SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Pearl's & Ruby's
  • Politics in Practice
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • *Best New Books*
    • Annual Best Lists
  • Reviews
    • One Star Review
    • Nonfiction
    • Toon Reviews
  • Articles
    • Authors
    • Link Du Jour
  • Covers
    • Covering the Newbery
    • Cover Curiosity
    • Unfortunate Covers
  • News
    • Books on Film
    • Morning Notes
  • Newsletter

December 19, 2022 by Travis Jonker

The Triumphant Return of The Children’s Book Podcast! (+ Logo Reveal!)

December 19, 2022 by Travis Jonker   1 comments

Let us go back to 2013. It was a simpler time. It was also the year teacher-librarian Matthew Winner decided to give the podcasting thing a try.

The Let’s Get Busy podcast was born.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Since then, the show has undergone a few changes . . .

. . . before eventually settling in as The Children’s Book Podcast. Over the years, Matthew has shared great conversations with hundreds of folks in the children’s literature world: authors, illustrators, editors, agents, educators, and more.

On a personal note, The Children’s Book Podcast was a big influence as Colby Sharp and I started our own show, The Yarn podcast. Matthew showed it could be done, and what could be done in an audio show about children’s books.

When Matthew became Head of Podcasts at A Kids Co. in 2021, the show when on hiatus. But now, The Children’s Book Podcast is back, with a new format and a fresh look:

The wonderful new logo is designed by Duke Stebbins.

As it returns, the show is shifting gears a bit. It will still feature plenty of authors and illustrators, but the show will be more for kids than in the past (kids ages 6-10+ and their grownups). Episodes will also be shorter (around 15 min. each) and more “classroom ready”, for teachers and librarians to use with students.

You can listen to the trailer below (featuring Kelly Yang (NEW FROM HERE, FRONT DESK), Torrey Maldonado (HANDS, WHAT LANE!?, TIGHT), and Rebecca Sheir (CIRCLE ROUND podcast) and Matthew’s kids). New episodes arrive in January 2023.

Join me in welcoming back The Children’s Book Podcast!

And here’s a full description:

Exploring big ideas and the way that stories can help us feel seen, understood, and valued. The Children’s Book Podcast features insightful and sincere interviews with authors, illustrators, and everyone involved in taking a book from drawing board to bookshelf. Hosted by a teacher and school librarian, each episode seeks to connect kids and listeners of all ages to powerful, impactful, and lasting stories, and the people who tell them.

Filed under: News

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
The Children's Book Podcast

About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

A Fuse #8 Production

A Lone Wolf Chat with Kiah Thomas and K-Fai Steele

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Recent Graphic Novel Deals, Early June 2025 | News

by Johanna

Heavy Medal

Our Mock Newbery List is Up to 52 Titles

by Steven Engelfried

Politics in Practice

When Book Bans are a Form of Discrimination, What is the Path to Justice?

by John Chrastka

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Cover Reveal: Maple for the People by Kate McGovern

by Amanda MacGregor

The Yarn

How Colby Sharp Celebrates Reading with Students

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

Tiffany D. Jackson Empowers Teens Through Gripping Page-Turners

Author A. A. Vacharat on YA Debut ‘This Moth Saw Brightness’ | 5 Questions and a Rec

Author Leon Egan on YA Debut ‘Lover Birds’ | 5 Questions and a Rec

Calista Brill and Nilah Magruder Tell All About 'Creaky Acres,' Their New Middle Grade Graphic Novel

My School Visit was Cancelled. I Fought Back and Won. | Opinion

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Annie Lynn says

    December 25, 2022 at 10:23 am

    Congratulations to ALL! All the people and shows listed have offered so much to me personally, so I can imagine how it must feel to others. Well done with A Kids Co. Matthew, the Environmental one with the kid activists had me cheering while listening. I saved it. Very powerful. It also made me think of our Climate Action song for Climate Strike & how it could support a show like that with a song kids can download (from QR) and use supplementally. Just like Artists see something and think “an illustration would be good here,” or a Podcaster has an experience and thinks “THIS would be a great Podcast topic,” I see the world through the eyes of a Music Teacher. Everything can be a song, written to educate, motivate, comfort, inspire….. when Kids write their own lyrics, they often remember the content. Also singing brings unity, the way listening to a good book read aloud brings the group together.

    Putting songs and books together for classrooms and libraries is one of my goals this year. If I can offer any help, I’m interested in this combination. And Travis and Colby, thanks also for the last several years of good info, opinions, teaching and videos. You kept me feeling closer to the classroom and I found books and topics I wouldn’t have picked for myself, but ended up interested in, LOL. I think the shorter format will make this intense, targeted, and still on point. And for those of us with shorter attention spans, this will be perfect. I just wrote the Theme Song for Non Fiction Minute Podcast. I love small, intense nuggets of info (set to music,haha).

    Best wishes for Happy Holidays, and successful programming for all this coming new year. Stay safe, stay well, and more podcasts & videos, all! Please. And Thanks.
    Peace, Annie Lynn/AnnieBirdd Music, LLC ✌🏽💖🎶🎨📚🌻

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • Author/Illustrator Blogs

    • Erin Stead Illustration
    • Hey, Rabbit!
    • James Preller's Blog
    • MATTHEWCORDELLBLOGS
    • Mo Willems Doodles
    • The Scop
  • Book Blogs I Like

    • A Book and a Hug
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • A Kids Book a Day
    • A Year of Reading
    • Abby (the) Librarian
    • Awful Library Books
    • Becky’s Book Reviews
    • Better Book Titles
    • Book-A-Day Almanac
    • Bookends
    • books4yourkids.com
    • bookshelves of doom
    • Bottom Shelf Books
    • Calling Caldecott
    • Caustic Cover Critic
    • Chad C. Beckerman
    • Charlotte’s Library
    • Cheryl Rainfield
    • Chicken Spaghetti
    • CHILDREN’S ILLUSTRATION
    • Collecting Children’s Books
    • Cybils
    • EarlyWord
    • educating alice
    • Finding Wonderland
    • For Those About to Mock
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Good Show Sir
    • GottaBook
    • Great Kid Books
    • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
    • Hi Miss Julie!
    • Jen Robinson’s Book Page
    • Kidsmomo
    • Maria T. Middleton Design
    • Nerdy Book Club
    • Neverending Search
    • Nine Kinds of Pie
    • One Book, Two Books, Old Books, New Books
    • Out of the Box
    • Oz and Ends
    • PlanetEsme
    • Read Roger
    • Reading Rants!
    • Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
    • sharpread
    • ShelfTalker
    • so tomorrow
    • The Children's Book Review
    • The Miss Rumphius Effect
    • Uncovered Cover Art
    • Waking Brain Cells
    • Watch. Connect. Read.
  • Library Blogs

    • ALSC Blog
    • Blue Skunk Blog
    • librarian.net
    • LISNews
    • Stephen's Lighthouse
    • Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology
    • Tame The Web: Libraries and Technology
    • Unshelved
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books 2024
    • 2024 Stars So Far
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Pearls & Rubys
    • Politics in Practice
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • Reasons to Love Libraries
    • 2025 Youth Media Awards
    • Defending the Canon:SLJ & NCTE Review 15 Banned Classics
    • Refreshing the Canon Booklist
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Read Free Poster
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2025


    COPYRIGHT © 2025