Tag Archives: interview

Podcast #30: Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry

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An Interview with Mike Grosso

For my thirtieth Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed author, educator and musician Mike Grosso about his favorite middle grade novel,  Anastsia Krupnik by Lois Lowry.

Published in 1979 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the novel is the first of a series of nine books is about unusual young girl named Anastasia Krupnik. Anastasia has a green notebook where she keeps track of the things she loves, like the new wart on her thumb, and the things she hates, like the baby brother who’s on his way much too soon.  But when life comes at her, like her crush on Washburn Cummings who doesn’t even know she’s alive, her 92 year old grandmother who can’t remember her name, and teachers who don’t understand when she pours her heart out in her poetry, it’s a whole lot for one ten year old girl to figure out.  But if anyone is up for meeting life head on, it’s Anastasia.

Mike Grosso is a fifth grade elementary teacher, musician, and author of the middle grade novel I am Drums. You can find Mike’s website at www.mikegrossoauthor.com.

All podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. Please link, share, comment, or subscribe. The next podcast will be published on March 16th, 2018.

Podcast #29: The No. 1 Car Spotter and The No. 1 Car Spotter and the Firebird by Antinuke

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An Interview with Meera Sriram

For my twenty-ninth Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed author Meera Sriram about two of her favorite middle grade novels,  The No. 1 Car Spotter and The No. 1 Car Spotter and the Firebird , written by Antinuke and illustrated by Warwick Johnson Cadwell.

Published in 2010 and 2011 respectively,  The No. 1 Car Spotter and The No. 1 Car Spotter and the Firebird tell a variety of stories about Oluwalase Babatunde Benson, a young boy in a rural African village (based on the author’s own childhood in Nigeria) who has a special talent for spotting cars before anyone else can, so much so that everyone calls him No. 1.  But car spotting isn’t No.1’s only talent. He has a knack for finding just the right solution for whatever problem visits his village. Whether it’s finding a way to get a group of rich tourists across a flooded road so Mama Coca-Cola can feed them her fried akara, or figuring out how to get his family’s goods to the market when their cart breaks down by inventing the Cow-rolla, No. 1 always finds a way to save the day. These two books (and there are four more in the series) are funny and entertaining and shine a small light on a part of the world not often seen in children’s books.

Meera Sriram is co-author of such books as Bijoy and the Big River and Endangered Animals of India. In addition, she blogs about multicultural children’s books  and offers presentations with a focus on Early Literacy. You can find Meera’s website at www.meerasriram.com

All podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. Please link, share, comment, or subscribe. The next podcast will be published on March 1st, 2018.

Podcast #28: Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker by Shelley Johannes

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An Interview with Kimberly McDermid

For my twenty-eighth Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed educator and kid lit blogger Kimberly McDermid  about one of her favorite middle grade novels,  Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker, written and illustrated by Shelley Johannes.

Published in 2017 by Hyperion, Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker is a book about an unusual young girl  who prefers to do her best thinking upside down (naturally). So when she shows up for her first day of third grade dressed as a Ninja, ready to start another upside down year with her best friend Lenny, everything turns topsy-turvy when Lenny shows up in new dress clothes . . . and with a new friend. Worse yet, Lenny is no longer interested in all the secret plans she and Beatrice had talked about last year. What’s an upside down girl to do? Come up with another secret plan to win back her friend of  course. Beatrice Zinker, Upside Down Thinker is a book about friendship and change and trying to find your place in a world that doesn’t always see eye to eye with an upside down thinker.

Kimberly blogs about kids’ books and authors at Storymamas with her two fellow kid lit bloggers Courtney and Ashley. You can find Storymamas at storymamas.com.

All podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. Please link, share, comment, or subscribe. The next podcast will be published on February 15th, 2018.

Podcast #27: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

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An Interview with E. Lockhart

For my twenty-seventh Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed author E. Lockhart about one of her favorite YA graphic novels,  Nimona by Noelle Steveson.

Published in 2015, Nimona originally started as a Web comic in 2012, telling the story of shapeshifter and sidekick wannabe Nimona, who attaches herself to the super villain Lord Ballister Blackheart in his quest to undermine the Institute of Law Enforcement and Heroics, and in particular, his old nemesis Sir Goldenloin. But even for a villain like Blackheart, Nimona’s impulsiveness and tendency to cut a wide swath of destruction whenever she leaps into the fray is all a bit too much.  However, when they stumble across a dangerous secret at the Institute, everything turns upside down, and nothing will ever be the same again, especially Nimona.   Nimona is a book that is both funny and frightening, and whatever else you may think of Nimona, she is a true original  character not easily forgotten.

E. Lockhart’s books include the New York Times bestseller We Were Liars and The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, which was a Printz Award honor book, a National Book Award finalist, and recipient of the Cybils Award for best young adult novel.  Her latest novel is the young adult suspense novel Genuine Fraud, published this year by Penguin Random House. In addition, she teaches creative writing at Hamline University’s low-residency MFA program in Writing for Children. You can find E. Lockhart’s website at http://www.emilylockhart.com/.

All podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. Please link, share, comment, or subscribe. The next podcast will be published on February 1st, 2018.

Podcast #26: Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants by Sam Swope

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An Interview with Roxanne Hsu Feldman

For my twenty-sixth Dream Gardens kid lit podcast, I interviewed librarian Roxanne Hsu Feldman about one of her favorite children’s books,  Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants by Sam Swope.

Published in 2004, Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants borrows story elements from Jack the Giant Slayer and Jack and the Beanstalk to tell the tale of a boy (named Jack of course) who’s blamed for the sudden appearance of seven deadly giants in the countryside. “Bad attracts bad,” is what he’s told, so he takes off on the back of a magic cow in search of the mother who abandoned him when he was a babe. One by one he encounters the giants, such as The Terrible Glutton, The Wild Tickler,  and Orgulla the Great. And one by one, using only his wits, as well as a bit of luck, he defeats them, until he encounters the Green Queen and makes a surprising discovery. Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants is a lively and humorous book, especially when done as a read-aloud.

Roxanne Hsu Feldman is a middle school librarian at the Dalton School in NYC. In addition, Roxanne has served on several book awards committees over the years, such as the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards, Notable Books for Children, and the Newburys. You can find Roxanne’s contributions for the blog Heavy Medals at blogs.slj.com/heavymedal.

All podcasts are available on iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play. Please link, share, comment, or subscribe. The next podcast will be published on January 16th, 2018.