The Children's Book Review: Growing Readers Podcast

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with award-winning author and illustrator Philip C. Stead to talk about A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic: Or, Like Lightning in an Umbrella Storm, his uproarious debut middle grade novel from Neal Porter Books.
Best known as the Caldecott Medal–honored creator behind the Amos McGee books, Philip shares what it felt like to step into the novelist's chair and why middle grade has always been the genre closest to his heart. He traces his love of books like The Phantom Tollbooth, The Westing Game, and Roald Dahl, and pulls back the curtain on his writing process—200 words a day, carved in stone—and the feedback that led him to tell Bernadette's story out of order.
Whether you're a parent hunting for funny middle grade books for kids 9–12, an educator drawn to stories that trust young readers, or a writer curious about how a picture book creator builds his first novel, this episode is a celebration of heart, humor, and why every choice matters.
Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review (coming soon).
Highlights:
From Picture Books to Middle Grade: Why Philip felt like an "imposter" stepping into the novelist's chair—and why middle grade has always been his first love as a reader
The Books That Made Him a Reader: How Roald Dahl, Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth, and Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game shaped his sense of what a book can do
200 Words a Day: Philip's deceptively simple writing practice and how he treated each word as if "carved in stone"
The Out-of-Order Revelation: How one friend's honest feedback unlocked the book's unusual structure—and why he never looked back
A Castle on 24 Goats: Where Bernadette, Adelbert the forgetful magician, and a Boat That Does Not Grant Wishes actually came from
24 Chapters, 24 Morals: Why Philip gave himself this arbitrary boundary, and the throwaway phrase that became his favorite of them all
Heart Over Cleverness: The guiding principle that kept the book from feeling "cute but dead"
The Influence Nobody Knows: The lesser-known Norton Juster book Philip discovered at 19 that became the most important influence of his career
Notable Quotes:
"A thing stored in the brain is never as important as a thing stored in the heart." — from A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic
"Cleverness belongs mostly to the maker and really can't belong much to the person experiencing the art. But heart really can." — Philip C. Stead
"If you're a writer and you're listening to this, just figure out how you write and how you do it. How do you put one word in front of another, in front of another? And whatever that answer is, that's the right way to do it." — Philip C. Stead
Books Mentioned:
A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic: Or, Like Lightning in an Umbrella Storm by Philip C. Stead: Amazon or Bookshop.org
A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead and Erin Stead: Amazon or Bookshop.org
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster: Amazon and Bookshop.org
Alberic the Wise, and Other Journeys by Norton Juster: Amazon and Bookshop.org
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin: Amazon and Bookshop.org
A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer: Amazon and Bookshop.org
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig: Amazon and Bookshop.org
Swimmy by Leo Lionni: Amazon and Bookshop.org
The Twits by Roald Dahl: Amazon and Bookshop.org
The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo: Amazon and Bookshop.org
About Philip C. Stead: Award-winning author and illustrator of picture books, including the Caldecott Medal–winning A Sick Day for Amos McGee and A Home for Bird. A Potion, a Powder, a Little Bit of Magic is his debut middle grade novel. He lives and works in Michigan. Visit him here: https://www.numberfivebus.com/
Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze | Guest: Philip C. Stead | Audio Editor: Kelly Rink | Producer: Bianca Schulze

Episode Sponsor: https://www.rickwilliamsbooks.com/

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with legendary children's book author and SCBWI co-founder Lin Oliver to talk about Pooch on the Loose, the first book in the brand-new series The After-School Kindness Crew, co-written with Academy Award–winning actress and Mind Up founder Goldie Hawn.
Lin shares how a single phone call from Goldie blossomed into a creative partnership rooted in a shared concern for children's mental health—and how the two set out to write books where, in the publisher's words, kindness meets chaos. She introduces the trio at the heart of the series—Tony, Mia, and River—three "outlier kids" thrown together in Ms. Gold's fourth-grade classroom, and pulls back the curtain on her decades-long love affair with humor as a "gateway" into the hearts of young readers. She also explains how she and Goldie found a way to weave Mind Up's brain breaks directly into the story so that the reader at home is invited to pause and breathe right alongside the characters.
Whether you're a parent looking for funny, big-hearted chapter books that model resilience, an educator searching for stories that show kids what it looks like to choose kindness, or a writer curious about how a 50-year kidlit legacy keeps evolving, this episode is a joyful celebration of why every kid deserves to feel seen on the page.
Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review.
Highlights:
A Phone Call with Goldie: How an unexpected conversation turned into a co-authoring partnership Lin had previously turned down with countless other celebrities
Three Outlier Kids: Why Lin built Tony, Mia, and River as kids who don't fit in with their peers
Humor as a Gateway: The story of a mother who heard her son laughing through his bedroom door at night—and why that moment shapes every book Lin writes
Brain Breaks on the Page: The lightbulb moment when Lin and Goldie realized they could write mindfulness directly into the story for both the characters and the kid at home
Even Lyle Deserves Love: Why the class bully gets compassion too, and how Mind Up's framework of choice runs underneath the comedy
The Accidental Founding of SCBWI: How a 22-year-old Lin and Steve Mooser started what is now the largest children's writing organization in the world
Hopeful, Not Happy: Lin on the one rule that separates children's literature from adult literature
What's Next for the Crew: A sneak peek at Slam Dunk Day (book two) and a community TV talent show adventure (book three)
Notable Quotes:
"If you start with humor, hopefully there's subtext of plot and storyline and heart and values there. But if you start with the humor, you've got the kids." — Lin Oliver
"You don't have to have a happy ending, but you have to have a hopeful ending. There's a difference there." — Lin Oliver
"If you don't see yourself on the page, you'll go looking for yourself in all the wrong places." — Richard Peck, quoted by Lin Oliver
Books Mentioned:
The After-School Kindness Crew: Pooch on the Loose by Goldie Hawn and Lin Oliver, illustrated by Breanna Chambers: Amazon or Bookshop.org
About Lin Oliver: New York Times bestselling author of more than 65 children's books, including the Hank Zipzer series (with Henry Winkler), Alien Superstar, and Detective Duck. Co-founder and longtime executive director of SCBWI.
About Goldie Hawn: Academy Award–winning actress, producer, bestselling author, and founder of MindUP, a global children's mental health program that has reached over 7 million children in 48 countries. Visit: https://www.mindup.org/
Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze | Guest: Lin Oliver | Audio Editor: Kelly Rink | Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes back New York Times bestselling author Andy Griffiths and, for the very first time on the podcast, illustrator Bill Hope, to talk about their wildly fun, reader-inside-the-story series, You and Me.
Andy shares how fan mail from kids asking to be put inside the Treehouse books planted the seed for an entirely new kind of adventure—one where the reader is always the co-star. Bill reveals what it felt like to get the secretive call from the publisher, how he solved the puzzle of illustrating characters with no visible identity, and why he still considers his work a long, joyful attempt to scratch the same itch sparked by a Quentin Blake how-to-draw book at age ten. Together, they pull back the curtain on a creative partnership built on high-pressure play, a very low boredom threshold, and Bill's ongoing mission to sneak a human being into at least one illustration.
Whether you're a parent looking for books that work at bedtime for every age in the room, a teacher wanting highly illustrated adventures that do the heavy lifting so young readers can focus on the fun, or a kid who has ever wondered what it would be like to jump into a story yourself — this episode is a joyful celebration of two books that prove the silliest ideas are worth working very, very hard on.
Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review (coming soon).
Highlights:
The Fan Mail That Started It All: How letters from kids asking to be put inside the Treehouse books gave Andy the idea for an entirely new series
High-Pressure Play: What it felt like for Bill to audition for the biggest job of his career — and why Andy and Jill's secret weapon is a very low boredom threshold
The Cardboard Box Solution: How Bill solved the puzzle of illustrating two characters with no visible identity—and why first-person perspective alone was never going to work
Johnny Knucklehead Was Supposed to Be a Side Character: How a fifth sketch became the series' most beloved agent of chaos—and why he keeps getting bigger with every book
Themes That Emerge from the Fun: Why the quiet life lessons in both books weren't planted there, they grew
Pity the Reader: Andy on Kurt Vonnegut's guiding principle and why every creative decision comes back to making reading as pleasurable as possible
Notable Quote:
"There's no wrong answers, no jokes that are too silly. You sort of put a lot of stuff out there — it's a long period of me just pitching dumb stuff at Andy and seeing what sticks." — Bill Hope
Books Mentioned:
You and Me and the Land of Lost Things by Andy Griffiths and Bill Hope: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
You and Me and the Peanut Butter Beast by Andy Griffiths and Bill Hope: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
101 Books to Read Before You Grow Up (Revised Edition) by Bianca Schulze: Amazon⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠
About Andy Griffiths: New York Times bestselling author of The Day My Butt Went Psycho!, the Treehouse series, and many more. Named the Australian Children's Book Laureate. Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Project. Visit: andygriffiths.com.au
About Bill Hope: Artist and illustrator living in the Blue Mountains, Sydney. His graphic novel An Interior Life won the Golden Ledger award for Australian Comics. Visit: billhope.com.au
Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze | Guests: Andy Griffiths and Bill Hope | Audio Editor: Kelly Rink | Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes author and teacher librarian Jolene Gutiérrez and John Tonai, son of Minoru "Min" Tonai, to discuss the powerful picture book Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp.
Jolene shares how a childhood lesson from her grandparents about Amache — a Japanese American incarceration camp in southeastern Colorado — planted a seed that grew into a decades-long mission to bring Min's story to young readers. From their first phone call in 2017 to a signed contract in 2023, Jolene and Min built a collaboration rooted in trust and a shared belief that this history must never be forgotten. John reflects on his father's quiet, behind-the-scenes advocacy, the emotional weight of signing books in his absence, and what it meant to finally stand at the door of his father's barrack at Amache and realize that every repeated story had been living inside him all along.
Whether you're a teacher looking for a picture book that opens honest conversations about civil rights and injustice, a parent wanting to share difficult history with care, or a reader who believes the best books are both feeling books and discussion books, this episode is a moving celebration of one unbreakable family — and the storytellers who made sure their truth reached the children who need it most.
Read the transcript on ⁠The Children's Book Review⁠.
Highlights:
A Seed Planted at Twelve: How Jolene first learned about Amache from her grandparents — not her history class — and why that gap became the driving force behind this book
Six Years in the Making: Why Jolene shifted from a broad nonfiction project to one person's intimate story — and what that journey to publication looked like
Walking Through His Front Door: John's experience photographing Amache and realizing his father's endlessly repeated stories had been living inside him all along
The Fire in Min: What Jolene saw in Min that told her this wasn't just a story about the past — it was a warning and a promise about the future
The Words Are Fixed, the Interpretations Are Infinite: On what it means for a story to leave its author's hands and become the reader's own
Notable Quote:"He was telling this story so that it never happens again." —Jolene Gutiérrez
Books Mentioned:
Unbreakable: A Japanese American Family in an American Incarceration Camp by Minoru Tonai and Jolene Gutiérrez, illustrated by Chris Sasaki: ⁠⁠Amazon⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠Bookshop.org⁠⁠
About Jolene Gutiérrez:Jolene Gutiérrez is an author and teacher librarian whose work is rooted in bringing underrepresented histories to young readers. Unbreakable is her debut picture book. Visit: ⁠https://www.jolenegutierrez.com/⁠
About John Tonai:John Tonai is the son of Minoru "Min" Tonai, whose lived experience as a Japanese American child incarcerated at Amache is the heart of Unbreakable. Following his father's passing in 2023, John and his sisters have carried the book forward with care. Visit: ⁠https://www.unbreakablemintonai.com/⁠
Densho — Min Tonai's oral history interviews
Interview I: ⁠https://ddr.densho.org/interviews/ddr-densho-1000-354-1/⁠
Interview II: ⁠https://ddr.densho.org/interviews/ddr-densho-1000-302-1/⁠
Densho main oral history collection: ⁠https://densho.org/collections/oral-history/⁠
Amache National Historic Site
NPS official page: ⁠https://www.nps.gov/amch⁠
Chris Sasaki
Personal website: ⁠http://www.csasaki.com⁠
Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/christopher_sasaki/⁠
Credits:
Host: Bianca Schulze
Guests: Jolene Gutiérrez and John Tonai
Audio Editor: Kelly Rink
Producer: Bianca Schulze

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze welcomes author and audiobook narrator Sandra Nickel to discuss her luminous, lyrical picture book biography, The True Ugly Duckling: How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan.
Sandra shares how a lifetime of loving fairy tales collided with a deep personal connection to neurodivergence—and how a strange, tender, relentlessly creative boy from Denmark became the perfect vessel for a story about what happens when your differentness is exactly what makes you extraordinary.
From writing in complete silence to choosing a fairy tale structure over a traditional biography, Sandra reveals why emotional distance is one of fairy tales' greatest gifts, how she crafted a book for every child who has ever felt like they were too much for the world around them, and why Hans Christian Andersen might be the most quietly radical figure a child reader could encounter today. Whether you're a parent of a kid who masks, an educator looking for a biography that reads like a bedtime story, or a reader who has ever had a door shut in your face and wondered if you should stop knocking, this conversation is a warm and tender celebration of the children the world almost missed.
Read the transcript on ⁠The Children's Book Review⁠.
Highlights:
Strange Child, Extraordinary Legacy: How the very qualities that made Hans Christian Andersen an outsider became the source of his enduring genius—and why Sandra wanted children to see themselves in that
The Fairy Tale Structure Decision: Why Sandra chose to write a biography that feels like a fairy tale—and what emotional distance a fairy tale can offer that a straight narrative cannot
Writing Toward the Child Who Needs It Most: How Sandra thinks about the child reader she can't quite define—the one who may never have a label but is walking around feeling like they're too much for everybody
It Was Always the Children Who Loved Him: The remarkable fact that it was adults who kept shutting doors on Andersen—and children who kept his heart going
He Just Kept Reinterpreting the Direction: On perseverance, inner voice, and what it looks like to keep following your true self even when the path keeps shifting
Seven, A Remarkable Pigeon: Sandra's picture book, written at the same time, and why these two stories about using your differentness as your superpower will always be linked
A Love Letter to Seekers: What Sandra most wants the child reading this book to feel—and why she hopes they'll go straight to Andersen's own stories next
Notable Quote:
"What made him strange is exactly what made him extraordinary." —Sandra Nickel
Books Mentioned:
The True Ugly Duckling: How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan by Sandra Nickel: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
Seven: A Most Remarkable Pigeon by Sandra Nickel: ⁠Amazon⁠ or ⁠Bookshop.org⁠
About Sandra Nickel:Sandra Nickel is the author of several picture books for young readers, including The True Ugly Duckling: How Hans Christian Andersen Became a Swan and Seven: A Remarkable Pigeon. She holds an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and brings both a writer's craft and a deeply personal lens to stories about children who feel different. Her work champions neurodivergent kids, outsiders, and anyone who has ever had to find their own way to the door. Visit ⁠https://sandranickel.com/
Credits:Host: Bianca SchulzeGuest: Sandra NickelAudio Editor: Kelly RinkProducer: Bianca Schulze