You May Contribute A Verse: Recent Episodes

Josh Monken

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journeys.

View Details

It's Max Beaudry / He'll make your dreams come true

Just kidding, those are mostly lyrics to the Muppet Babies theme song. But Max is with us and we talk about his debut graphic novel AW, NUTS! THE CRUMBELIEVABLE ADVENTURES OF PEANUT AND JELLY. Which is just the start, with volume 2 to hit the shelves in 2027!

Max has a bunch of experience making characters and concepts leap off the page into our lives with his work in TV, and he connects all the dots for a wonderful chat. Thanks, Max, and glad Peanut and Jelly have more adventures on the way!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

GO PLAY by (friends!) Kate Allen Fox and Gennie Gorback

JUST A SHELL... OR IS IT? words by Becca McMurdie, illustrations by Paula Escobar

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Stick with our conversation and you will be handsomely rewarded, as was today's guest, Heather Preusser, for her own tenacity and dedication. Heather is the author of the Hedgehog Whodunit chapter book series, the third of which (the Protective Order of Peanuts) releases later this year!

Heather is amazing. We hope you enjoy our chat and her books!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

RIVER by Elisha Cooper

LANDING IN A NEW POND, words by Marisa Ramel, pictures by Jennifer Doehring

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Episode title sure would make a good indie rock band name. Natasha Zimmers is our guest this week, bringing the outdoor passion and her perspective on writing TINY HIKER, out in March from Orca Books.

This episode was plagued with internet troubles, which should be mostly invisible to you the listening audience, but which I mention because we persevered like a proper hiker through rough terrain.

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

BASEBALL FOR BREAKFAST, words by Judy Campbell-Smith, pictures by Maggie Carroll

THE UNBUDGEABLE CURMUDGEON, words by Matthew Burgess, pictures by Fiona Woodcock

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Karen Chan of Gloo Books is with us today! Not only is Karen a wonderful editor and publisher with a really crystal clear vision for the Gloo Books vibe, but she has leveraged that vibe into an even better book called A Bike is Not Just a Bike: An Ode to Girls Who Dare to Ride, by a talented author named Brenna Jeanneret!

Gloo Books isn't old as publishing houses go, but Karen and team have come a long way in a short time. Enjoy Karen's verse!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

MY SUBWAY RUNS by James Gladstone and Pierre Pratt

WHEN THE WITCH WROTE BACK, words by Nathan Christopher, pictures by Pablo Pino

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Andrew Hacket is back to discuss his book In This Classroom and his ongoing Leonardo DiCaprio-style work with Red Comet Press! His is the ultimate champagne pass success story and we hope you enjoy!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

RAMP IT UP, words by Katrina Tangen, pictures by Wendy Wen

THE RARE BIRD by Elisha Cooper

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Here's to Cowboy!

Jessica Milo is here. We talk (way too late) about her debut book My Pony Wonder, how she came up and with whom, and most importantly, Uber for Unicorns.

Despite the episode title, this is a really fun chat!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

KICKS IN THE SKY by CG Esperanza

THE GHOST WHO SAVED HALLOWEEN, words by Jen Anyong, pictures by Kaly Quarles

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

How to pee your pants, the Rachel Michelle Wilson way!

Rachel was a delight and if you don't know her work, you do now. She's got hustle, she's got skills, she's got bubble wrap and ghosts (but no play dates). Since we last talked in August, aside from her books To Catch a Ghost and How to Pee Your Pants (the Right Way), she's also announced How to Escape a Playdate, out October 13!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

Mike Mongo's ASTRONAUT INSTRUCTION MANUAL

GROUCHO THE GROUCHY GROUNDHOG (VOLUME 2): THE TERRIFYING TURNIP TAKEOVER! by Lydia Lukidis and Tara Hannon

HOW TO PEE YOUR PANTS (THE RIGHT WAY) by Rachel Michelle Wilson

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

It's Joan Marie Galat day! We've been waiting a long time for this one. Joan writes because she's curious, she's dedicated, and she cares deeply about sharing her passion and quiet activism with her audience.

She has a lot to show for her passion! From DOT TO DOT IN THE SKY to WILDLIFE CROSSING, Joan's exploration of the world comes through clearly.

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

MY DADDY IS A COWBOY, words by Stephanie Seales, pictures by CG Esperanza

TIC-ERRIFIC ME, words by Alicia Meyers, pictures by Cait Brennan

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

It's author and educator Andrea Caulfield on the podcast today! Andrea is World Language Curriculum Specialist for Denver Public Schools and is quadrilingual, something I (Josh) hope to be when I grow up. Andrea has partnered with Voces Digital to publish Les Zombies Attaquent Quebec, a French-language short novelette for French learners.

Andrea's perspective on language learning is refreshing and new here. Her experiences with Voces and path to publishing her book are both entertaining and enlightening, which is also all you can hope for when you're reading something educational in a language you're trying to learn!

Shout out to our friend Jan Thomas for connecting us to Andrea! This chat was absolutement un plaisir.

PS I had one good window to record my intro, found my mic settings all messed up, and then a crew started jackhammering the street right outside my window. Apologies for the very poor quality on my end!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

STILL FRIENDS, words by Troy Wilson, pictures by Mike Deas

VIGDIS: A BOOK ABOUT THE WORLD'S FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT by Ran Flygenring

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Otherwise known as The Many Misfortunes of Stan Yan's Internet Connection, which we managed around quite successfully, I'd say!

Join us for a chat with Stan Yan, author-illustrator-graphic novelist-comic artist of (yes, I already made the book title puns above) There's a Zombie in the Basement and (JLG Gold Standard) The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang!

Despite our intermittent connection issues this was an absolutely wonderful chat as we got to know the breadth of Stan's educational and illustrative chops. Next time we'll talk more about his history as a stockbroker.

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

THE STUFF BETWEEN THE STARS, words by Sandra Nickel and illustrations by Aimee Sicuro

SPARKLE PIGS by Kit Holliday (hi Steph!)

_________

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Jilanne Hofmann is back (here's her first episode)!

She has some updates from several things we discussed in our first chat, namely that now The Ocean's Heart is out in the world, and HeartLand is soon to be born!

We talk about both of these as well as her work with the educational market. And lots more! Stay tuned for passion and... heart?

_________

This episode’s book reviews (all author-illustrators this week!):

THE OCEAN'S HEART by Jill herself, illustrated by Khoa Le

CALVIN GETS THE LAST WORD by Margo Sorenson, illustrated by Mike Deas


The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

It's not every day we get to hear fresh thoughts from a literary agent/manager in her first four months of agenting. Lindsey Aduskevich joins us today for some insights on her journey to becoming a Junior Literary Manager at Martin Literary!

What's more important is that we have known Lindsey for six years, since one fateful Twitter (RIP) thread led to the creation of our first critique group. And look at us now!

_________

This episode’s book reviews (all author-illustrators this week!):

DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE by John Hare

THE SEARCH FOR OUR COSMIC NEIGHBORS by Chloe Savage

NO MORE GNOMES by Beth Mills


The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Winsome writes. Winsome reads. Winsome cares. And Winsome Bingham speaks. About her editorial voice, her lyricism, her Reycraft family, her views on humor, joy, trauma, craft, and the perfect mix of art and words.

Winsome Bingham is the author of several very acclaimed books, including Soul Food Sunday, Fish Fry Friday, The Walk, Missing Momma, The Table, Life is Beautiful, and, coming September 1, 2026, On Fridays, her latest collaboration with Jason Griffin (go listen to our conversation with him if you haven't yet!).

Today our reviews are for On Fridays, because you should go and preorder it or request it from your library immediately!

You are going to love Winsome's verse!


The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

The Michaelangelo to Bob Ross to Akira Kurosawa to Jason Griffin pipeline is strong.

Master Collaborator and accomplished visual artist Jason Griffin is a Caldecott Honoree for his work with Jason Reynolds on their 2022 collaboration Ain't Burned All the Bright, their third book together (we'll talk about the others in this episode).

But his work with our friend and future guest Winsome Bingham is what brings us here today. The 2024 multicultural, multi-generational picture book collab The Table will be followed in September by the amazing, poignant, gorgeous On Fridays.

Check out our Instagram later this week (on Friday, actually) for some very cover-y things to be revealed!

Resources to consume that were discussed in this episode:

  • Elizabeth Gilbert's TED Talk featuring THE Tom Waits anecdote
  • Akira Kurosawa's iconic blood spray oopsie

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

RAINBOW PANDA, words by Lisa Muchnik, pictures by Emilie Timmermans

ALBERTO SALAS PLAYS PAKA PAKA CON LA PAPA, words by Sara Andrea Fajardo, pictures by Juana Martinez-Neal

THE BLACK MAMBAS THE WORLD’S FIRST ALL-WOMAN ANTI-POACHING UNIT by Kelly Crull

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Jess Yoon stands on business. And she's doing way more than sitting in her little room, typing away. She's tapping into her inner child to great effect!

She manifested a Little Golden Book into being and now her Blackpink biography is out in the world! Her picture book Jeong Is Jeong JUST released this month (February 2026), AND her junior novelization of K-Pop Demon Hunters comes out next month!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

SLEEP TIGHT, DISGUSTING BLOB by Huw Aaron

SEALS ARE JERKS by Jared Chapman

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Now with 100% more consternation! Or less. Not sure where we landed on consternation.

Steph Lau has gotten some good experiences over the years. Some published, some TBD. But at least we have thus far been graced with ABOMINABLE SNOW DANCER, and will be graced with MEDUSA'S PET ROCK later this year! And more to come!

Steph, you'll have to come back on so we can talk more about pancakes and pastries.

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

THE CAVE DOWNWIND OF THE CAFE by Mikey Please

DESERT QUEEN by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, illustrated by Svabhu Kohli

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

We make it so today with author Jan (J.E.) Thomas, author of The AI Incident and Control Freaks. Lots of good habit discussion, some Star Trek, and exactly how you can be a certified Human Author. Jan is a delight!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

HOW TO GROW A FAMILY TREE by Bea Birdsong, illustrated by Jasu Hu

THIS BOOK IS ON FIRE! by Ron Keres, illustrated by Arthur Lin

CASSINI'S MISSION by Katie Venit, illustrated by Julia Blattman

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Today's second-timer is our last-timer of 2025! Matt Forrest Esenwine graces us once again with his delightful, radio-ready voice for a soothing exit to the year.

In addition to Matt's twelve other books (some of which you can hear about in our first conversation from 2021), this year Matt released his anthology A Universe of Rainbows: Multicolored Poems for a Multicolored World.

We don't get to talk a ton about anthologies, so this was a delight!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

JOVITA WORE PANTS by Aida Salazar, illustrated by Molly Mendoza

THIS BOOK IS PERFECT by Ron Keres, illustrated by Arthur Lin

MY DAD IS THE BEST by Fran Pintadera, illustrated by Joan Turu

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Karyn Friedman-Everham (Josh's agent sibling - hi, Joyce!) has a fascinating story that's a little bit backwards from how most of us approach our debuts, but that's what makes her story fascinating and very endearing!

Her 2024 debut was Otter Oughta Know, followed in October 2025 by Chesed. Two different paths, one cool convo!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

NUNU AND THE SEA by Isabella Kung

ERNO RUBIK AND HIS MAGIC CUBE by Kerry Aradhya, illustrated by Kara Kramer

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

It's been almost five years and THIS is our first episode that includes a singalong?

Today it's Rafael and Allison Rozo day! Check out Diego Fuego the Firefighting Dragon, out July 2025, and Unique Like You, out September 2025!

Allison and Rafael are a delight and we hope you enjoy getting to know them as much as we did!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

THE FABULOUS FANNIE FARMER by Emma Bland Smith, illustrated by Susan Reagan

THE A-TO-Z TEACHING TOOLKIT by Alicia Meyers

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

We've known Alicia Meyers since we were all three kidlit babies back in pandemic days when we had no idea what we were doing! Josh still doesn't know what he's doing. Long live Totally Funny Critique Group!

Alicia's educational book The A-to-Z Teaching Toolkit came out this month (November 2025) and we're eagerly awaiting her picture book debut Tic-Errific Me, coming next June!

Alicia hustles. And also rocks a mean teddy bear Halloween costume (check out her socials for evidence).

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

ALL MY STRIPES by Shaina Rudolph and Danielle Royer, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin

ZOMBEES by Justin Colon, illustrated by Kaly Quarles

THE WORLD'S BEST CLASS PLANT by Audrey Vernick and Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Lynnor Bontiago

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Ainissa Ramirez has something in common with the subject of her debut picture book, Jim West, inventor of the microphone: the passion, the drive, and the creative spark to turn her commitment into her reality.

It was an honor to talk to Ainissa, and if you want to hear more of her voice, listen to her podcast Science Underground, or maybe her TEDx Talk!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

THE WALK, by Winsome Bingham, illustrated by E.B. Lewis

EVERY MONDAY MABEL, by Jashar Awan

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

...but doesn't work otherwise? We take issue with that part.

But either way: enjoy this conversation with PB Workshop-creator, writer of When Santa Wrote Back!, and wearer of cool glasses Nathan Christopher!


This episode’s book reviews:

FLY GUY VS THE FLYSWATTER by Tedd Arnold

THE MUSHROOM OF DOOM by Becky Davies and Thomas Elliott

WANDA HEARS THE STARS by Amy S Hanson and Wanda Diaz Merced, illustrated by Rocio Arreola Mendoza

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Lydia Lukidis is here! She is a wealth of knowledge and experience and has brought all her passion for Garfield and Seinfeld to bear in her latest book Garfeld... I mean, Groucho the Grouchy Groundhog. Enjoy Lydia's verse!


This episode’s book reviews:

JIM! Six True Stories About One Great Artist: James Marshall by Jerrold Connors

LITTLE BOO by Maddie Frost

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Danielle Sharkan is our guest this week! On her writing journey, debuting with some heavy topics, eggplants (or aubergines?), and more!

Danielle debuted last year with SHARING SHALOM, following up this year with ELLIE THE EGGSPERT.

Enjoy!


This episode’s book reviews:
BORED PANDA by Mike Bender, illustrated by Chuck Dillon
BEST BUDS by Becky Scharnhorst, illustrated by Jiarui Jiang

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Darrin MacLeod (of Mrs. and Mr. MacLeod!) is here. We explore their collaboration, how The Grunions came to be, and Darrin's history as a traveling, writing vagabond who used to run a surf school.

Mrs. and Mr. MacLeod wrote HOW TO EAT A BOOK and THE DOOR THAT HAD NEVER BEEN OPENED BEFORE (whew, long title) and the forthcoming BIRTHDAY BEAR.


This episode’s book reviews:

I COME FROM ANOTHER GALAXY by James Kwan

TEENY TINY TOADY by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Keika Yamaguchi

UP UP EVER UP by Anita Yasuda, illustrated by Yuko Shimizu

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

It's Steena Hernandez day! Show up and do the thing, claim your agency, and bring your A-game.

Steena's debut book Lupita's Brown Ballet Slippers is available today!

What's pancaking? How do you plan a school visit? What's Josh's favorite shape? All these answers and more await you.


This episode’s book reviews:

I HATE EVERYTHING by Sophy HennVALLEY: THE WIGGLE-BUTT PUP by Jae Lynn, illustrated by Juliette MironCHURRO STAND by Karina N. Gonzalez, illustrated by Krystal Quiles
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Since we first recorded this episode, our guest Jyoti Rajan Gopal has had two books published, and that should tell you a great deal about her hustle and her dedication.

Desert Queen is one we talked about most in this conversation, but 2025 has also seen Love is Here with You: A Lullaby of Blessings and The Power of Your Name as well! Congrats, Jyoti!

Jyoti has also started a podcast called In the Picture, which you should check out here!


This episode’s book reviews:

INVESTIGATORS by John Patrick GreenFEELING BOO by Alex Boniello and April Lavalle, illustrated by Olivia Chin MuellerKAFKA AND THE DOLL by Larissa Theule, illustrated by Rebecca Green
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where's the fire? Cedar Pruitt is here and it's been a long time coming!

Her book FIRE FLIGHT: A WILDFIRE ESCAPE was out in early 2024 and we are sandwiched right in between that delight and her 2026 book WHAT MARCEL FOUND: THE INCREDIBLE DISCOVERY OF THE LASCAUX CAVE PAINTINGS.


This episode’s book reviews:

WHISPERS FROM MOTHER EARTH by Maryam Khalifah TINY HIKER by Natasha Zimmers, illustrated by Jaimie MacGibbon OSCAR'S AMERICAN DREAM by Barry Wittenstein, illustrated by Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Today’s guest is Meg Auchenbach, author illustrator of If You Are An Artist! We talk about what it actually looks like when an editor asks for more work, an inside look at what it takes to be an author/illustrator in today’s market, joining a debut group and the mystery of all mysteries: how do you manage your writing time with other commitments and life!

Make sure to listen until the end for Meg’s Dead Manuscript and my impersonation of Kip from Napoleon Dynamite!

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, and Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, and science communicator.

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Meg Auchenbach. You can find Meg here.

This episode’s book reviews:

OLIVIA by Ian Falconer

VERA LA VALIENTE IS SCARED by Ana Siqueria illustrated by Teresa Martinez

TO CATCH A GHOST by Rachel Michelle Wilson

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on IG @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

Content advisory: Portland, rainbows, girl cheese, gender expansiveness, A Song for Nolan, Rushie Ellenwood, and big energy! (And Vicki Johnson)

Enjoy responsibly!

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press.


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

VERA LA VALIENTE IS SCARED by Ana Siqueira, illustrated by Teresa Martinez

ISLAND STORM by Brian Floca, illustrated by Sydney Smith

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Ana Siqueira is a beacon of dedication and inspiration! Her latest books VERA LA VALIENTE and STICKY HERMANA come out in August and October 2025, respectively, and both are equally wonderful.

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press.


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

MISTACO! A TALE OF TRAGEDY Y TORTILLAS by Eliza Kinkz

DINOSAURS: A SHINE-A-LIGHT BOOK by Sara Hurst, illustrated by Lucy Cripps

FORTS by Katie Venit, illustrated by Kenard Pak

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Sue Lancaster is here to enrich your ears with her voice and your eyes with her books... and her magazine, The Toy! Check out last year's Supermoon (from Tielmour Press!) and, out in May, Outside the Box!

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press.


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

SANTIAGO'S DINOSAURIOS by Mariana Rios Ramirez, illustrated by Udayana Lugo

GROUCHO THE GROUCHY GROUNDHOG by Lydia Lukidis, illustrated by Tara Hannon

I AM COW, HEAR ME MOO by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Gus Gordon

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

It's Brenna, Jenna, and Josh. Oh my. Jenna Johnson joins us today for discussion of her debut books EVERY BODY MOVE! (out in September 2025, and a singalong!) and I SPARK LIKE LIGHTNING (out in winter 2026).

And believe us when we say there's more goodness to come from Jenna soon!

Our chat with Jenna goes way beyond her debuts to permission, persistence, passion, and the agonizing roller coaster that is the publishing industry. We hope you enjoy!

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press.


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

CARSON CROSSES CANADA, written by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Kass Reich

THE BABY WHO STAYED AWAKE FOREVER, by Sandra Salsbury

SAFE CROSSING, by Kari Percival

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Today we cross into uncharted realms! It's a podcast head-to-head-to-head as we talk to Danielle Render Turmaud, picture book author, therapist, and host of the podcast You, Me, and The Writing Journey! (check out this same conversation and all her others over on her feed!)

Danielle's virtual event Take Your Kid to Publishing Day is Saturday, July 19, and registration is still open through late June! This event will introduce kids to the business of publishing, and maybe help some of our kids understand what the heck we spend so much time doing. Sign up today!

This episode is an emotionally honest doozy and a great one for those of us (meaning all of us) who sometimes have to build a little resilience to withstand the waiting, frustration, and rejection.

Show note: early in the chat we reference Michele Ziemke's Mighty Kidlit community. Check it out!

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press.


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

PRAIRIE BOY: FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT TURNS THE PRAIRIE INTO A HOME by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

JIM! SIX TRUE STORIES ABOUT ONE GREAT ARTIST: JAMES MARSHALL by our own friend of the pod Jerrold Connors

STINKBIRD HAS A SUPERPOWER by Jill Esbaum, illustrated by Bob Shea

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

I don't think we've ever talked about Jared Leto on the podcast before. Or the board game Clue for that matter. Katie Venit is here with the niche hits!

FORTS and CASSINI'S MISSION are out, respectively, in July and August and to be perfectly honest it's a crime you can't get them now, because they're great and Katie is amazing. We all vibed!

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press.

Shoutout this week from Brittany Pomales to Elayne Crain for her debut There's Something Odd About the Babysitter!


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

SPARKLE PIGS by Kit Holliday

MUNCHPIE MORGAN by Merry Lorenz, illustrated by Kenneth Anderson

CACTUS QUEEN by Lori Alexander, illustrated by Jenn Ely

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

This episode gets philosophical! As you listen, stand up, spread your arms wide, and tell yourself you are a writer (if you in fact identify as such)!

Bonni Goldberg is a poet, author, public speaker, teacher, and really great podcast guest. Check out her picture book Doña Gracia Saved Worlds and her books on writing! This was a wonderful chat!

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press.


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

Help support Trenise and Travis after a devastating theft here.

This episode’s book reviews:

CAMILLA, CARTOGRAPHER by Julie Dillemuth, illustrated by Laura Wood

THE PHONY BALONEY OF GRETA MALONEY by Karla Clark and illustrator Emma Clements

THE GHOST WITH THE SMELLY OLD UNDERWEAR by Jose Carlos Andres illustrated by Gomez

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Proudly portraying professionalism per perennial plans, presenting: Prittany Pomales... I mean Brittany!

It Started with a P just released in April! (But obviously it hadn't yet when we first recorded this chat last year)

Enjoy - she is a pleasure!


Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025, AND Jon's new kids' show, Hook Book Barrel!

Our reviews this week:

I ROCK MY HAIR by Angel Tate

BEING A DOG: A TAIL OF MINDFULNESS by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Pete Oswald

THE BAKERY DRAGON by Devin Elle Kurtz

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Our response to meeting Vicky Fang? Charmed, I'm sure.

Check out Vicky's chapter book series Ava Lin, the latest installment, Ava Lin, Super Duper Happy, out June 2025!

Our reviews this week:

LLAMAS GO BANANAS by Briony Britten, illustrated by Pauline Gregory

THE INTERPRETER, by Olivia Abtahi, illustrated by Monica Arnaldo

IT STARTED WITH A P, by Brittany Pomales, illustrated by Andrew Joyner

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Judy Campbell-Smith is here! Check out her books Baseball for Breakfast (coming 2026), Ice Cream Everywhere, and AJ's Neighborhood, AND make sure and join PB Power Hour if you can. It's a great resource for the community.

Enjoy!


Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025, AND Jon's new kids' show, Hook Book Barrel!

Our reviews this week:

THE BAKERY DRAGON by Devin Elle Kurtz

ELWOOD BIGFOOT: WANTED: BIRDIE FRIENDS! by Jill Esbaum and Nate Wragg

KAT HATS by Daniel Pinkwater

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Today’s guest is picture book author Carrie Finison make sure to check out her newest release, Pigs Dig A Road illustrated by Brian Biggs to see her incredible rhyming skills in action!

We chat about Carrie’s start with Baby Bug magazine and writing short snippets, Latin scansion, of all things, and how rhyme has ruined radio for her! We also dove into the Rutgers conference and Carrie was kind enough to share the intro to a piece that landed her her agent along with the query letter!

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Carrie Finison. You can find Carrie here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

TOO MUCH! AN OVERWHELMING DAY by Jolene Gutiérrez and illustrated by Angel Chang

LITTLE LION GIRL by Olivia Hope and illustrated by Fiona Woodcock

A PINECONE! by Helen Yoon

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Do you know Bitsy Kemper? You should. She's fastidious, fanatical, and fantastic. If you've never seen it before, check out her List O'Publishers and all her books, especially her two upcoming books, Best Friends with Grandma and Best Friends with Grandpa!


Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025, AND Jon's new kids' show, Hook Book Barrel!

Our reviews this week:

THE CAFE AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS by Mikey Please

RIDING THROUGH RICE FIELDS: A TRIP TO THE PHILIPPINES by Michelle Sterling, illustrated by Bianca Austria

CRANKY FRANKY: THE SELFISH SHELLFISH by Michelle Chu and Joseph Penner, illustrated by Sonya Abby

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Alastair Heim. You can find Alastair here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

OLLIE, THE ACORN, AND THE MIGHTY IDEA by Andrew Hacket and Kaz Windness

WHEN ISAAC HEARS THE RAIN by Julie Thompson and illustrated by Leah Giles

URSULA UPSIDE DOWN by Corey R. Tabor

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Carter Higgins, author, illustrator, motion designer, librarian, great thinker, is here! You have probably read her books already because they're great, but one of Josh's favorites is discussed within!

And hey, not that you weren't going to anyway, but stay til the very end for an introspective discussion about Carter's next book, Round and Round the Year We Go, which is delightful and contains human children!


Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025!

Our reviews this week:

TUMBLEBABY by Adam Rex and Audrey Helen Weber

MUNCHPIE MORGAN by Merry Lorenz and Kenneth Anderson

EVERY SECOND by Bruno Gibert

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Erika Cohen Lyons. You can find Erika here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

MILLIE FLEUR’S POISON GARDEN by Christy Mandin

PARROTFISH HAS A SUPERPOWER by Jill Esbaum and Bob Shea

THE ISLAND BEFORE NO by Christina Uss and illustrated by Hudson Christie

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

If any editors are listening, Adria Goetz loves you!

Adria stays open. She reads your queries. She tracks editor interest (even poop jokes). She's thoughtful and nice and get ready for an educational chat.

This conversation was recorded so long ago (April 2024!) that we still called Twitter Twitter (and we still enjoyed a community there). I think the state of the industry is just as glacial and frustrating as it was way back then, but either way this is a valuable inside look into the mind and ways of working of an inspirational and considerate agent.

The two client books Adria mentions at the back of the episode are linked here too!

MILLIE FLEUR'S POISON GARDEN by Christy Mandin

IN THE GROVES by Andrea Cruz Floren


Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025!

Our reviews this week:

GRAVITY IS BRINGING ME DOWN by Wendelin Van Draanen, illustrated by Cornelia Li

SOME DADDIES by Carol Gordon Ekster, Illustrated by Javiera Mac-Lean Alvarez

MOST PEOPLE by Michael Leannah, illustrated by J.E. Morris

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Today’s guest is Chiara Colombi, author of Rocket Ship, Solo Trip and the follow-up Rocket Beams, Lunar Dreams both illustrated by Scott Magoon. We chat about marketing your debut, being your own advocate, and asking yourself why you write. But you’ll have to listen all the way to the end to hear our ideas on revolutionizing the query process and to hear Chiara’s Dead Manuscript!

But, really, agents, if you’re listening, please chime in, we’d love to hear your thoughts on querying.

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Chiara Colombi. You can find Chiara here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

SCHOOL’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL written by Adam Rex illustrated by Christian Robinson

JONTY GENTOO: THE ADVENTURES OF A PENGUIN written by Julia Donaldson illustrated by Axel Scheffler

PROPER BADER written by Lauren Glattly illustrated by Rob Sayegh Jr.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Zany hijinks ensue with Kirk Reedstrom! News flash, we had this conversation six months before publishing it, and wouldn't you know it, it's dated because there's now a FOURTH book in Kirk's Duck and Moose series out next year! The man is hustling!


Our sponsor is Tielmour Press and our reviews happen to be coincidentally for Neigh Kid, by Alan Mayfair and Gabi Moraes, just out as of December 7, 2024 <3

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

Our guest for this conversation was Phaea Crede. You can find Phaea here. And Phaea’s podcast Brodents can be found here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

THE PIRATE’S BED, written by Nicola Winstanley and illustrated by Matt James

DAVID GOES TO SCHOOL, by David Shannon

SHARING IS UNBEARABLE, by J. E. Morris

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

A yoga instructor's guide to demon hunting? Not this time. It's Kat Chen and her Play with Me series! A hoot indeed. Thank you to Joyce Sweeney for hooking up this conversation and - in the intervening months - signing me (Josh) as a client! This conversation serves as a huge endorsement of working with The Seymour Agency through the lens of Kat's super charming experience.

Our little podcast is sponsored by Tielmour Press! For a two-moon special, check out and order Sue Lancaster's Supermoon and/or (preferably and) Neigh Kid by Alan Mayfair!


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

I HATE EVERYONE by Naomi Danis

NUTSHIMIT: IN THE WOODS by Melissa Mollen Dupuis and Elise Gravel

REAL TO ME by Minh Lê and Raissa Figueroa

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Our guest today is Brian LaRossa editor at Scholastic. We talk about lowering the barrier to entry, mentorships and imposter syndrome. At its core the conversation explores inclusivity at every level and having more voices at the table.

This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press

You can find Brian here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

If you want to be a part of the #KidlitForKamala movement or want more information click here.

THE FIRST CAT IN SPACE ATE PIZZA by Mac Barnett and Shawn Harris

WHERE ARE YOU FROM? by Yamile Saied Mendez

THE AMAZING POWER OF GIRLS by Maria Marianayagam and Skyler White

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Lucky you if you happen to listen to this episode the day it's released because it's also publication day for Justin Colon and James Rey Sanchez's Impossible Possums!

You're also lucky in the future because now you can go read Impossible Possums and then use this episode as a behind the scenes sneak peek into the possum sausage-making, which I guarantee is more fun than it might sound like.


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

ABZUGLUTELY! by Sarah Aronson, illustrated by Andrea d'Aquino

WHAT'S IN THE COOKIE TIN? by Yolanda T. Marshall, illustrated by Golnoush Moini

WHOLE WHALE by Karen Yin, illustrated by Nelleke Verhoeff

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Our guest for this conversation was Maria Marianayagam, kidlit author, known for her STEM and girl power books. We talk preempts, option clauses and subbing on proposal.

You can find Maria here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

If you want to be a part of the #KidlitForKamala movement or want more information click here.

SPIDER IN A WELL by Jess Hannigan

THE NOTEBOOK KEEPER by Stephen Briseño and Magdalena Mora

A SONG FOR NOLAN by Rushie Ellenwood and Sally Chen

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Bedrooms, bathrooms, and bookshelves. All other people's places we should be staying out of unless invited. Especially if you're a fascist.

Martha Brockenbrough is here! Talking Kidlit for Kamala, continuing children's lit education, and the frankly shocking number of books about bigfoot that one person can write.

But mostly Kidlit for Kamala!

A reminder from Martha: everything is political. All the things we take for granted, all the comforts and joys and holidays and benefits ingrained in our lives were things our forebears had to fight for until codified through political processes.

Politics isn't the start of change, it's the end result of action.


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

THE LAW OF BIRTHDAYS by Brenna! Illustrated by Marina Kondrakhina

A COSTUME FOR CHARLY by CK Malone, illustrated by Alejandra Barajas

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Anita Yasuda. You can find Anita here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

If you want to be a part of the #KidlitForKamala movement or want more information click here.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE JUNGLE by André Rodrigues, Larissa Ribeiro, Paula Desgualdo, and illustrated by Pedro Markun

THE BOO BOOS OF BLUEBELL ELEMENTARY written by Chelsea Lin Wallace’s and illustrated by Alison Farrell

STRONG written by Rob Kearney and Eric Rosswood illustrated by Nidhi Chanani

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

All it takes is one person to believe in your work for you to break through this crazy industry.

And all it takes is several hundred persons to listen to this interview with kind soul and skilled author Dianna Wilson Sirkovsky!

Dianna's books, James's Reading Rescue and Just One Pebble, are kind acts of writing based on kind acts of goodness. Give them a read and get inspired!


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

WE ARE DEFINITELY HUMAN by X Fang

ON A MUSHROOM DAY by Chris Baker, illustrated by Alexandra Finkeldey

JET THE CAT (IS NOT A CAT) by Phaea Crede, illustrated by Terry Runyan

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Sylvie Frank. You can find Sylvie here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

If you want to be a part of the #KidlitForKamala movement or want more information click here.

THE LION INSIDE by Rachel Bright illustrated by Jim Field

JUDGE JULIETTE by Laura Gehl illustrated by Mari Lobo

SYDNEY’S BIG SPEECH by Malcolm Newsome illustrated by Jade Orlando

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Melody. You can find Melody here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

If you want to be a part of the #KidlitForKamala movement or want more information click here.

I VOTED: MAKING A CHOICE MAKES A DIFFERENCE by Mark Shulman and Serge Bloch

LUNCH EVERY DAY by Kathryn Otoshi

BITZY BAT SCHOOL STAR by Kaz Windness

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Our guest Steph Henson is great! As summer wanes and the school year waxes, we catch up with Steph on her recent release No School, My Rules with Tielmour Press!


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

MONSTER HANDS by Karen Kane and Jonaz McMillan, illustrated by Dion MBD

DEEP, DEEP DOWN: THE SECRET UNDERWATER POETRY OF THE MARIANA TRENCH by Lydia Lukidis, illustrated by Juan Calle Velez

POPI'S ALL SOULS SONG by C.K. Malone, illustrated by Shelly Swann

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Laura. You can find Laura here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

DONUTS FOR EVERYBODY by Jerrold Connors

MY MAMA IS A WORK OF ART written by Hana Acabado

THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY NOT CURSED written by Megan Woodward and illustrated by Risa Rodil

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

In which Josh says 'inspirational' a lot because he was excited about the conversation. Author T.F. Sabin is great and we can't wait for you to hear all about her journey, what drives her, and how she's driven to be the best she can be.

Here is T.F. Sabin's picture book journal, by the way: GOALS


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

SCORCH, HEDGEHOG OF DOOM by Cate Berry, illustrated by Margherita Grasso

FARMHOUSE by Sophie Blackall

SYDNEY'S BIG SPEECH by Malcolm Newsome, illustrated by Jade Orlando

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Maddie Frost. You can find Maddie on Instagram.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

VROOM by Barbara Mcclintock

TATE’S WILD RESCUE written by Jenny Turnbull and illustrated by Izzy Burton

SILLY BOOBIES A LOVE STORY written by Ame Dyckman and illustrated by Christopher Weyant

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Life hacks and tangents and accidental nonfiction, oh my!

Lots of potential episode titles in this one. Our conversation with Chloe Ito Ward is here!

Grab her book Love Grows Here... here!

Our podcast service auto-transcribed my intro with the name You Make a Drip Be Diverse. Should we change it to this AI-generated alternative??

(I apologize for the noise on my solo recording that sounded like I was recording from inside an airplane engine!)


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

MILLIE FLEUR'S POISON GARDEN by Christy Mandin

LUIS AND TABITHA by Steph Campisi (hi Steph!), illustrated by Hollie Mengert

EVERY DOG IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD by Philip C Stead, illustrated by Matthew Cordell

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

The vibes are strong with James McGowan! Agent, author, YouTuber, and great guest!


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

CAN I BE YOUR DOG by Troy Cummings

BUILDING A BEAK: HOW A TOUCAN'S RESCUE INSPIRED THE WORLD, written by Becca McMurdie, illustrated by Diana Hernandez

EMERGENCY QUARTERS, written by Carlos Matias, illustrated by Gracey Zhang

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Papa J Funk is here and he's taking no questions.

Luckily for us, Josh Funk IS taking questions!


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

TOUCH THE SKY by Stephanie Lucianovic, illustrated by Chris Park

THE MESS THAT WE MADE by Michelle Lord, illustrated by Julia Blattman

DUCK AND MOOSE: DUCK MOVES IN and MOOSE BLASTS OFF by Kirk Reedstrom

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Jacob Sager Weinstein. You can find Jacob on Twitter and Bluesky.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

STAY WILD MY CHILD by Mandy Archer, with illustrations by Shane Crampton

A SPOONFUL OF FROGS by Casey Lyall’s illustrated by Vera Brosgol

SUMMER: A SOLSTICE STORY written by Kelsey Gross and illustrated by Renata Liwska

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

The world lost one of the brightest lights in the kidlit sky last week with the passing of author Katey Howes.

Today we're remembering Katey and honoring her memory with a reshare of a conversation Josh first had with her in July 2021.

If you have a memory of Katey you'd like to share, please consider doing so via this Google Form. A memory book will be created and gifted to each of her three children, containing photos and remembrances from those of us in the kidlit community who were fortunate enough to know her.

Katey's work is beautiful, sincere, encouraging, and timeless. To further support her family, if you're able, order one of her books or request them from your local library. Katey's published work can be found on her website.

Katey's latest book, Reindeer Remainders, is just a few weeks away from release. Please also consider ordering it from Amazon or your local bookseller.

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Charles Santoso. You can find Charles on Twitter and Instagram.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

SOMETIMES: A DAY FULL OF FEELINGS by Stephanie Stansbie, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli

TOO MUCH SLIME by Frances Gilbert illustrated by Vin Vogel

NANCY BESS HAD A DRESS by Claire Noland illustrated by Angela C. Hawkins

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Pants vs Cake. Pantsing vs archaeology. The Mental Snack Drawer. Flax Eggs. Blogs on Saturday. The meh shelf.

Betsy Bird pops into the co-host chair as we grill Brenna on her debut The Law of Birthdays in what turned out to be quite the conversation!

Get The Law of Birthdays here!


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

I DO NOT EAT CHILDREN by Matthew Cutler

I AM NOT A CHAIR by Ross Burach

EVERGREEN by Matthew Cordell

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

A generous helping of Adam Rex awaits you. No cause for alarm, the episode title is merely a play on the title of one of Adam's three 2023 book releases!

Catch these books in order of age group: Oh No, the Aunts are Here, The Story of Gumluck the Wizard, and A Little Like Waking!

Guess what? YOU MAY CONTRIBUTE A VERSE IS FIVE YEARS OLD.

Thank you for listening! I wish this milestone would have coincided with our 100th episode, but we're ALMOST THERE.


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

HOW TO MAKE A PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH IN 17 EASY STEPS by Bambi Edlund

A LITTLE LIKE WAKING by Podcast Guest Adam Rex!

KATHI Q BUILDS A TIME MACHINE by Jo-Anne Scranton, illustrated by Gabi Moraes

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Andrew Hacket. You can find Andrew on Twitter.

Check out his blog The Backstory and make sure to pre-order or add his books to Goodreads here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

THE DOOR THAT HAD NEVER BEEN OPENED BEFORE BY by Mrs. & Mr. MacLeod

BOO BOOS OF BLUEBELL ELEMENTARY by Chelsea Lin Wallace and Alison Farrell

HARRIET’S REFLECTIONS written and illustrated by Marion Kadi

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Well that aged poorly. We recorded this in October and were very sneaky about dancing around things that haven't been announced yet. But go and check our guest's social media or website and you'll find that Jessica Stremer has - within two calendar years - a full six books announced and in the pipeline. WHEW!

Out now are the delightful Great Carrier Reef and Lights Out, and her middle grade Fire Escape releases in just a couple months.

I, for one, don't know how she does it and am in awe. Congrats, Jessica!


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

MY CAT LOOKS LIKE MY DAD by Thao Lam

LIGHTS OUT by - yep! - Jessica Stremer, illustrated by Bonnie Pang

BUFFALO FLUFFALO by Bess Kalb, illustrated by Erin Kraan

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Jon Seymour. You can find Jon on Twitter along with Tielmour Press.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Our second-ever two-guest episode extravaganza happens now, featuring our buddies Gennie Gorback and Audrey Perrott!

These two powerhouse pals have produced a perfect loaf of kidlit goodness for your eyes, ears, and taste buds. I wouldn't spoil the reveal except that I desperately want you to have the link handy so you can bookmark it.

VerseShow is proud to reveal Audrey and Gennie's The Joys of Booking!

Now go listen to them talk, laugh, cry, and feel joy all about it <3


DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

THE BIG BED by Bunmi Laditan and Tom Knight

HOW TO COUNT TO ONE by Caspar Salmon and Matt Hunt

WORDS TO MAKE A FRIEND: A STORY IN JAPANESE AND ENGLISH by Donna Jo Napoli and Naoko Stoop

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Marisa Cleveland. You can find Marisa on Twitter.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

LA PRINCESA AND THE PEA by Susan Middleton Elya, illustrated by Juana Martinez Neal

BUFFALO WILD written by Deidre Havrelock and illustrated by Azby Whitecalf

HOW TO EAT A BOOK written and illustrated by Mr. and Mrs. MacLeod

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

I've never seen Perfect Man and Troy Wilson in the same room together. Have you? Could they be the same...?

Troy's on the podcast this week, true believers! Excelsior!

Between the 1st and 14th of February (of 2024, for those of you living in the future), share this episode on socials and tag us for a chance to win a copy of Perfect Man, in celebration of Perfect Man's 20th anniversary!

This episode's reviews:

JUMP IN by Shadra Strickland

ISLAND GIRLS: FREE THE SEA OF PLASTIC, written by Blair Northen Williamson and illustrated by Svitlana Holovchenko

JULIAN IS A MERMAID by Jessica Love

FRED GETS DRESSED by Peter Brown

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Susan Johnston Taylor. You can find Susan on Twitter.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

DON’T CALL ME GRUMPYCORN by Sarah McIntyre

A GIFT FOR NAI NAI by Kim-Hoa Ung

TENACIOUS: FIFTEEN ADVENTURES ALONGSIDE DISABLED ATHLETES by Patty Cisneros Prevo and illustrated by Dion MBD

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Steph Campisi sells caravans by the seashore. So you can camp easy.

Enjoy this first chat of 2024 with Steph sounding erudite, Brenna sounding energetic and engaged, and Josh sounding like he had a spring 2023 cold.

If you're not already a member of our shared Discord PB Workshop, managed by Nathan Christopher and mentioned herein, join here!

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

We have a Patreon! Check it out here. Just launched - more to come, but there are STICKERS.

Thanks to #TeamVersey member Steena Hernandez for her shoutouts this week of Jessica Milo and Jenna Johnson, and congrats to Steena on her upcoming 2024 debut PB LUPITA'S BROWN BALLET SLIPPERS.

Our reviews were Maddie Frost-flavored this week! Go check out her WOMBATS series (Wizard's Wharf releases in February 2024!) and all her other work at Maddie-Frost.com. Maddie also did our quokka mascot Versey!

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Team Versey is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster and Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Brian Gehrlein. You can find Brian on Twitter.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

TOWN IS BY THE SEA by Joanne Schwartz illustrated by Sydney Smith

BLOOM by Julia Seal and MARY WEARS WHAT SHE WANTS by Keith Begley

PARKER PETERZAK by Angel Tate illustrated by Brittany Moodie

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

An XL-sized episode gift for the holidays follows! Our chat with Federico Erebia about his debut novel Pedro and Daniel (and WAY beyond) is so great.

This episode's book reviews:

LOU by Breanna Carzoo

SEALS ARE JERKS by Jared Chapman

THE BEAR ATE YOUR SANDWICH by Julia Sarcone-Roach

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey (holiday version!), and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I found that with our powers combined, we could make Captain Planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty rad podcast with the help of behind-the-scenes wizardry from Jon Seymour.

Our guest for this conversation was Jilanne Hoffmann. You can find Jilanne on Twitter on Instagram and Blue Sky.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

GRUMPY MONKEY by Suzanne and Max Lang

NO PANTS written and illustrated by Jacob Grant

I AM MY ANCESTOR’S WILDEST DREAMS written by Tanisia Moore and illustrated by Robert Paul Jr.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

The one where Josh embarrasses himself. On purpose.

We talk to Maria Dismondy and Adam Blackman of Cardinal Rule Press this week about how CRP came to be, AND why and how they came to choose and publish Brenna's debut, The Law of Birthdays, out in May 2024 (add it on Goodreads today!)!

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

RUDELY interrupted by an interloper. Our apologies.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur, and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I found that with our powers combined, we could make Captain Planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty rad podcast with the help of behind-the-scenes wizardry from Jon Seymour.

Our guest for this conversation was Laurel Snyder. You can find Laurel Snyder on Instagram.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

THE BAD SEED written by Jory John illustrated by Pete Oswald

THE PERFECT SEAT written by Minh Le and Gus Gordon

THERE’S A ZOMBIE IN THE BASEMENT by Stan Yan

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

"There's a big contract, there are a lot of words in it, and none of them rhyme..."

Ah, the perennial conflict with us picture book writers looking to break through. Thankfully for our guest this week, Rebecca Gardyn Levington, she seems to have managed to figure it out, with her 2022 debut Brainstorm quickly followed by this year's Whatever Comes Tomorrow, and apparently many more to come!

And hey illustrators, or authors if you're feeling bold, stay tuned (or fast forward if you're pressed for time?) for an illustration challenge at the end of the episode! Tag your entry on social with #PingPongPattyVerse!

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

MY DAD IS A TREE by Jon Agee

THE UNBUDGEABLE CURMUDGEON by Matthew Burgess, illustrated by Fiona Woodcock

A PIZZA WITH EVERYTHING ON IT by Kyle Scheele, illustrated by Andy J. Miller (not Pizza, but maybe Pizza? it's very mysterious)

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on the socials at @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I found that with our powers combined, we could make Captain Planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty rad podcast with the help of behind-the-scenes wizardry from Jon Seymour.

Our guest for this conversation was Malcolm Newsome. You can find Malcolm on Twitter and Instagram.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

IT’S FALL by Renee Kurilla

HUGO AND THE IMPOSSIBLE THING by Renée Felice Smith and Chris Gabriel illustrated by Sydney Hanson

THE MONSTER ABOVE THE BED by Kailei Pew illustrated by Steph Lew

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

We recorded this during a break in Josh's workday. Please ignore his work phone buzzing incessantly in the background!

Chelsea Lin Wallace is incredible and we hope you enjoy this chat! Chelsea's mom is a psychologist, but it's only here that we really delve into the deepest recesses of her mind and our writing inspiration.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

Humphrey the Egg-Splorer by Nadia Ali, illustrated by Valenti Gubianas

Vampenguin by Lucy Ruth Cummins

Donuts for Everybody by Jerrold Connors!

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on the socials at @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I found that with our powers combined, we could make Captain Planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty rad podcast with the help of behind-the-scenes wizardry from Jon Seymour.

Our guest for this conversation was Kate Allen Fox. You can find Kate on Twitter BlueSky and Threads.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

FOLLOW THAT FROG by Philip C. Stead and illustrated by Matthew Cordell

HIDDEN GEM by Linda Liu

BANANA written and illustrated by Zoey Abbott

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

The one where Josh makes Tara Lazar cry with his questions, and the state of the publishing industry makes us all cry. Tara's Flat Cat, illustrated by Pete Oswald, releases today (as of episode publication, September 19th, ALSO unrelatedly Talk Like A Pirate Day)! Check it out!

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

The Smart Cookie by Jory John and Pete Oswald (of Flat Cat fame!)

Goldilocks and the Three Knocks by Gregory Barrington

Louis by Tom Lichtenheld

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on the socials at @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

This is You May Contribute A Verse!

I’m Brenna Jeanneret. Kidlit author, and co-host of this podcast, duh!

I’m joined by my co-host, Josh Monken, kidlit author, dad, and science communicator. And Podcast Wizard Jon Seymour, an author-illustrator, family man, and data dude.

If you’re in the query trenches, if you’re hearing crickets on sub, if you just started, keep going. Steph’s book WHAT IS HOPE illustrated by Kelsey Buzzell drops today and is the perfect button for Steph’s opening point–writing takes time and it’s ok to take a break, sometimes a long break, writing will be here and so will hope.

Also, you’ll want to check Steph’s page to see Tara Hannon’s original illustrations that helped to inspire this beautiful and important book.

Our guest for this conversation was Steph Lucianovic. You can find Steph on Twitter.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

MINA by author-illustrator Matthew Forsythe

THE ELDERS ARE WATCHING by David Bouchard illustrated by Roy Henry Vickers

THE DAY I SWAPED MY DAD FOR TWO GOLDFISH written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

The title of this episode is, of course, a play on our guest Jess Townes's latest book Sometimes I Cry, due out in September (2023, for those of you in the future).

Jess and Josh are Midwest neighbors! Josh thinks it's really cool that his new buddy Jess works at his own local bookstore. Brenna also thinks it's cool to feature cake in your books. In this episode we kind of unveil some things about cake in Jess's work.

Josh is here, Brenna is here, and Jon is here! And our Linktree is here (please subscribe!).

And Justin Colon's Kidlit Hive editorial services (and other upcoming events!) are here!


Our reviews this week:

Negative Cat by Sophie Blackall

Monet's Cat by Lily Murray, illustrated by Becky Cameron

Superbuns! by Diane Kredensor

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I found that with our powers combined, we could make Captain Planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty rad podcast with the help of behind-the-scenes wizardry from Jon Seymour.

Our guest for this conversation was Pat Z. Miller. You can find Jess on Twitter.

Check out more about Sophie’s Squash here.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

CLOVIS KEEPS HIS COOL written by Katelyn Aronson and illustrated by Eve Farb.

RIBBIT: THE TRUTH ABOUT FROGS? written by Annette Whipple

KEL GILLIGAN’S DAREDEVIL STUNT SHOW written by Michael Buckley and illustrated by Dan Santat.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Little Thoughts Issue 6 is officially open for submissions, and this episode is officially open for your ears to consume! Our guest this week is Claire Taylor, purveyor and proprietor of Little Thoughts Press Magazine. We get a great glimpse into how Little Thoughts came to be and where things stand today. At the time of recording, the theme reveal late in the episode was a real journalistic scoop!

Claire's debut picture book, Benjamin's Sad Day, is also forthcoming from Golden Flece Press!

Josh is here, Brenna is here, and Jon is here! And our Linktree is here (please subscribe!).

And Justin Colon's Kidlit Hive editorial services (and other upcoming events!) are here!


Our reviews this week:

Sometimes I Grumblesquinch, written by Rachel Vail and illustrated by Hyewon Yum

Boop!, written by Bea Birdsong and illustrated by Linzie Hunter

Chez Bob by... Bob Shea

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I found that with our powers combined, we could make Captain Planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty rad podcast with the help of behind-the-scenes wizardry from Jon Seymour.

Our guest for this conversation was Jess Hernandez. You can find Jess on Twitter.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

Mr. S, by author-illustrator Monica Arnaldo

THE BOOK OF RULES by Brian Gehrlein, illustrated by Tom Knight

LITTLE FOX AND THE WILD IMAGINATION written by Jorma Taccone and illustrated by Dan Santat

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Kristin Wauson is Josh's Disney hookup. Want to know more? Better listen!

Also, Kristin Wauson's debut picture book Mr. Thatcher's House is wonderful! 

Josh is here, Brenna is here, and Jon is here! And our Linktree is here (please subscribe!).

And Justin Colon's Kidlit Hive editorial services (and other upcoming events!) are here!


Our reviews this week:

Carson Crosses Canada, written by Linda Bailey, illustrated by Kass Reich

Facts vs Opinions vs Robots, written and illustrated by Michael Rex

Woven of the World, written by Katey Howes, illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. But we couldn’t do it without the behind-the-scenes wizardry from Jon Seymour.

Our guest for this conversation was Audrey Perrott. You can find Audrey on Twitter.

This episode’s book reviews:

INSIDE MY IMAGINATION by Marta Arteaga illustrated Zuzanna Celej

THE SWING by Britta Teckentrup

Big by Vashti Harrison

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

This week's conversation is with - according to their website - artist, author, aunt, and alliterator Anne Appert. And yes I had to re-record all those a-words a bunch of times to get this right.

Anne's the author-illustrator of Blob, a book with which I hope you're familiar, which champions individual self-expression, even if it doesn't mean adhering to strict labels other than "I'm me." Their follow-up book comes in winter 2024 and is titled 'What If You Wish,' and really takes a hard look at that central, childlike question, exploring in a gentle way what it means to consider possibilities.

There's a cautionary tale in here about leaving your work up on Instagram, but at least in Anne's case that turned out wonderfully. If you haven't before, visit Anne's website at anneappert.com and in particular, head over to their Ko-Fi (or coffee, however you say it) shop for some incredible sticker packs and prints that I've picked up, myself.

Josh is here, Brenna is here, and Jon is here! And our Linktree is here (please subscribe!).

(PS, listen to the first few minutes of our conversation, pause, and then check out the Sparkle Suit!)


Our reviews this week:

I Just Ate My Friend by Heidi McKinnon

I Am Me: A Book Of Authenticity by Susan Verde, illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

The Bread Pet by Kate Depalma, illustrated by Nelleke Verhoeff


Check out (something close to) Anne's amazing typewriter keyboard here!

Check out our awesome quokka artist Maddie Frost!

And finally, if you'd like to support the podcast and ALSO want to celebrate a friend, an achievement, or a friend's kidlit achievement, we'd love it if you'd purchase a Community Shout-Out to help keep the lights on!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. But we couldn’t do it without the behind-the-scenes wizardry from Jon Seymour.

Our guest for this conversation was Jonathan Hamlin. You can find Jonathan and Drag Story Time on Twitter.

This episode’s book reviews:

DON’T EAT BEES by Dev Petty illustrated by Mike Boldt.

ALL THE BEATING HEARTS by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Catia Chien.

MISS RITA, MYSTERY READER by Sam Donovan and Kristen Wixted illustrated by Violet Tobacco.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!  

WE HAVE MERCH!! Check it out and support the show here! 

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

Once upon a time (whoa-oh), we had a chat with Tara Trudel (wait a minute, wait a minute, there must be more to the story).

Tara's take on music, entertainment, kidlit, marketing, and more is fresh and delightful. You know what else is fresh and delightful? Tara's album, FRACTURED: FAIRY TALES REMIXED, which debuted on May 5, just a few weeks ago! 

Tara Trudel is here. Josh is here, Brenna is here, and Jon is here! And our Linktree is here (please subscribe!).

Go stream FRACTURED: FAIRY TALES REMIXED right after you listen to this ep! 


Our reviews this week:

FRIDAY NIGHT WRESTLEFEST by J.F. Fox, illustrated by Micah Player

BOB THE TURTLE by Nathaniel Pommalai

SPARKY! by Jenny Offill, illustrated by Chris Appelhans


Check out our sponsor The Kidlit Hive!

Check out our awesome quokka artist Maddie Frost!

And finally, if you'd like to support the podcast and ALSO want to celebrate a friend, an achievement, or a friend's kidlit achievement, we'd love it if you'd purchase a Community Shout-Out to help keep the lights on!

View Details

No written intro can do this week's conversation with Ame Dyckman justice!

If we style ourselves a celebratory and joyous (and educational) kidlit podcast (which we do), this episode maybe sets a new high-water mark for ear-to-ear energy and joy bubbles throughout (except for when I - Josh - have to interrupt with intros and book reviews in my NPR voice, of course), as well as actionable and inspirational insights!

Ame Dyckman is here. Josh is here, Brenna is here, and Jon is here! And our Linktree is here (please subscribe!).

And make sure to check out Ame's HOW DINOSAURS WENT EXTINCT: A SAFETY GUIDE, illustrated by Jenn Harney!


Our reviews this week:

THE BIG RED ROCK by Jess Stockham

HOW TO EAT A BOOK by Mrs. and Mr. MacLeod

BATHE THE CAT by Alice B. McGinty, illustrated by David Roberts


Check out our sponsor The Kidlit Hive!

Check out our awesome quokka artist Maddie Frost!

And finally, if you'd like to support the podcast and ALSO want to celebrate a friend, an achievement, or a friend's kidlit achievement, we'd love it if you'd purchase a Community Shout-Out to help keep the lights on!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. But we couldn’t do it without the behind-the-scenes assistance from our editor Jon Seymour.

Our guest for this conversation was Monica Acker. You can find Monica on Twitter.

This episode’s book reviews:

FLUBBY WILL NOT GO TO SLEEP by J.E Morris

Dandelion Magic written by Darren Farrell, Illustrated by Maya Tatsukawa

ODDBIRD by Derek Desierto

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

This week we talk to an author and poet whose two books releasing in 2023 cover subjects so incredibly worthy of investigation and exploration. As of the episode drop date, Jessica Whipple's Enough Is... is a week away from release, and deals with a concept we all could stand to grasp a bit better. 

I Think I Think A Lot releases in August of this year and is similarly special and personal in its subject matter, drawing from Jessica's own personal journey through OCD. We'll cover with Jessica where these books come from and where she hopes they touch families' hearts, but first we'll talk about a cool vintage secretary's desk, and how Jessica misses querying?


Mentioned in this episode is Bitsy Kemper's resource on publishers open to unagented submissions in her blog!


Our reviews for the week:

LINUS THE LITTLE YELLOW PENCIL by Scott Magoon 
MASTERPIECE by Alexandra Hoffman, illustrated by Beatriz Mello 
ELBERT IN THE AIR by Monica Wesolowska, illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey 


Find more on our Linktree! 

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation was Elisa Boxer. You can find Elisa on Twitter.

This episode’s book reviews:

PLOTTING THE STARS BOOK 1: MOONGARDEN by Michelle Barry 

QUACKS LIKE A DUCK by StephCampisi illustrated by Maria Lebedeva

LYRIC MCKERRIGAN, SECRET LIBRARIAN by Jacob Sager Weinstein illustrated by Vera Brosgol

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!  

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Pixel and Ink’s Acquisitions Editor Alison Weiss. You can find Alison on Twitter.

This episode’s book reviews:

THE CREATURE OF HABIT, by Jennifer E Smith, illustrated by Leo Espinosa.

THIS IS THE BOAT THAT BEN BUILT, by Jen Lynn Bailey Illustrated by Maggie Zeng.

WORM AND CATERPILLAR ARE FRIENDS, by Kaz Windness.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

View Details

We sit down this week for a fantastic chat with author Lisl Detlefsen, whose book Farm Boots releases from Feeding Minds Press in a scant couple of weeks as of our episode drop date! Lisl has a bunch of books out in the world, from jetpacks to kicking kittens, but this will be her third book specifically exploring the world of food. As I've covered in previous episodes, I work in agriculture science communications, so this material is really near and dear to my heart!

My food bona fides are nothing compared to Lisl's, though. She is our first - and perhaps last, or only? - guest who married into a cranberry farm, leading to her 2015 debut, Time for Cranberries. We had such a fun chat with Lisl.


Lisl's upcoming book with Feeding Minds: 

Farm Boots, illustrated by Renee Kurilla


Our reviews for the week:

Lost & Found by Oliver Jeffers

ROAWR! by Barbara Joosse, illustrated by Jan Jutte

Do Not Lick This Book by Iden Ben-Barak and Julian Frost  

(Special shout-out link to Kelly Swemba's Missing Violet!)


And finally, check back to our original discussion with Justin Colon, for a really great conversation that apparently appeals to preteens! 

Check out our sponsor The Kidlit Hive!

Find more on our Linktree! 

View Details

Not to play the "our next guest needs no introduction" card, but our next guest needs no introduction because he's been introduced on the podcast before! We talked to Special Agent Dan Cramer over a year ago, exploring his history and path to agenting. Since then I think we have also explored the majority of his client roster as the unofficial, unauthorized podcast of record for Page Turner Literary.

Now a year wiser, with some incredible books published and in the pipeline, we sat down with Dan for a level of focus Brenna and I don't usually bring to the podcast, covering a subject matter near and dear to our creative hearts: impostor syndrome.


Books mentioned in this chat: 

How To Keep House While Drowning by K.C. DavisIndistractable by Nir Eyal


Our reviews for the week:

Small Saul by Ashley Spires The Wolf Suit by Sid Sharp Dozens of Doughnuts and Lulu and Zoey: A Sister Story by Carrie Finison  


Find more on our Linktree! 

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but our combined powers can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Madeline Gunahart. You can find Madelin on Twitter, or her linktree. Tarot readings are listed there!

This episode’s book reviews:

MIDNIGHT AT THE BARCLAY HOTEL by Fleur Bradley Illustrated by Xavier Bonet

THE SLIDY DINER By Laurel Snyder illustrated by Jamie Zollars

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Don’t forget to get your Community Shout-Outs in for our next episode!

And special thanks to our sponsor Justin Colon and his new venture The Kidlit Hive.

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

If you don't know today's guest, there's at least one easy way to remedy that. Go and listen to our conversation from one year ago, January 2022. Jerrold Connors is a delight and - you'll find - there's MORE than enough ground to cover in this follow up conversation. I daresay The Annual Jerrold is an achievable goal, should our commitment and creativity hold out.

Speaking of creativity, you're going to hear only about a million potential title ideas in this episode, but I think we had it in one. Jerrold's House is truly one built of both ideas and the execution thereupon.

If you're here for donuts, we get there eventually, and it's worth the wait. As of publication, I'm happy to report that Jerrold's #DonutsForEverybody Kickstarter has exceeded its fundraising goal. Listening to this lil' ol' conversation feels so quaint, even though we only had it a week and a half ago. We've come a long way since then, including through the beginning where I feel especially fortunate to have been both clued in AND available to be the first donor.

There's a lot more in store: from James Marshall to Invisible Things, Jerrold's got a lot of irons in the fire.


We have a sponsor! This year we're partnering with Justin Colon of The Kidlit Hive as he steers our community toward affordable and inclusive educational opportunities across the board. Check out upcoming classes at kidlithive.com!


Our reviews of the week are Dan Yaccarino's CITY UNDER THE CITY and Stephanie Campisi's QUACKS LIKE A DUCK. Check them out!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Jolene Gutierrez. You can find Jolene on Twitter, Instagram, or her linktree.

This episode’s book reviews:

THE CHRISTMAS GIANT by Steve Light

I HATE BORSCH! By Yevgenia Nayberg

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

Today's guest is author Samantha Gassman, and we have the distinct privilege of discussing her apparently extreme versatility as an artist, encompassing not only her three VERY different published or acquired works, but additionally her military background, her motherhood, her singing ability, and her impeccable rhyme sense.

I'll leave her other two books to be discussed in our chat, but did want to introduce DEAR RAINBOW BABY, published as her commercial picture book debut this year. This book is deeply personal to Sam, as you might imagine given the subject matter of miscarriage, pregnancy loss, and the ways families rebound. It's a beautiful book and a touching way to introduce one of the most difficult topics imaginable to a child.

All this is to say that the conversation Brenna and I had with Sam is a real journey as we reconcile and connect the tissue between her nonfiction, her early 2022 debut on the educational market, her publication of DEAR RAINBOW BABY, and Artichoke-y Karaoke, which you'll have to wait til the end of the episode to hear about and is WELL worth the wait for the introduction of our new occasional segment called the Dead Manuscripts Society.

And as I'm writing this I realize for the first time that I never got the proper spelling of Artichoke-y. Sorry if I got it wrong in the show notes, Sam!


Our book reviews of the week:

UNDERWEAR by Jenn Harney

MR THATCHER'S HOUSE by Kristin Wauson

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation was Jennifer March Soloway. Charlene Chua. You can find Charlene on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. 

This episode’s ChewyReviewy books:

KID SHERIFF AND THE TERRIBLE TOADS by Bob Shea illustrated by Lane Smith. 

NORTON AND THE BEAR by Gabriel Evans

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

Today’s chat features none other than author-illustrator-actor-voice-over…er Justin Colon, creator of the esteemed PBChat on Twitter and overall kidlit powerhouse.

Chances are very good that you’re already familiar with Justin, his passion, and his work to foster community among other creatives. Equal parts craft, community, and consideration, this conversation is very much a worthy follow-on to last episode’s chat with – not at all coincidentally – Justin’s agent Jennifer March Soloway of Andrea Brown.

We get right into the real stuff this time, starting with some context around the two recent announcements of Justin’s fall 2024 debuts, IMPOSSIBLE POSSUMS with Disney-Hyperion and THE QUACKEN with Simon & Schuster.

Redirection. Mentorship. Outreach. Education. Being ready. Having to wait. And chalking it all up to experience.

Justin Colon literally and figuratively spills the tea. This verse is one you don't want to miss.


Our ChewyReviewy picks of the week are:

The Ugly Doodles by Valeria Wicker

The Very True Legend of the Mongolian Death Worms by Sandra Fay

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Instagram at @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation was Jennifer March Soloway. You can find Jennifer on Twitter, or on the Andrea Brown website. 

This episode’s ChewyReviewy books:

JILLIAN VS PARASITE PLANET by Nicole Kornher-Stace illustrated by Scott Brown

MCTOAD MOWS TINY ISLAND by Tom Angleberger illustrated by John Hendrix

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

The end-of-year season that brings with it so many celebrations and togetherness across cultures, geographies, and faiths feels like the perfect time to share this conversation with author Pamela Ehrenberg!

A large part of our chat today centers around the joy of collaboration, finding and building strong relationships, acting in service, and coming together to build something more than the sum of individual parts could alone.

We talked today mostly about two of Pamela's books, in addition to her journey as a whole. Detour Ahead is her middle grade collaboration with author Tracy Lopez, centering on the intersection of two adolescents who met by happenstance, and the ways that meeting changed the courses of their lives. Pamela's 2017 debut is our other book subject this week: Queen of the Hannukah Dosas is a delightful book blending an intercultural family dynamic with a troublesome affinity for climbing.

Pamela's own journey through service-oriented work and into the publishing industry (read more about PJ Library here!) was fascinating and we're really happy to share.

+++++++

DETOUR AHEAD co-author Tracy Lopez is located here.

QUEEN OF THE HANNUKAH DOSAS illustrator Anjan Sarkar is here.

+++++++

Our ChewyReviewy picks for the week:

SOUL FOOD SUNDAY, by Winsome Bingham

I CAN EXPLAIN by Shinsuke Yoshitake 

View Details

The end-of-year season that brings with it so many celebrations and togetherness across cultures, geographies, and faiths feels like the perfect time to share this conversation with author Pamela Ehrenberg!

A large part of our chat today centers around the joy of collaboration, finding and building strong relationships, acting in service, and coming together to build something more than the sum of individual parts could alone.

We talked today mostly about two of Pamela's books, in addition to her journey as a whole. Detour Ahead is her middle grade collaboration with author Tracy Lopez, centering on the intersection of two adolescents who met by happenstance, and the ways that meeting changed the courses of their lives. Pamela's 2017 debut is our other book subject this week: Queen of the Hannukah Dosas is a delightful book blending an intercultural family dynamic with a troublesome affinity for climbing.

Pamela's own journey through service-oriented work and into the publishing industry (read more about PJ Library here!) was fascinating and we're really happy to share.

+++++++

DETOUR AHEAD co-author Tracy Lopez is located here.

QUEEN OF THE HANNUKAH DOSAS illustrator Anjan Sarkar is here.

+++++++

Our ChewyReviewy picks for the week:

SOUL FOOD SUNDAY, by Winsome Bingham

I CAN EXPLAIN by Shinsuke Yoshitake 

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Lisa Rogers. You can find Lisa on Twitter, or on her website.

This episode’s ChewyReviewy books:

WHERE ARE YOU FROM? by Yamile Saied Mendez, illustrated by Jaime Kim.

LOOKING FOR A JUMBIE by Tracey Baptiste illustrated by Amber Ren.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Lisa Rogers. You can find Lisa on Twitter, or on her website.

This episode’s ChewyReviewy books:

WHERE ARE YOU FROM? by Yamile Saied Mendez, illustrated by Jaime Kim.

LOOKING FOR A JUMBIE by Tracey Baptiste illustrated by Amber Ren.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

Author Jennifer Concepcion’s debut picture book, Potatoes for Pirate Pearl, is slated for an alliterative publication of winter 2023, and you’re absolutely not going to want to miss this book’s – and Jennifer’s – journey to publication.

We caught up with Jennifer during her class plan time, which we very much appreciate, at her grade school in Costa Rica. This is such a charming and conversational chat, and fair warning, there’s a lot of agent-author sausage-making in here about Dan Cramer and Page Turner Literary, as Brenna and Jennifer are agency siblings! Lots of wisdom on offer here!

Jennifer's website: https://www.jenwritescr.com/ 

Our #ChewyReviewy picks of the week:

Bikes for Sale, by Carter Higgins and illustrated by Zachariah Ohora: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/39874653-bikes-for-sale 

Maybe Tomorrow?, by Charlotte Agell and illustrated by Ana Ramirez Gonzalez: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/37828981-maybe-tomorrow 

View Details

Author Jennifer Concepcion’s debut picture book, Potatoes for Pirate Pearl, is slated for an alliterative publication of winter 2023, and you’re absolutely not going to want to miss this book’s – and Jennifer’s – journey to publication.

We caught up with Jennifer during her class plan time, which we very much appreciate, at her grade school in Costa Rica. This is such a charming and conversational chat, and fair warning, there’s a lot of agent-author sausage-making in here about Dan Cramer and Page Turner Literary, as Brenna and Jennifer are agency siblings! Lots of wisdom on offer here!

Jennifer's website: https://www.jenwritescr.com/ 

Our #ChewyReviewy picks of the week:

Bikes for Sale, by Carter Higgins and illustrated by Zachariah Ohora: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/39874653-bikes-for-sale 

Maybe Tomorrow?, by Charlotte Agell and illustrated by Ana Ramirez Gonzalez: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/37828981-maybe-tomorrow 

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Valerie Bolling. You can find Valerie on Twitter, or by following her Linktr.ee links.

This episode’s ChewyReviewy books:

UNICORN’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL by Jess Hernandez and illustrated by Mariano Epelbaum.

DOING BUSINESS by Shawn Harris

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Valerie Bolling. You can find Valerie on Twitter, or by following her Linktr.ee links.

This episode’s ChewyReviewy books:

UNICORN’S FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL by Jess Hernandez and illustrated by Mariano Epelbaum.

DOING BUSINESS by Shawn Harris

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journeys.

Is this a nonfiction podcast? I’ve never thought about it that way, but the more we talked to today’s guest Jocelyn Rish about her book Battle of the Butts – and her journey into nonfiction – the more we realized that we’re here just like Jocelyn, to inform and educate, but also to entertain and laugh!

Jocelyn’s been writing for a long time. Like many of us, she’s written a lot that she’s back-pocketed, and like many of us should strive to, she’s found some really fun success by staying open to inspiration, and affectionately pinching inspiration’s butt when it came a-calling.

Battle of the Butts is what’s resulted, followed at the end of this year by its semi-sequel, the nonfictional Battle of the Brains.

There’s so much to this chat that’s just pure delight. I’m really happy to share Jocelyn’s journey through self-discovery, publication, self-promotion, nerding out with scientists, and more.

Mentioned herein:

Jocelyn’s website: http://jocelynrish.com

David Creighton-Pester’s website: https://wanderingbert.com/

Battle of the Butts: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56638642-battle-of-the-butts

Battle of the Brains: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60462890-battle-of-the-brains

500 Women Scientists: https://gage.500womenscientists.org/

The Grave Intentions Anthology: www.graveintentionsanthology.com

And our #ChewyReviewy picks of the week:

Swashby and the Sea, by Beth Ferry: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43094096-swashby-and-the-sea

A Costume for Charly, by CK Malone: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60143396-a-costume-for-charly

View Details

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journeys.

Is this a nonfiction podcast? I’ve never thought about it that way, but the more we talked to today’s guest Jocelyn Rish about her book Battle of the Butts – and her journey into nonfiction – the more we realized that we’re here just like Jocelyn, to inform and educate, but also to entertain and laugh!

Jocelyn’s been writing for a long time. Like many of us, she’s written a lot that she’s back-pocketed, and like many of us should strive to, she’s found some really fun success by staying open to inspiration, and affectionately pinching inspiration’s butt when it came a-calling.

Battle of the Butts is what’s resulted, followed at the end of this year by its semi-sequel, the nonfictional Battle of the Brains.

There’s so much to this chat that’s just pure delight. I’m really happy to share Jocelyn’s journey through self-discovery, publication, self-promotion, nerding out with scientists, and more.

Mentioned herein:

Jocelyn’s website: http://jocelynrish.com

David Creighton-Pester’s website: https://wanderingbert.com/

Battle of the Butts: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56638642-battle-of-the-butts

Battle of the Brains: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60462890-battle-of-the-brains

500 Women Scientists: https://gage.500womenscientists.org/

The Grave Intentions Anthology: www.graveintentionsanthology.com

And our #ChewyReviewy picks of the week:

Swashby and the Sea, by Beth Ferry: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43094096-swashby-and-the-sea

A Costume for Charly, by CK Malone: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60143396-a-costume-for-charly

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Joyce Sweeney. You can find Joyce on Twitter or on The Seymour Agency website.

This episode’s ChewyReviewy books:

Garbage Island by Fred Koehler

If Your Babysitter Is A Bruja by Ana Siqueira illustrated by Irena Freitas

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Joyce Sweeney. You can find Joyce on Twitter or on The Seymour Agency website.

This episode’s ChewyReviewy books:

Garbage Island by Fred Koehler

If Your Babysitter Is A Bruja by Ana Siqueira illustrated by Irena Freitas

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

It's Samantha Berger, Part 2! And the end of the #BeforeBrenna times!

One small rumination on genuineness: not only did I wring an hour and a half out of her (today's ep being the latter half of that interrupted conversation), but Samantha Berger followed up, unbidden, with me in one of the most encouraging emails I've ever received. Encouraging both in its content and in the "trails of glitter" consistency of character that Sam showed in bothering to write and send it.

I won't share it here, but I will summarize it because a lot of it was SO consistent with what we're trying for with this podcast.

YOU are uniquely YOU.

Your work is best when it builds on your passion.

Passion worked is passion honed.

Don't let that work become joyless or humorless - keep it light and fun.

No one but you can tell the stories inside you.

You may contribute a verse!

View Details

The final two #BeforeBrenna episodes air this week and next! This week: Samantha Berger, Part 1.

My first question for this week's episode is this: why do I sound so much more like a Jim-Henson-does-semi-professional-adult-man Muppet voice this time than other interviews? I'm not complaining since part of what we discuss does include Muppets and Sesame Street, but it's striking.

I'm choosing to air this episode in its uncut original entirety, with original Robby Zar theme song and original intro. It was at this point in 2019 that I had begun to hit my stride with the weekly pace and production. I'm proud of the intro and of this early take on more professional production and writing. 

This episode and next week's #BeforeBrenna summer finale got eaten up by my archives, so I'm happy to have a chance to rerelease and share again. Samantha Berger is a bright, shining star, and an inspiration for both hard work and making time to celebrate your community.

Enjoy Samantha Berger's Verse!

View Details

This week's episode is a re-air of my 2019 conversation with illustrator and author Joyce Wan!

If you’ve never listened to this episode, it’s a good one. In preparing to rerun it, I rediscovered it. A lot of things went through my head during this relisten. First, a rare glimpse at being completely happy with my creative work. This is a really good conversation and I’m glad of the chance to re-air it.

Two, Joyce has a holistic perspective that we don’t always get to experience. Partially informed by my ignorance into the kidlit world and what it means to be published, I think we manage to go broad and dig deep into aspects of doing

It bears ending on a recognition that we’ve touched on in other conversations, which underpins almost every aspect of this chat with Joyce: children’s books are creativity and a way to reach hearts and build up minds, but they’re also a commodity. Facing that aspect of the business of kidlit can help prepare us for the realities that we’re engaging in an industry that relies on marketability and salability. And we ourselves as creators are commodities as well, in a really important sense.

I really enjoyed relistening to Joyce’s perspective on her career – enjoy Joyce’s verse!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Steve Light. You can find Steve on Twitter and on his website.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

It’s the flipside of the golden ticket this week with one from the archives: author-illustrator Kelly Light!

Way back in 2019 I started a podcast called What It Takes to Make. I thought at the time that my life wasn’t going to have space for the kind of creativity I wanted. I figured I’d use my journalism background to live vicariously through creators of different stripes, from filmmakers to dancers to kidlit authors.

Little did I know, a couple of things transpired as a result of those early efforts. The name changed pretty early, first of all, when I got a takedown notice from another podcast – that was wild.

Second, I couldn’t have anticipated what doing the podcast would do to me. As I was approaching 40 at the time, speaking to other creators around the same age, it lit a fire under me and helped define and focus what I wanted to do with myself. Three years later, here we are, a co-hosted, well-oiled machine, laser-focused on understanding and navigating the complicated kidlit world.

There are some parallels between my experience and Kelly Light’s – some trying things out, some opportunity, some rolling with the punches and adapting. Kelly is a giver and opened a lot of doors for other guests and – to some degree – cemented my interest in more seriously pursuing picture book writing.

We're happy to share today’s conversation – enjoy Kelly Light’s verse from May 2019!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Julie Hedlund, founder of 12x12 and co-founder of Picture Book Summit. Find Julie on Twitter, Instagram, Tic Tok, and her website.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Julie Hedlund, founder of 12x12 and co-founder of Picture Book Summit. Find Julie on Twitter, Instagram, Tic Tok, and her website.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

Some conversations show you what the world could be – how great we could all have it – if we just give a little more of ourselves or, put another way, place ourselves firmly outside the center of focus.

CK Malone is an educator, author, and giver. They aren’t perfect – we discuss this point in the episode – but what they are and strive to continually be is capital-G Good.

From shouting out those who inspired them to boosting the work of others to praise for those who have made them and their work what they are today, this chat takes a village.

A little context: we recorded this conversation in early April 2022, a few months after CK had hosted an event boosting (future podcast guest) Julie Hedlund’s Over Bear Under Where, and had just completed several hundred manuscript critiques. For free. Generous and gracious is the name of the game.

CK’s debut picture book, A Costume for Charly, comes out this September – make sure to preorder it if you’re able, or ensure your local library stocks a copy when the time comes.

Find out more about CK and their debut A Costume for Charly FIRST by listening to this episode, THEN at their website, carlislemalonebooks.com. Enjoy CK Malone's verse!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation was Ally Malinenko, author of Ghost Girl and the upcoming This Appearing House. You can find Ally on Twitter,  Instagram, and her website.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

Our guest for this conversation was Karen Nespoli, author of Gertie Saves the Day illustrated by Daniela Massironi. The best place to find Karen is on her website.

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Find us on Twitter @joshmonkwords and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

Betsy Bird is back!

When we have folks on who are generous with their time and their expertise we like to take advantage of that, vampire-style, and wring them dry of every bit of their knowledge we can think to ask.

What we have this week is the result of a call to peers and fans, in a podcast-first crowdsourcing effort. You get to hear Brenna and me NOT meander organically through a conversation, but instead curate a much shorter chat sourced by friends.

If you haven’t already listened to our full conversation with Betsy Bird, please do so at your earliest convenience (it's the next one down from this one in the feed).

Here’s the connective tissue I see in this supplemental conversation that, by its nature, hops around a bit: Betsy Bird is clearly comfortable knowing and growing and moving within the publishing industry, whether it’s advocating for herself and her work, assembling lists, knowing she’s funny, or navigating industry trends.

It’s all of a piece with someone who has put in her time and keeps putting in her time, to take in, and to give back. I’m happy to share this bonus Betsy – enjoy one more bit of this ostrich gal’s verse.

View Details

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journeys.

New blog banners. Kidlit drinks. Ostrich illustrations and fleshy agents. Hot men of children’s literature. Critical race theory! This conversation has it all!

As you may have surmised, we do indeed have children’s author, librarian, podcaster, storyteller, funnyperson, blogger, and reviewer Betsy Bird on the podcast this week, for a much-hyped conversation that delivers.

Betsy is an absolute wealth of knowledge, fitting for a librarian, speaking to people who want to learn more. She’s got stories galore from her years as a librarian, a blogger for the School Library Journal, and as author of several books, among them the recent middle grade Long Road to the Circus. She’s also a podcaster with her sister on the weekly podcast Fuse 8 n’ Kate.

Obscure references abound in this convo, sure, but there’s a lot of non-cliché heart with this humor too.

FYI, chances are that you may forget by the time you get to the end of this episode, but just in case you don’t, or if you read the ep notes while listening, you’ll hear us cut off sort of abruptly at the end. That’s because there’s more in store! Our next episode will feature some friend-submitted questions in an off-schedule bonus convo with Betsy.

And finally, find out more about Betsy at her website, betsybirdbooks.com.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation was Amanda Esch-Cormier, author of Wild and Beautiful illustrated by Naya Kirichenko. You can find Amanda on Twitter and Instagram.  

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our new theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive @verse.show and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.

Some things are worth waiting for. Our conversation touches on that in more ways than one. Today’s guest is Giuseppe Castellano, founder of the Illustration Department, a multifaceted enterprise focusing on encouraging and developing illustrators around the world through online learning and mentorship in a variety of areas.

Giuseppe also hosts the Illustration Department podcast, so you know he’s bringing the professionalism goods to this conversation. And he’s got the bona fides, credentialed in illustration and working as an art director for Penguin and Simon and Schuster for close to fifteen years.

Giuseppe and I have been working toward this conversation for two years, and I am overjoyed to finally share it. Short content advisory: the three of us discuss Giuseppe’s battle with severe depression and the struggle to keep on going and keep on flowing down that river toward better days, despite the despair, rejection, hardship, and other obstacles we encounter along the way.

Find out more about Giuseppe, The Illustration Department, and the ID podcast at one link: illustrationdept.com.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation was Kaitlyn Sanchez, a literary agent at Context Literary. You can find her on Twitter @KaitlynLeann17 and his website kaitlynleannsanchez.com

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our new theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive @verse.show and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.

I think we’re starting to establish that there’s no such thing as a normal kidlit publishing journey. Our guest today is author-illustrator Kaz Windness, out with her debut picture book, Swim, Jim! this May. Among Kaz’s claims to fame prior to this year’s debut with Swim, Jim!’s, are a book of goth nursery rhymes called Mother Goth, a semi-graphic sort-of graphic novel about a murderous and moody unicorn called If UR Stabby, and a viral picture of a thrift store leotard. We’ll let that one speak for itself.

We caught up with Kaz late in 2021, just after Swim, Jim!’s cover reveal, about the time of Fred Koehler’s Quinn’s Monsters project, which Kaz was also participating in, and simultaneous with some regrettably missed Stabby the Unicorn painting auctions. Maybe next time. How things can change in just a few months – there’s a lot to talk about, and a lot more to come from Kaz.

Find her absolutely gorgeous – and only occasionally creepy – art and words at windnessbooks.com.

Chaos ensues with Kaz. Controlled chaos, delightful chaos, entertaining chaos! Here is Kaz Windness’s verse.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation was Benson Shum. You can find him on Twitter @bshum79 and his website bensonshum.com  

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versy, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on Twitter @_maddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com 

Our new theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com  

Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

Episode 38 of You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken and Brenna Jeanneret.

View Details

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.

Our guest this week is picture book storyteller Maddie Frost, who is the new illustrator emeritus of this very podcast! To get a sample of her work and sensibilities, simply look at your phone or computer screen. It’s Versey the Quokka!

Do the work, put yourself out there, and good things will happen. That’s Brenna’s and my mindset and the mindset of our guest Maddie Frost, who has a bunch of work out in the world, namely for my household Wakey Birds, which is in regular bedtime rotation at the moment.

Combining Maddie’s openness to new opportunity with her hunger for the next big fun thing has led to a very productive career so far. Including a number of illustrator and author-illustrator credits to her name, she’s got four books coming out this year alone, including Capybara is Friends with Everyone, Not Yet, Yeti, Iguana Be A Dragon, and Let’s Draw Fun Animals, a how-to book that, we’ve been promised, also contains funtivities. As of episode publication, Maddie’s just done a cover reveal for this one on her Twitter, @_maddiefrost.

If you couldn’t already surmise, fun’s the name of the game today. Hope you enjoy!

Find Maddie Frost on Twitter!

Find Josh and Brenna on Twitter!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation was Kailei Pew. You can find her on Twitter @pewkailei and on her website kaileipewbooks.com where you will find all the information about the Kids' Choice Kidlit Writing Contest! 

Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show and @brennajeanneret and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

View Details

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.

Can we all just get a little break here? Can we switch gears, start fresh, get some wind in our sails, make a little headway? It ain’t easy out here in the trenches, surviving while creating.

Welcome to 2022. 2022 is about manifesting greatness in ourselves and in the world. When will it all end? When we will it to be so through our intentions and actions and good vibes.

We are the versions of ourselves who have done great things and will do them again in the future. Brenna’s and my conversation with author-illustrator Jerrold Connors was so fun to have, and such a positive way to open a new year in an uncertain time.

Jerrold Connors – a creator whose career has touched on multimedia, on games, on animation, on writing, on illustration, and on education – is in a particular stage of his career where he is the main character of his own story, with motivations and intentions and inspiration that he’s following to grow himself, his craft, and his sense of satisfaction with the world.

Good vibes and a good reality check here. Take our chat with Jerrold and enter 2022 with some creative wind in your sails. Create for the sake of creating.

Here is Jerrold Connors’s verse.

View Details

Debuts and layers and parallels, oh my. Today’s conversation is with author Moni Ritchie Hadley, whose debut story (illustrated by Mizuho Fujisawa) is The Star Festival, published by Albert Whitman this year, 2021. The Star Festival is intergenerational, intercultural, loving, layered, and a little cheeky. A story of connection and caring.

Moni is an educator and writer, a self-described half-Japanese military brat who came up balancing Japanese and American cultures, and daydreaming – which I find to be one of the most useful skills for picture book writing.

The best of us comes from a place of personal connection and passion, even if we don’t recognize it at first. We’ll save the details to be revealed during our conversation, but Moni’s experiences with bringing The Star Festival to life remind us to keep our minds, eyes, ears, and heart open so that the world can sometimes steer us in the right direction.

Happenstance is a funny thing. Not only is The Star Festival Moni’s debut picture book, but also Brenna’s and my first recorded author interview after partnering up, which is also a result of happenstance and keeping eyes open for opportunity.

Mentions in this episode include a big shout out to Storyteller Academy, specifically Jim Averbeck's Writing Picture Book Manuscripts course.

Enjoy both this conversation and the impending end of 2021! Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show, and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, and outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation was Matt Forrest Esenwine. You can find him on Twitter @mattforrestVW or his website mattforrest.com

If you’re interested in hearing more about how to handle rejection. Jia Jiang’s Ted Talk, What I Learned From 100 Days of Rejection was incredibly eye-opening. 

Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show, and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

View Details

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.

There are many times in the life of being a fan of things that you consume something, and then want nothing more than to pick the brain of the person who created it.

Hot off consuming the picture book Calvin Gets the Last Word, Brenna and I got one of the primary benefits of doing this podcast, which is to get to pick the brain of one of the persons who created it, author Margo Sorenson (in partnership with illustrator Mike Deas).

Margo is a prolific multi-genre author who has had a storied career thus far, and built her resilience and tenacity by choosing to have taught middle schoolers.

Margo’s work is largely tinged with ohana, the Hawai’ian concept of family, seen through works like her picture book Little Calabash and woven into her identity as an author. I love Margo’s Hawai’ian name Leipua’ala, granted to her by a family friend, meaning ‘little gifts for children.’

What you’ll hear in this episode, aside from us deconstructing Calvin Gets the Last Word, is partial silence from me (especially toward the end), both because I had an internet outage during our conversation, but more importantly because I’m super jealous of Brenna and Margo’s newfound relationship as agency siblings, calabash cousins in the Dan Cramer of Page Turner Literary family.

Such a pleasure to share this conversation. Here is Margo Sorenson’s verse.

View Details

I’m Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, and outdoors person, and podcaster joined by Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster.

Josh and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast. 

Our guest for this conversation is agent extraordinaire Dan Cramer of Page Turner Lit. You can find him on Twitter @pageturnerlit or his website pageturnerliteraryagency.com 

Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time. 

View Details

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!

This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journey.

Today is about being weird together. It’s the first recorded conversation between Brenna and me as we get to know each other better and embark on this quest to do a cool lil podcast about picture books.

Every path trodden in this industry is different, and they all represent stories worth telling. Today’s with Brenna not only represents the traditional ‘How I Got My Agent’ story, which is unique and very-2021, but how we got to where we are now.

It’s a story of partnership, putting yourself out there, embracing the weird, and finding ways that work for you. Brenna’s journey has been super productive, not only landing her an agent in Dan Cramer (of Page Turner Lit), but becoming part of our budding Totally Funny Critique Group and eventually us combining our podcasting powers into one.

Each turn of the tale is about keeping eyes and ears open for opportunity, heart open to accept the uncertainty inherent in new paths, and… mouths open to podcast it out?

Find Brenna at her website.

Brenna is represented by Page Turner Literary Agency and Dan Cramer. Find more information about them - and Brenna's agency siblings - at the Page Turner site.

View Details

I’m Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster, joined by Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, avid climber and outdoorsperson, and podcaster!

Brenna and I have embarked on this kidlit journey together this year, having become critique partners early in the year, only to find that our powers combined could make captain planet. Maybe not, but at least our powers combined can make a pretty good podcast.

OUR guest for this conversation is author-illustrator Fred Koehler, responsible for a whole bunch of books you can find on his Goodreads page, among them Super Jumbo, How to Cheer Up Dad, and Garbage Island – which is getting a sequel in short order! Fred is also the mastermind behind Ready Chapter 1, a resource hub to help creators next-level their work on the path to being professional storytellers. The thing that drew Brenna and I to Fred, however, is an initiative he’s managing through the end of this month called Quinn’s Monsters, in partnership with the Make A Wish Foundation and a slew of super talented kidlit authors and illustrators.

Quinn is a four-year-old in Florida whose wish is to have spooky stories feature her. And monsters! And so Fred’s put out a call to authors, illustrators, and author-illustrator combos to submit 50-100 word stories – with accompanying illustrations – about monsters that interact and go on adventures with Quinn.

Quinn's Monsters, and by proxy Fred Koehler, is excepting submissions for her picture book project through October 25th, 2021 - find all guidelines (and the other amazing contributors to the project) at ilikefred.com/quinn.

Find us on Twitter and the whole episode archive at verse.show, and as always, let us know what you think via a rate, review, or comment!

View Details

Katey Howes (@kateywrites), picture book – and maybe more? – author joins me for a chat today. Katey is author of the lately-published Rissy No Kissies, a picture book about a lovebird who doesn’t love kisses and the lessons her family learns about boundaries, consent, and bodily autonomy.

Katey and I do a lot of discussing in this conversation about how to reach readers, from adjusting language in early reader books to making time for virtual visits to weaving theme into your books.

Find Katey Howes' books on Goodreads!

I really hope you enjoy our chat!

View Details

Today’s conversation launches year three of this podcast project, revisiting time spent last September with Ryan Van Loan, author of the Fall of the Gods series, including The Sin in the Steel, published in July 2020, and The Justice in Revenge, publishing July of this year.

So happy to have the chance to speak with Ryan again. If you haven’t yet listened to the conversation we had last year (it's the episode next to this one!), do so now and get to know his earnest goodwill, his fandom, his discipline, and his immense drive.

Ryan and I cover a lot of ground again, discussing contracts, critique groups, complications, characters, and changes. What happens when you begin to get the thing you seek? As it turns out, Ryan’s watching that play out along with his scrappy protagonists Buc and Eld, though they’re having super different experiences with that achievement.

  • Read The Sin in the Steel, available everywhere in hardcover now, in paperback June 29!
  • Get The Justice in Revenge, out in hardback and ebook July 13!

View Details

There are creators, like my guest today, debut author Ryan Van Loan (@RyanVanLoan), whose fresh insight and earnest goodwill go beyond what’s on the page or in the work and build you into a fan.

These are the conversations I (@JoshMonkwords) strive to have, and consistently manage to find (which I hope comes out in our chats – check the archive).

Ryan Van Loan’s debut novel, The Sin in the Steel, was released on July 21st of this year. It buckles the swashes and takes us on a journey of magic, manipulation, mayhem, and monsters across a fantastical sea as a young, violently scrappy investigator gets to the bottom of a mercantile mystery alongside her stalwart solider compatriot.

It goes deeper than all that, though – the sort of thing that gets glossed over in a lot of books gets confronted head-on in Sin. The trauma and presence of violence even past its end is a major factor that the heroes Buc and Eld face, and despite how prevalent conflict is in his novel, we don’t revel in it. The story also revels in found family and the growth of love over time you can feel for those with whom you walk the path of your life.

There’s another unavoidable reality we cover a lot in our chat, and that’s timing. Both of publication as well as of career. Ryan’s no stranger to writing, but it was only after a long string of attempts that publishing caught up with him. And to release your debut novel in 2020 is no joke, forcing a change in mindset and a radical shift in how you approach reaching an audience without any previous cache.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

I (@JoshMonkwords) got a chance to catch up this time around with animator, artist, and parent Joanna Davidovich (@JoTheZette). You can lately find Joanna livestreaming her animation commissions, personal projects, and requests on social channels when she’s not balancing client work and two small kids.

There’s a cloud over everything we do right now - 2020 is a doozy.

We couldn’t have had a better timed opportunity to talk about the realities we’re all facing as we navigate family and work dynamics, and how both the pandemic and the natural progression of years have changed things for us.

Joanna and I talk business too – she’s has been a working animator for well over a decade now, and uses her public persona as a live-streaming animator both to serve as inspiration, education, and entertainment to her audience, and to give herself company while she works.

Here’s a good entry point to look up on Youtube if you’re not familiar with her work: Joanna finished a classic style cartoon called Monkey Rag a number of years ago – we don’t talk about it in great detail but you ought to check it out. I choose to believe it’s about the issues we create for ourselves getting the better of us despite our best intentions.

Joanna’s got a joyful soul and it was a pleasure to be able to chat not so much about education and business and how she came up, but other types of creative work life realities equally important to analyze.

View Details

Our guest this episode is author, activist, and awesome advocate Claire Rudy Foster.

They have a short story collection that came out in November 2019, titled Shine of the Ever, based in grunge-era Portland, Oregon. It’s a radical, joy-filled book of linked vignettes, characters intertwining in intimate ways, hurtling toward evolution, with no sad endings. It was named by O: The Oprah Magazine as one of the best LGBTQ books of 2019.

Foster’s also a radically transparent and joy-filled freelance author, with pieces appearing all over the place: the Washington Post, New York Times, McSweeney’s – the list goes on.

I became aware of Foster’s very personal voice and encouraging perspective for the first time in late 2017 and early 2018, as emotions… began to run a bit higher for many folks. Foster’s quite active on social media, and I have been fortunate to witness their evolution as a writer and of their identity as a queer, nonbinary trans person.

Foster is on social media as @crf_pdx – buy their book and learn more at clairerudyfoster.com.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Ausma Zehanat Khan is the author of two series that we talk about in our conversation today. She’s got an incredibly storied and qualified history as a former professor and current Ph.D in International Human Rights. Her debut, the first in her mystery series starring Toronto detectives Rachel Getty and Esa Khattak, was released in 2015 and deals with the aftermath of the 1995 Bosnian Srebrenica massacre as the central investigation, with a lot more to it that we’ll get into during our chat.

Khan also has a fantasy series wrapping up this year. It’s a quartet of novels, originally planned at three but expanded in the style of George RR Martin, set in a fantastical version of the Muslim world. The Khorasan archives, incredibly, are an epic fantasy series that have come out one per year, starting with 2017’s Bloodprint and concluding with this year’s Bladebone. The books, starring Arian, Sinnia, and Daniyar, on a quest to right wrongs, depict an all too familiarly adjacent anti-intellectual setting, with the heroes trying to preserve knowledge and heritage in the face of ignorance.

Speaking of things concluding. We talked, appropriately, on the eve of Ramadan’s end, in a unique year where our collective situation is ripe for month-long reflection, but at least in my case really challenging when it comes to fasting, if the snacks we keep in the house are any indication.

This conversation is one that’s been a long time coming, and I’m really happy to have had a chance to do this chat.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Carlin Trammel and I have been planning on having a chat about his long running podcast, Nerd Lunch, put together by both carlin as well as his two buddies, Jeeg and Pax, for many moons now  

Nine years this podcast has run, and the occasion of my conversation with Carlin – or CT as he’s known on the podcast – was the end of that podcast.

We talk a lot in our conversation about transition, finality, and the passion it takes to keep something going so consistently for so long. By comparison, I made the first season of verse show run from April to September, then took a break for as long as the show ran.

Much love and many props to Pax, Jeeg, and CT, who have weathered a lot of changes to their personal life, as well as to how the internet works, over those nine years.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Children’s board books seem simple, right? In a sense they are. A handful of page turns to make sure you don’t lose the smallest of attention spans from the smallest among us. Simple illustrations and not a lot of words so kids can grasp broad concepts and explore pictures at a pace that suits them.

If you’re not in the children’s publishing (#kidlit) world, you might also think a discussion related to books aimed at an audience of babies might not interest you.

Joyce Wan is here to tell you that’s absolutely not the case. Our conversation today focuses on her path from architecture student through her entrepreneurship and ownership of her greeting card company and on to children’s book authorship and illustration.

Joyce has, at time of recording, two dozen children’s books to her name. Over the course of her ten-year career in publishing, she’s picked up a lot of universal advice to share not just within this industry, but in any industry whatsoever. She’s learned that you have to find your strengths and your passion and play to them while remaining flexible and adaptable.

She’s learned how to be a creative person while managing herself with a business mindset, talking about those strengths and what sets her apart, not being afraid to be her own champion.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Jeff Miller and I go way back – back to the days before cell phones, when MTV played music videos, before the Matrix, before YouTube and the internet as we know them were invented. Back in OUR day, all we had were trumpets and trombones and marching band trips. And we liked them!

The best way I can introduce you to Jeff Miller and his work is, I think, through the lens of how I re-introduced myself to him over the years as lots of high school friends do, by liking precisely one facebook photo of the other person per year, just enough for it to not be creepy.

I’ve seen for the better part of the past two decades what Jeff is as a singer-songwriter – touring, putting in the work, playing for intimate crowds, releasing albums steadily. What I didn’t understand before our conversation I do now, or at least I think I do a bit better.

Jeff is a multi-instrumentalist primarily playing looping guitar, which will make more sense as a concept once you’ve listened to our chat. I am an unbiased journalist when I say he’s quite good at what he does. He’s Nashville-based and hits the road seasonally across the eastern US as he books, tours, plays, and loops.

What follows is a refreshing and super fun conversation – yes – between two old high school buddies who are playing catch up after decades, but it’s a lot more than that. Jeff Miller has really put in the work and through a lot of exploration and tenacity has found a version of success that’s on his terms, by his own hand, grown-up workable, and allows him to keep producing the art he’s passionate about.

Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a sample of Jeff’s music as we outro to a song from Jeff’s 2016 album Loops, titled Cinquantuno.

I got a lot of encouragement and wisdom from this conversation and am glad to share Jeff Miller’s verse.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Paige Walden-Johnson is a dancer, an Ohio native who has made St. Louis her home. She’s the founder and director of the local St. Louis arts, education, violence remediation, and community unification nonprofit appropriately titled CommUNITY Arts St. Louis. The third annual CommUNITY Arts Festival and Concert are happening on September 7th and 8th, 2019!

As we enter a discussion of what CommUNITY is and what Paige and her team are hoping to do with the festival, some level-setting and history is necessary. We start our chat talking about a woman named Rain Stippec. Rain is a St. Louis dancer and was the victim of a random act of gun violence in February of 2017. She was shot eight times.

Rain has since made a great recovery and I don’t want to spoil any of the conversation, but I think I need to in order to give context to who and what Paige and I talk about. The CommUNITY Arts Festival was set up to support Rain in her recovery in the festival’s first year, occurring over two weekends in late Summer 2017. The planning for this festival started before Rain had even become conscious.

The story Paige has to tell about the evolution of the St. Louis arts community’s support for Rain’s recovery is one of love and dedication, but it’s also about recognizing opportunity when it presents itself. There are lessons in there too about being open to change, to evolve as a situation evolves.

Since the success of the first festival, the CommUNITY Arts infrastructure has grown into something bigger. The coming festival is in its third year in 2019 and looks quite different. Under the roof of St. Louis’s Intersect Arts Center, there are local art performances, but there are also arts workshops, the Midwest premiere of a documentary on endemic violence called The Sweetest Land, and a Voices Against Violence panel discussion, again intended to connect CommUNITY and its partner resources to the community it seeks to serve.

CommUNITY Arts St. Louis focuses on proper communication, education, and healing through the arts – the effort came from tragedy and flourished into a community celebration.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Bear witness to the dead, to those who may no longer contribute a verse. Today's episode is an essay meditating on the mass shootings - the terrorist attacks - that occurred in El Paso and Dayton on August 3.

The victims of these attacks, and all like them whose lives are cut short, deserve for us to hear their names and pause to reflect how fortunate we are to have the chance to keep creating, keep changing the world.

Why write a novel or make a movie or make music? Why try to advance equality for all, or make some small change to what seems like a doomed environment? Why even try to keep one bullet from taking an innocent life? Surely we can’t change things.

Surely we can’t change things if we don’t try.

I do find it helpful to look for the good in the world. Small things. Look for the helpers, as Fred Rogers tells us. Not just the helpers, but any place where you can find light shining on the world or shine some light in your own way.

In trying, crying, stressful, messy times, look to the helpers in whatever ways you can. Be a helper in whatever ways you can.  However you may, keep creating and keep contributing your verse.

View Details

Lindsay Amer is someone we all should be aware of. Their TED talk, launched in June 2019, surpassed one million views within just a few weeks. This seven-minute video, which you should watch or listen to as soon as you can, begins with Lindsay singing and playing the theme song to their four-season YouTube video series called Queer Kids Stuff and ends with a very real entreaty for better LGBTQ+ representation in media and better conversations with kids, to arm them with a better understanding of the world outside the mainly heterosexual-presenting and cis, or normal, gender environment that makes up most media consumed by both kids and adults.

The Queer Kid Stuff video series is very different from the Minecraft streams and political vitriol that makes up a lot of what uncurated YouTube has become. It’s fresh, bright, friendly, upbeat, welcoming, entertaining, and educational. All done with Lindsay, the engaging host, and their co-host, a voiced-over teddy bear, behind a desk covered in letter blocks that spell out words like ‘Intersex.’

Queer Kid Stuff is uncomfortable in a heteronormative world, and that’s the point. Lindsay Amer’s professional theatric and media life has centered around pushing the bleeding-edge boundary of what we’re okay with, backed by a very real urgency: to reach kids who may be struggling now with the sorts of topics they cover in their videos.

Success is weird. What is it about creation and creativity that draws us, pulls at our souls to do something outside ourselves? It’s a wrongness with the world, a missing piece or an injustice or something about yourself that needs to grow and fill the space inside. And what happens when you grow and finish and do and become isn’t always painless and is instead frequently quite painful and difficult.

The simple act of creating anything new in the world is difficult enough, let alone putting into that creation a passion informed by pain and struggle, knowing that hateful, bigoted headwinds are coming and won’t let up for a minute. Still. Lindsay has kept it up for four years and shows no signs of slowing down.

Please enjoy as we explore Lindsay Amer’s verse!

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

My guest this week needs no introduction. That’s partly because she is a force of nature, a wonderful presence, an engaging encourager, and a real pleasure to talk to, but it’s also because I introduced her last week in part 1 of our conversation!

If you haven’t already, do go back to last week’s episode and listen to the beginnings of my conversation with Samantha Berger, where we cover a lot of her history in children’s media, from working at Nickelodeon to her years at Scholastic to zine publishing to independent picture book authorship.

We start this week by talking about more of her books – specifically in the follow up to talking about the sloth-love show Snoozefest at the end of last episode, we discuss the touching and therapeutic Rock What Ya Got, and go into why a book called Glam-Ma is so necessary for proper representation. Later in the conversation we talk about one of my favorites of hers, What If..., and why you should always create.

Finally, do stick around for our discussion of Samantha’s work with Sesame Street in Communities and Sesame Street International. There’s a lot of well-deserved praise both for Samantha as well as for Sesame and what it stands for.

We start by talking about more of her books – specifically in the follow up to talking about the sloth-love show Snoozefest at the end of last episode, we discuss the touching and therapeutic Rock What Ya Got, and go into why a book called Glam-Ma is so necessary for proper representation. Later in the conversation we talk about one of my favorites of hers, What If, and why you should always create.

Finally, do stick around for our discussion of Samantha’s work with Sesame Street in Communities and Sesame Street International. There’s a lot of well-deserved praise both for Samantha as well as for Sesame and what it stands for.

View Details

For those who may not know Samantha Berger, you’re missing out on a real good and delightful person. It would be impossible for me to track down all EIGHTY-some of her children’s books to read, as some of them aren’t even published under her name proper, but the recent ones are really good and usually pretty close at hand at your local library or bookstore. It’s also impossible to track down all the rest of the TV, illustration, voiceover, and other miscellaneous – yet critical – writing threads that make up the Samantha Berger tapestry.

The more I read and learned about her as I prepared for our conversation, the more I felt intimidated by compressing all her writing experience – and otherwise! – into just one chat. We do manage to cover in this conversation the gamut from differences with your parents to zine publication to corporate culture to supporting peers to heavier backdrops informing more joyous works.

Samantha Berger’s words in an email she wrote to me, "Believe in yourself and your work. Get it to the place where YOU love it. All it takes is one person to believe in you back. Believe in someone else, as well," resonate throughout this conversation. What could have been a very self-focused trip through her incredibly prolific writing career thus far is peppered with support, recognition, acknowledgment, and love for those she looks up to and those who have helped get her to where she is.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

My guest this week has been in my ears for almost the entirety of my time as a father, from the days of taking my older daughter for walks accompanied by the sub-genre he helped build, kindie music – that’s kid plus indie.

Jack Forman is an educator, hailing from Seattle, born and raised. His work as an educator and entertainer of kids quickly evolved from formal teaching to family-friendly music with pals Drew Holloway and, later, Korum Bischoff. Together, the three of them comprise Recess Monkey.

Recess Monkey has been around and hitting it hard for almost fifteen years. And when I say they hit it hard, I mean that in the band’s tenure thus far, they’ve released fourteen studio albums. Jack himself has released two in the last several years.

Recess Monkey’s ponderous music catalogue is joy-filled, catchy, and at the same time relatable to current as well as former kids. While Jack plays bass and does vocals in Recess Monkey, he’s a talented multi-instrumentalist and audio engineer, producing his solo albums entirely from his home studio.

Speaking of his home studio, you can also find Jack hosting a daily live call-in radio show on Sirius XM Kids Place Live called Live from the Monkey House. He brings the same level of energy, entertainment, and engagement to his radio show that you’d expect from hearing his music.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Kamal Bell is championing one of the most noble and traditionally patriotic American pursuits I could think of. It’s a fantastic conversation to have for the 4th of July.

Through his ownership of the Durham, North Carolina-based Sankofa Farms, he’s looking to do a lot. He has worked since 2016 to render a dozen wild acres arable, while also balancing being a middle school teacher, raising his two boys, and bringing direct benefit to his community through Sankofa’s Agriculture Academy program as well as directly addressing our American food desert problem.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Uzma Jalaluddin is my guest for this episode! Uzma is an English teacher in Toronto, a parent of two boys, a columnist for the Toronto star with a regular parenting feature called Samosas and Maple Syrup, and a novelist with her debut work, Ayesha At Last, just having dropped in the US.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from the initial handful of conversations making up this show, it’s that you pursue creativity best when it’s something you believe in with your whole heart. Where your heart goes, so goes your interest, passion, and time.

Uzma first started work on Ayesha At Last in 2007. That’s a dozen years working on getting this story right, working around kids and a job about which she’s passionate, working through a dozen or so drafts, and a lot of patience. And editing.

The passion, care, attention, and heart comes through in the writing of Ayesha At Last. It’s a love story perfect for the summer, with pages that fly by as the novel’s characters work through their arcs, both interwoven and distinct. Ayesha At Last is a modern remix on Pride and Prejudice, but – like me – you don’t need to have read Pride and Prejudice to get a lot out of it.

The template extracted from Jane Austen’s seminal story is apt and works really well for the environment of Ayesha At Last. Uzma’s main characters, Khalid Mirza and Ayesha Shamsi, are observant Muslims living and breathing in the tight-knit Muslim community of the east end of Toronto.

They wear traditional clothing and wrestle with arranged marriage, the trappings of faith, and honoring family, but they also hit those universal coming-of-age notes of simply learning who they are as people, accepting themselves, and figuring out how to love.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Birds chirping in a blue sky, the wind whistling through the trees. The crunch of footsteps on freshly chewed Oregon grass. Somewhere, a dog barking.

This is the pastoral Oregonian backdrop for my conversation with Karie Fugett. I hesitate to announce her as 'writer' Karie Fugett since, as our conversation alludes, you don’t always define yourself as one thing. We contain multitudes.

Karie is a writer, though, among other things, and you can find her writing, including bits of her upcoming memoir, already available online.

If you haven’t met Karie, or don’t know her online, or haven’t read her work already… her story is amazing and deserves to be told.

At 17, Karie was a high school dropout. At 24, Karie became a widow. Her husband Cleve was injured by an IED in the Iraq war, later lost his leg, eventually to succumb to an overdose. Nine years after Cleve’s death, Karie works as a writer, editor, and memoirist, traveling to live in Oregon from her home in Alabama, telling their story through her words and experiences as she’s now completed a master’s program in creative nonfiction

I will not do a disservice to Karie’s story by telling more of it here – there’s a lot to it - but instead will suggest that you go seek out her words!

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

If you’re curious about what a dance company is or what goes into the seamless, flowing performances by well-rehearsed professional dancers that we’ve all seen, this conversation is for you because there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes than you might think.

Thanks to Rachel Bodi and Robert Poe, artistic directors of nonprofit ballet company Ballet 314, I now understand a little bit better what it takes to make a dance company. Experience, passion, support, a collaborative spirit. The right opportunity and the right network. The right vision to recognize the right time to make something new happen. Their care and passion for creating opportunities for local dancers while also connecting as directly as possible with the community fuels everything about Ballet 314.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Melanie Lee is a Singaporean freelance writer and author of the interview-based spiritual text Quiet Journeys as well as the six-book children's serial The Adventures of Squirky the Alien, helping children understand what it means to be adopted. Melanie works across genres, formats, lengths, and disciplines. She would probably be too humble to say this, but she’s serene, self-assured, and seems well aware of her place and position in the creative world.

As with many of the folks I’ve talked to for this show, I’ve known Melanie for a long time - almost two decades. That being said, aside from social media connections she and I legitimately haven’t spoken for 19 years. I’ve always been curious as to what’s been behind her creativity, and I’m glad to be able to record and represent Melanie Lee’s work.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Kelly Light’s primary works, the ones for which she’s know the best, are two picture books for young kids called Louise Loves Art and Louise and Andie and the Art of Friendship, about an earnest girl named Louise who can’t put her pencil down for love of drawing. The art in these two books is expressive, animated, and dynamic. Like Kelly, Louise is at her best and happiest when she’s making art.

The story we tell through our conversation touches on Kelly’s quick ascent to something some might call fame and glory, but also what’s more important about that mountain peak: the work it took to get to the top, and also a realistic look at what it takes to stay there, as well as what happens when you stumble from your peak.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Rob nunn has written a Sherlockian pastiche – that is, a fictionalized reimagining of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle – called The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street. 

After this conversation, I have a better appreciation for the ways in which being a fan of something can evolve into a more considered exercise in historical context, critical analysis, and debate. What Sherlockians do is what you might have observed in the Stranger’s Room of the Diogenes Club as part of the Sherlock canon. Considered discussion and intellectual exercise and creative expression with a shared experience.

Rob’s creative exercise would have come to nothing – and likely wouldn’t even have started - without his deep passion and analysis. The passion that fuels so many people in their creative pursuits, the pure fandom of whatever it is you’re doing, takes just a slightly different spin here with a Sherlockian context.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

This is a mini-episode!

I’ve spent five episodes now talking about the desire to create, the process by which we get individually to places where we’ve recorded podcasts, written stories, developed movies, recorded albums, and made wonderful picture books.

What’s common among those conversations, and all the ones I have planned for the future, is that despite what comes your way in life, sometimes there’s a pull from somewhere in the back of your head to make something new come into the world. 

When you can’t do that, it’s frustrating. Not in the sense that it takes anything whatsoever away from the other parts of your life, but there’s a part of you that still wants to make.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

By any objective measure, Robby Zar and I have wonderful lives with small gaps where the creativity goes. Though some of the artistic disciplines are different, our take on being creative is the same, whether it’s music or writing or picture taking or speaking. We find time for it when we can, but it’s not our whole selves, nor even among our highest priorities.

What comes first both in this conversation and in our lives is using our creative energies in support of helping our children grow into creative, self-actualized people in the same ways our own parents paved the way for us to be who we are today.

I’m very grateful to Robby for his encouragement as well as his willingness to have this conversation, and to provide its musical backing.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

My guest for this week is Steve Light, a children's book author based in New York City. Steve has authored and illustrated at least as many children's books as years he's been working in the industry roughly twenty years ago.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Cody Meirick is the guest for this week. Cody and I have known each other for two decades. He has directed a documentary, Scary Stories, which explores the legacy of the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book series through the stories themselves and the folklore discussed in them, the ghastly and very memorable illustrations, and some of the ways in which the book series has been challenged over the years. We cover a lot of ground about his process in this conversation.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Jamie Simo is a friend of mine, but a twenty first century friend who I’ve played games with and met a couple of times. Since I’ve known her I’ve wanted a reason to interview her about what it took to make what she’s made, namely her novel The King of Futures Past, as well as her litany of short stories.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.

View Details

Jeremy is almost literally creative-of-all-trades, in addition to being my brother. The hook of this conversation is on his podcast endeavors, but we cover a lot more ground than that.

VerseShow comprises conversations that give voice to creators, their process, their struggles, and the celebrations of their work. It's an interview podcast with a bend toward curiosity about the creative process.