This Saturday is International Podcast Day! To celebrate this powerful entertainment and education medium, our team gathered a few top episodes on Scholastic Reads, our podcast about the joy and power of books, and the authors, editors, and stories behind them.
If you haven’t already, be sure to take a listen! You can also subscribe to the Scholastic Reads podcast on iOS and Android devices.
Episode #1: The Magic of Harry Potter
Cheryl Klein talks about her work as continuity editor on the series and shares harrowing stories about keeping the manuscript secret. Literacy expert Pam Allyn, Founding Director of LitWorld, weighs in on how Hogwarts and the lessons Harry Potter teaches us can be valuable for educators.
Episode #20: The Baby-sitters Club Turns 30
With nearly 250 titles in print, and new graphic novel adaptations by Raina Telgemeier, The Baby-sitters Club remains one of the most beloved series of all time. In this episode, we talk with BSC creator Ann M. Martin and her longtime editor, David Levithan, about the groundbreaking series and its loyal following.
Pam Muñoz Ryan, the celebrated and critically acclaimed author of Esperanza Rising, The Dreamer, and Riding Freedom, among many others, joins us in the studio with her editor, Tracy Mack, to talk about her writing process, the genesis of her latest New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor novel, Echo, and why so many of her novels contain themes of social justice.
Episode #29: Dav Pilkey: Using Humor to Get Kids Reading
The award-winning author and illustrator of the Captain Underpants series joins us in the studio to introduce his newest series, Dog Man, and to talk about why funny books are often the right books to spark a love of reading. Dav also shares his own story about growing up with ADHD, dyslexia, and behavioral problems, and leaves us with some wise words of hope and encouragement for children who might be struggling with similar issues today.
Episode #39: Meet the Kids Press
We’re introducing you to four members of the Scholastic News Kids Press Corps! With us are Kid Reporters Esther Appelstein, Adedayo Perkovich, Titus Smith III, and Maxwell Surprenant, to talk about their experiences during the past year. We're also joined in the studio by Michael Cappetta, a Scholastic News Kids Press Corps alumnus who is now a producer at NBC Universal. He shares favorite memories of his time as a Kid Reporter.
Episode #40: Writing About War for Young Readers
In this episode, we talk with authors C. Alexander London (Dog Tags and Tides of War series), Kate Messner (Rolling Thunder), and Lauren Tarshis (I Survived series) who share with us why and how they write about war for their young readers.
Episode #42: Telling the Stories of Refugees
Actors Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody, and author Alan Gratz join us this week to talk about the refugee crisis, and how they are giving voice to the children affected.
Episode #43: 25 Years of Goosebumps
Goosebumps is now one of the best-selling children's series of all time with more than 350 million English language books in print. To celebrate this milestone, we invited R.L. Stine into the studio to reflect on the last 25 years and to give us a look at what's still to come for the master of horror.
Episode #47: Getting Families Engaged in the Classroom
We talk with Dr. Karen L. Mapp from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (and co-author of Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success). We also hear from Dana McDonough, the 2016 New York State Teacher of the Year, who shares ways that she works to engage her students' families and the community at large in her classroom.
Episode #48: Daniel José Older
We're joined in the studio by Daniel José Older, author of the New York Times bestselling Shadowshaper about his latest book, Shadowhouse Fall, and about his efforts to bring more diversity to children's literature.
Do you have a favorite Scholastic Reads podcast episode? Share it with us by using #InternationalPodcastDay and tagging us on social!
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