan series, Gimme a Call, and a bunch of other books for tweens and teens, including the Upside-Down Magic series, which she is cowriting with Lauren Myracle and Emily Jenkins. Originally from Montreal, Sarah now lives in the kingdom of Manhattan with her very own prince charming and their fairy-tale-loving daughter

    • Garth Nix is the bestselling, award-winning author of the Old Kingdom series, The Seventh Tower sequence, The Keys to the Kingdom series, Troubletwisters series, and many other fantasy novels for young adults and children, including Frogkisser!. Garth lives in a Sydney beach suburb with his wife and two children.

     

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    The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet: Giving Children a Voice

    February 23rd, 2017  |  39 mins 32 secs

    This week, we're talking about the importance of raising children's voices. First, we're joined by Carmen Agra Deedy, the acclaimed author of the new picture book The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet!, an allegorical tale of a brave, little rooster in a town where singing has been outlawed. Carmen shares the story of her own childhood as a Cuban refugee living in Decatur, Georgia, and talks about the importance of the message that children should be encouraged to speak their truths. Next, we talk with Dana McDonough, a second grade teacher who was named the 2016 State Teacher of the Year from New York. Dana tells us how she works to make every child feel heard in her classroom.

    Additional Resources:

    Guests:


    • Carmen Agra Deedy is one of America's most foremost storytellers. Her many award-winning books include Martina the Beautiful Cockroach, which received a Pura Belpré Honor, and her New York Times bestseller 14 Cows for America. Born in Havana, Cuba, Carmen drew on her love of folklore to create The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! She lives with her family in Atlanta, Georgia. 

    • Dana McDonough is the 2016 State Teacher of the Year from New York. She teaches second grade at Fostertown ETC Magnet School in Newburgh, NY.

     

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    Read Out Loud: Celebrate World Read Aloud Day

    February 15th, 2017  |  43 mins 37 secs

    On February 16, we are celebrating the power of the read aloud with World Read Aloud Day. Every year, this global celebration calls attention to the importance of sharing stories by challenging participants to grab a book, find an audience, and read out loud. In fact, data from Scholastic's Kids & Family Reading Report shows us that reading aloud to children regularly from birth is crucial for their happiness and their development as readers. Today, we'll explore why that is and hear from four guests who have all been powerfully impacted by their memories of childhood read-alouds.

    Guests:

    • Pam Allyn is a literacy expert and the founder of LitWorld, the organization behind World Read Aloud Day. She is also a co-author of Every Child a Super Reader.
    • Ernest Morrell is an award-winning author, teacher, and researcher, and a co-author of Every Child a Super Reader.
    • Nick Cannon is an actor, comedian, rapper, and the author of Neon Aliens Ate My Homework.
    • Andrea Davis Pinkney is a Coretta Scott King Award-winning author and an editor at Scholastic.

    Additional Resources:

    Special Thanks:

    • Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
    • Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan and Christopher Johnson
    • Produced by Emily Morrow
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    Episode 30: Survey says: Kids like reading for fun

    February 6th, 2017  |  16 mins 53 secs

    In the sixth edition of our Kids & Family Reading Report, we asked U.S. parents and children about their attitudes and behaviors around reading books for fun, and now the results are in! Key findings reveal what kids and parents look for in children's books, the increase in reading aloud to children from an early age, the inequities around access to books in the home, and more.
    View all our findings and learn more about the methodology behind the survey at scholastic.com/readingreport.

    Be sure to keep an eye out for forthcoming episodes diving more deeply into the topics of reading aloud and summer reading!

    Guests: 

    • Kristen Harmeling is a senior vice president at YouGov, a third-party, international market research firm, and the manager of the Kids & Family Reading Report national project. 

    • Donalyn Miller has taught 4th, 5th, and 6th grade language arts and social studies in the Fort Worth, TX, area and was a finalist for 2010 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year. She is a reading advocate, the author of two professional books, The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild, and a reading ambassador for Scholastic Book Fairs.

    • Deimosa Webber-Bey is the Library Manager at Scholastic and responsible for the corporate archive, readers advisory, cataloging, and the employee book club. She also taught for several years in public schools in Queens, Brooklyn, Albuquerque, and the Pueblo of Jemez.

    Special thanks:


    • Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl

    • Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan 

    • Produced by Emily Morrow

     

     

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    Best of Scholastic Reads: A Year in Review

    January 19th, 2017  |  11 mins 40 secs

    Scholastic Reads recently celebrated its first anniversary, and we wanted to mark the occasion by sharing some of our favorite moments from the last year! In this short episode, we'll hear clips from Lauren Tarshis (I Survived series), Sonia Manzano (Becoming Maria), Edwidge Danticat (Untwine), Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants series), Ann M. Martin (The Baby-sitters Club series), Arthur A. Levine (publisher and editor), David Levithan (author and editor), Cheryl Klein (editor), and Pam Muñoz Ryan (Esperanza Rising). Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or visit scholasticreads.com to listen to all of our episodes! Links to the full episodes for each clip are below.

    Special thanks:

    • Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
    • Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan and Christopher Johnson
    • Produced by Emily Morrow
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    Dav Pilkey: Using Humor to Get Kids Reading

    January 4th, 2017  |  17 mins 42 secs

    Laughter is a universal language, and Dav Pilkey speaks it fluently. The award-winning author and illustrator of the Captain Underpants series joins us in the studio this week to introduce his newest series, Dog Man, and to talk about why funny books are often the right books to spark a love of reading. Dav also shares his own story about growing up with ADHD, dyslexia, and behavioral problems, and leaves us with some wise words of hope and encouragement for children who might be struggling with similar issues today.

    Additional Resources:

    Guests:


    • When Dav Pilkey was a kid, he suffered from ADHD, dyslexia, and behavioral problems. Dav was so disruptive in class that his teachers made him sit out in the hall every day. Luckily, Dav loved to draw and make up stories. He spent his time in the hallway creating his own original comic books. In the second grade, Dav Pilkey created a comic book about a superhero named Captain Underpants. His teacher ripped it up and told him he couldn't spend the rest of his life making silly books. Fortunately, Dav was not a very good listener. 

    Special thanks:


    • Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl

    • Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan and Christopher Johnson

    • Produced by Emily Morrow

     

     

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    Holiday Book Fair: Must-have Books for 2016

    December 19th, 2016  |  19 mins 48 secs

    The holidays bring many wonderful thing to Scholastic, chief among them, the employee book fair! There's something for readers of every age, from picture books, coloring books, and cookbooks, to how-to books, graphic novels, and memoirs. In this episode, we talked with colleagues who are shopping and volunteering at the fair to find out what are the must-have books this holiday season.

    Here's a list of all the books mentioned in this episode with links to their Goodreads pages:

    Special thanks:


    • Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl

    • Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan and Christopher Johnson

    • Produced by Emily Morrow

     

  •

    Pam Muñoz Ryan: Getting Readers to Turn the Page

    December 5th, 2016  |  25 mins 10 secs

    Pam Muñoz Ryan, the celebrated and critically acclaimed author of Esperanza Rising, The Dreamer, and Riding Freedom, among many others, joins us in the studio today with her editor, Tracy Mack, to talk about her writing process, the genesis of her latest New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor novel, Echo, and why so many of her novels contain themes of social justice. 

    Additional Resources:

    About Echo:

    Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

    Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.

    Guests:

    • Pam Muñoz Ryan is the author of the Newbery Honor winner and New York Times bestseller, Echo, as well as the recipient of the Kirkus Prize, the NEA's Human and Civil Rights Award, and the Virginia Hamilton Literary Award for multicultural literature. She has written more than thirty books for young readers. Her celebrated novels, Esperanza Rising, Riding Freedom, Becoming Naomi Léon, Paint the Wind, and The Dreamer, have received numerous accolades, among them two Pura Belpré Awards, a NAPPA Gold Award, a Jane Addams Children's Book Award, and an Americas Award. Ryan's acclaimed picture books include Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Rideand When Marian Sang, both illustrated by Brian Selznick, and Tony Baloney, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham, as well as a beginning reader series featuring Tony Baloney. Kirkus Reviews described Echo as "a grand narrative that examines the power of music to inspire beauty in a world overrun with fear and intolerance." Ryan lives near San Diego, California with her family. You can visit her at pammunozryan.com.
    • Tracy Mack is a vice president and publisher at Scholastic, and Pam Muñoz Ryan's editor.

    Special thanks:

    • Music composed by Lucas Elliot Eberl
    • Sound mix and editing by Daniel Jordan and Christopher Johnson
    • Produced by Emily Morrow