Building Super Readers, Strong Boundaries, and Stronger Kids

In this joyful, wisdom-packed episode of Reading With Your Kids, we're shining a light on two amazing creators who are helping kids (and their grownups) find calm, connection, and a love of stories. First, Jed chats with musician, yoga teacher, and mindfulness author Kira Willey about her new parenting book The Joyful Child. Kira shares how years of performing in schools taught her the "magic formula" for engaging kids: music, rhythm, movement, and mindful breathing. She explains why a parent's own emotional state is the most powerful tool in a child's self-regulation, and offers down-to-earth strategies for staying calm in real-life moments—like when your child melts down in the grocery store. Kira also describes simple one-minute activities, car-friendly games, and her Mindfulness Moments for Kids board books that sneak powerful breathing tools into sweet stories. Then we head to Texas to meet Laekan Zea Kemp, author of the funny and heartfelt middle grade novel The Chismosas Only Book Club. Laekan introduces us to four freshman friends navigating high school, family expectations, and their own anxieties. She talks about blending prose with graphic novel sections to hook reluctant readers and bridge kids from comics to longer fiction. Laekan also shares how her work as a high school ESL teacher shaped the book, why simultaneous English–Spanish publication matters, and the very real challenges teens face today with fear, social media, and school. It's an episode full of heart, humor, and practical ideas for raising joyful, mindful, book-loving kids.

In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes Mindy Walker, executive editor of The Week Junior, to spotlight their Summer of Reading initiative and the new "50 Books Kids Love Most" list. Mindy explains that The Week Junior is a weekly, kid-focused print magazine delivered right to families' homes, covering everything from breaking news and history to science, puzzles, recipes, and world records. For their summer reading list, Mindy and her team turn to the real experts—kids themselves. More than 200 young readers across the U.S. voted for their favorite books, resulting in a list packed with award-winning titles, hit series, and books that have been adapted for film and TV. Mindy highlights the power of peer recommendations, the rise of graphic novels and novels in verse, and introduces a new "Legendary Series" category featuring enduring favorites like Wings of Fire. She and Jed talk about modeling reading at home, the importance of pleasure reading in the summer, and why parents still love seeing a print magazine on the coffee table instead of another screen. Later, Jed chats with Cathy Goldberg Fishman about A Walk in the Forest: A Counting Book for Little Tree Huggers, a global celebration of trees, diverse cultures, and early numeracy for toddlers and preschoolers. The episode wraps with Laurie Duersch, author of The Book Machine, a playful picture book about a kid who learns that no machine can replace human imagination. Laurie and Jed explore creativity, boredom, and raising kids who make their own stories in an AI-saturated world.

In this heartwarming episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes back Pam Allyn, creator of World Read Aloud Day and co-author of Every Child a Super Reader, to celebrate the power of reading aloud. Pam and Jed reflect on how the greatest benefit of reading with kids isn't just academic success—it's the deep, lasting bond that forms between caring adults and children. Pam shares moving memories of her father reading the sports pages to her at the dinner table, even into her teen years, showing that read‑aloud time never has to end. Together, she and Jed explore how reading signals to kids, "I'm here for you. I believe in you." They discuss the importance of being authentic reading role models, understanding the basics of phonics and comprehension, and gently building kids' reading stamina so that reading feels joyful, not exhausting. In the second half of the episode, Jed is joined by Ashley Bendiksen, author of A Kids Book About Boundaries. Ashley explains how her book helps children ages 5–9 understand emotional, social, and physical boundaries in everyday situations, using clear language and practice phrases families can use together. She and Jed talk about self‑advocacy, online safety, and why early, open conversations about hard topics actually empower kids rather than frighten them. Ashley also shares her personal journey from surviving abuse to becoming a national speaker and advocate, and how writing for children allows her to equip kids—and the adults who love them—with the tools to stay safe, speak up, and know their worth.

In this warm and engaging episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed sits down with two returning guests whose very different books both invite powerful family conversations. First up is Anthony Peckham, author of The Law of Solitude, Book Three in the Children of Glass trilogy. Anthony explains how a family road trip to an obsidian mountain and a single arrowhead led to a sprawling high-fantasy world—Earth as we don't quite know it, filled with black glass, sorcerers, and a bustling trade city inspired by medieval Timbuktu and Venice. He introduces listeners to his tough, resourceful sibling heroes who break village rules to save their injured father. Drawing on his background as a Hollywood screenwriter, Anthony talks about writing the trilogy as "one long novel," crafting page-turning cliffhangers, and then learning, with the help of a patient editor, to slow down and explore his characters' inner lives. Beneath the thrills, the books explore honor, courage, resilience, adaptability, and facing uncertainty—ideal themes for parents, kids, and teachers to unpack together. Later, Jed welcomes back Tracy C. Gold, author of the heartfelt picture book Call Your Father from Familius. Tracy shares how the book spotlights dads and grandfathers as fully capable, loving caregivers—handling nighttime wake-ups, school issues, big emotions, and tender moments often stereotyped as "mom jobs." She pulls back the curtain on how long traditional publishing takes, why books sometimes get stuck on ships, and how her own family inspired both Call Your Mother and Call Your Father. Tracy also talks about working from home, reading her work aloud during revisions, and watching her daughter dream up her own spin-off, "Call Your Pet."

In this inspiring episode of Reading With Your Kids, we celebrate creativity from two powerful angles: art education and graphic novels. First, Jed chats with Matt Ross, founder and CEO of One River School and former CEO of School of Rock. Matt shares how he saw a gap in arts education—no "cool" art schools that celebrated living artists—and decided to build something new. One River School now has 15 locations across six states, offering project-based classes where kids and adults can start anytime, have fun, and slowly build real skills without the pressure of perfection. Matt and Jed talk about why creativity is an "X factor" in life, how art helps kids (and grownups) grow emotionally and personally, and how parents can nurture play and creativity even while worrying about college, careers, and the rise of AI. Matt also opens up about his son with severe autism and how creativity helps them connect. Then Jed welcomes Akeem S. Roberts, cartoonist, New Yorker contributor, and creator of the Class Pet Ghost Detective middle grade graphic novel series. Akeem introduces Carter and Mister Pebbles, the stinky naked mole rat whose ghost helps Carter solve the mystery of his own death. He shares how comics like Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield shaped him, why he never talks down to kids, and how he builds stories that work on multiple levels for both children and adults. Families will love using this series to spark conversations about responsibility, friendship, and "good trouble"—doing the right thing even when it's hard.

In this inspiring episode of Reading With Your Kids, we begin with a short tribute to Jane Yolen, beloved former guest and legendary author of more than 400 children's books, whose stories have touched generations of young readers and their families. Then we blast off—literally—with our guest, Dr. Kathy Sullivan, often called the most vertical woman in the world. Dr. Kathy is the first American woman to walk in space and the first woman and first certified oceanographer to dive to the Challenger Deep, the deepest place in the world's oceans. Jed and Dr. Kathy talk about courage, curiosity, and calculated risk—how she learned from her dad, small boats, and little airplanes to think carefully about danger and purpose rather than chasing thrills. She describes what it's really like to float outside a spacecraft in a spacesuit that's basically a personal spaceship, and what she saw 7 miles beneath the ocean's surface, where strange, delicate, often transparent creatures live in total darkness. Dr. Kathy also shares the big idea behind her children's books, How to Spacewalk and How to Dive to the Deepest Place on Earth—inviting kids to feel like they're right on her shoulder, joining the adventure. Along the way, she reminds us that Earth itself is a spaceship and that our oceans, forests, and atmosphere are our life support system, connecting every living thing. This is a perfect episode for families who love science, stories, and big conversations about our amazing planet.

In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed Doherty welcomes back Jen De Oliveira to celebrate her early reader graphic novel, Pip and Pals Otter Space. Jen shares how Pip, a river otter, went through many iterations—from the youngest of three siblings, to a tinkering kid with a "fix-it" dad, to the green-furred "space otter" readers meet today. Guided (and sometimes challenged) by her editor Esther Hernandez, Jen describes the emotional roller coaster of being told a story "isn't quite working" and having to return to the sketchbook to discover something better. Jen explains how she thinks in both words and pictures, making comics the perfect medium for her storytelling. She traces her journey from wanting to work in animation, to teaching elementary school, to rediscovering comics as a classroom teacher building a more diverse library for her students. Jen also dives into craft—outlining like a screenwriter, thumbnailing pages, and learning to let images replace unnecessary dialogue. Beneath the silly "otter space" premise, the book explores identity, belonging, and the idea of home. Pip wonders whether she truly belongs where she is or if there's a distant "home planet," opening rich opportunities for family conversations about community, multiple homes, and feeling like you don't quite fit in. Jen also makes a strong case for graphic novels as real reading, emphasizing visual literacy and the power of "reading as thinking." In the final segment, author and longtime educator Melanie Padgett joins the show to discuss Aikens River Rat, a middle-grade novel inspired by her late husband's 1970s South Carolina childhood. Centered on twelve-year-old Adrian and his beloved Paw Paw, the book celebrates intergenerational relationships, outdoor adventures, and the beauty of South Carolina's rivers. Melanie highlights how stories like these can both meet classroom learning goals and spark meaningful family conversations about nature, history, music, and shared memories.

In this powerful episode of Reading With Your Kids, we're shining a gentle, hopeful light on some of the hardest moments families face—grief, loss, anxiety, and big feelings—and how books can help us navigate them together. First, Jed talks with Dr. Korie Leigh, a thanatologist (an expert in death, dying, grief, and loss) and author of "When Everything Changes: Parenting Through Loss and Grief." Korie explains that grief isn't just about death; kids grieve through divorce, incarceration, deportation, climate disasters, illness, pet loss, and ambiguous losses when someone is missing but not gone. She introduces the idea of disenfranchised grief—the very real pain society often refuses to recognize. Korie's book is designed like a field guide for families in crisis: quick, concrete, and practical. The first half explains how kids understand loss at different ages and how caregivers can check in with their own emotions. The second half offers scripts, "say this/not that" examples, and tips for specific situations like death, pet loss, hospitalization, divorce, and more. She stresses the importance of being honest and concrete with kids ("died" instead of "went away") while also honoring each family's faith and cultural beliefs. Then Jed welcomes Emily Gatto, licensed clinical social worker and author of "June's Big Wave" and the June series. Through a warm, kid-friendly narrator, June walks readers through worry, anxiety, new activities, sibling struggles, and sleep issues, using age-appropriate cognitive behavioral tools. Emily shares how stories help kids name their feelings, practice coping skills, and give parents a natural way to start big conversations. Throughout the episode, Jed and his guests celebrate reading together as one of the most loving ways to build resilience, connection, and empathy in our kids—especially when everything changes.

In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes two fantastic creators who show how books can tackle big feelings and big facts—all while keeping kids engaged. First, Joy McCullough joins us to celebrate her middle grade novel in verse, Kestrel Takes Flight. Joy introduces Kestrel, a girl raised in an emotionally abusive, tightly controlled church community in San Diego. Her mom suddenly whisks her away to Montana, where Kestrel has to adjust to a new world, new dangers (including dogs and bears!), and a new way of understanding her family and faith. Joy talks about being a pastor's daughter herself and how her own experiences—and even a failed penguin picture book idea—eventually led to Kestrel's story and the conservation-dog setting in Montana. She also explains why she loves writing novels in verse, especially for tough topics: the white space, poetic rhythm, and emotional "room" let kids engage at the level that feels safe for them, while still holding onto that crucial middle grade ingredient: hope. Then we switch gears and tones with author-illustrator Brandon Todd, creator of the hilarious picture book Do You Really Know Flamingos? Starring Frank the armadillo, an overly confident "expert" who gets just about everything wrong about flamingos, the book gently pokes fun at misinformation while slipping in real animal facts. Brandon shares how his kids' love of weird animal facts, a wild flamingo story he once heard on a podcast, and his evolving character sketches all shaped the book—and how seeing the world through kids' wonder keeps his own creativity alive.

In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes Dan Saks from New York City to celebrate his joyful new picture book, On Our Bikes. Dan shares how the story began as an echo song, "I Got a Bicycle," on his kids' music podcast Noodle Loaf, and how his love of life on two wheels—and riding with his kids—pedaled its way onto the page. Jed and Dan swap stories about city biking in Boston and New York, the tensions between drivers and cyclists, and the pure joy of rolling through town on a perfect spring day. Dan describes memorable family rides across the Brooklyn Bridge for dumplings in Chinatown and how food destinations often become the playful motivation for longer rides with his kids. The conversation then turns to Dan's rich musical life: his work as a music therapist, his long history in bands, and the way nearly all his books are connected to songs. He explains how music therapy can reach people with memory loss or speech challenges in powerful ways, and Jed adds moving personal stories—from his mother's dementia to witnessing Stevie Wonder calm an angry crowd with a call for love and understanding. Later in the episode, Jed is joined by returning guests Dr. Sam and JL McCready to talk about their delightful new picture book Escapees, a playful interstellar adventure about runaway peas, creativity, collaboration, and the joy of making stories that truly connect with kids and families.