The Reading Life of Children - A Conversation with Mitali Perkins and Erin Wasinger
For Children's Book Week, Our Podcast Episode of the Week.
We’re celebrating Children’s Book Week here on Substack this week!
If you haven’t done so already, please read
’s essay published here yesterday:The Gospel According to Charlotte's Web
May 5-9 is national Children’s Book Week! I couldn’t let the occasion pass without talking a bit about children’s literature, one of my very favorite things to think and write about—let alone some of…
AND, Lindsey also published two brief picture books this week on The Englewood Review of Books website (including the latest book by Rachel Held Evans and
) : Two Great New Kids Books! – Summer 2025Also, my series on Neil Postman’s classic book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, will resume in the next week or so. You can catch up on that series here:
One of the new things that we’re doing here on Substack in 2025 is highlighting an episode from The Englewood Review of Books podcast archives each week.
The previous featured Podcast episode in this series:
Celebrating Poetry - A Conversation with Heather Lanier and Katie Manning
ERB Podcast host Jen Pollock Michel sat down with two first-time guests (and poets), Heather Lanier and Katie Manning to have our first-ever podcast conversation focused entirely on poetry!
In celebration of Children’s Book Week, we share this 2020 episode featuring author Mitali Perkins, who has written numerous books for children and adults, and Erin Wasinger, who at the time was our Children’s Book Editor. One of the reasons that we picked this episode is that Mitali’s newest book, Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives was released this week by Broadleaf Books, and is our starred new book of the week at The Englewood Review of Books. You will definitely want to read this new book!
ERB Podcast host Jen Pollock Michel is joined by Mitali Perkins and Erin Wasinger to discuss the reading life of children. They talk about the power of stories in the lives of kids, as well as the surprising tension and conflict in the discussion concerning what literature children should have access to, as well as how to encourage a love for reading as children grow. This is a fantastic conversation for those readers who have little ones in their lives!
Mitali Perkins (mitaliperkins.com) has written many books for young readers, including Between Us and Abuela (Winner of the Américas Award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature), Forward Me Back To You (SLJ and Kirkus Best YA Books of the year), You Bring the Distant Near (nominated for a National Book Award, six starred reviews), and Rickshaw Girl (adapted into a film by Sleeperwave Productions), all of which explore crossing different kinds of borders.
Erin F. Wasinger is a writer, speaker, and an elementary school “library lady.” She’s also the cofounder of Spark Writers of Southern Michigan, blogger for MadeleineLEngle.com, and author of The Year of Small Things: Radical Faith for the Rest of Us (Brazos, 2017).
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What stood out to you in this conversation? Drop us a comment below.