Reading With Your Kids Podcast

In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes back one of preschool media's most influential creators, Angela Santomero, to celebrate her new series, "Princess Penelope's Purse of Preposterous Things."
Angela explains that Princess Penelope is a brave, kind-hearted kitten who doesn't realize how small she is. When Mother Nature grants her a magical purple purse filled with "preposterous things," Penelope must use creative and critical thinking—not just magic—to solve problems and stand up for her friends. Angela shares how this "engine" of the series helps kids learn to think, reason, and be kind, skills she believes are essential in an age of AI and constant media.
Drawing on her background in child development and her groundbreaking work on Blue's Clues and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Angela talks about "cuddle TV"—those precious moments when parents and kids watch or read together, ask questions like "What do you think will happen next?", and model deeper thinking. She highlights research showing that just 15 minutes of daily reading-for-fun can expose kids to a million new words a year and profoundly shape their futures. Angela also compares the Princess Penelope books and YouTube episodes, explaining how each medium deepens the experience in different ways.
Later in the episode, Jed chats with David Gillespie, retired Air Force veteran and author of "Floo Flocky Doo to the Rescue." David shares the 26-year journey from his daughter's imaginative play to a lively, rhyming picture book that celebrates family stories, risk-taking, and nurturing a lifelong love of reading in young children.

In this inspiring episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes two wonderful guests who are using stories and technology to help kids thrive: Carrol Titus and Inbal Alon.
First, Jed chats with Carrol Titus, president of Golden Poppy and creator of the illustrated chapter book Unicorn Blue and the Kara Doodle Quest. Carrol explains how Golden Poppy was founded to nurture a love of STEM in young children, especially at a time when national science scores are declining. She shares how their interactive learning system blends brain science, play, and storytelling to create "triple sigma" gains for students, including those in disadvantaged schools. Kids step into playful roles—scientists, word warriors, unicorn tamers—while secretly diving deep into applied physics, chemistry, genetics, and critical thinking. Carrol also addresses parents' concerns about technology in the classroom, explaining how Golden Poppy uses secure, carefully curated data and personalized assessments to support both students and time-strapped teachers.
Then Jed is joined by Inbal Alon, a first-grade teacher and debut picture book author of Maddie's Towers, written while on sabbatical in Paris. Inbal describes Maddie's story of feeling betrayed by a friend and learning that trust is like a tower—built one block at a time, and rebuildable after it falls. She and Jed talk about helping kids navigate friendship drama, using picture books proactively (not just in a crisis), and supporting reluctant readers by finding books they genuinely love. Inbal also teases her upcoming titles, including The Wise Get in Trouble and My Aunt Swing, and celebrates the warm, generous kid-lit community.

In this heartfelt episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes two very special guests whose books invite families into powerful conversations about love, loss, culture, and courage.
First, Jed chats with Bianca Pierce, debut picture book author of On the Ranch with Cowboy Luke. Inspired by her brother Luke, a real Montana cowboy who passed away unexpectedly in 2025, Bianca created the book as a tangible way for his daughters – and young readers everywhere – to know who he was and what ranch life is really like. She describes long, frosty winters, calving season, training horses, fixing fences, and the grit it takes to work the land year-round. Bianca shares how the project became a healing journey for her family, how closely she worked with her illustrator to capture Luke accurately (down to his real outfits and tack), and how kids love the interactive seek-and-find page that sends them back through the story spotting hidden animals.
Then Jed reconnects with Malia Maunakea to celebrate her new middle-grade novel The Shark Prince. Drawing from the Hawaiian legend of Nanaue, Malia follows 13-year-old Noheyah as he wrestles with a terrifying family curse, big emotions, bullying, and questions about what it really means to be "a man." Malia talks about honoring Hawaiian culture, researching legends deeply, and using fantasy to help kids explore generational trauma, identity, and healthy ways to cope with anger and fear. She also reflects on how writing these stories has changed her and sparked rich discussions with kids both in Hawaii and on the mainland.

In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes back Tim Wright from Arizona to celebrate book five in The Adventures of Toby Baxter series, Revenge of the River Home, Rutabagas. Jed shares the exciting news that this latest installment has, like the first four books, been named a Reading With Your Kids Certified Great Read, praising its powerful emotional core and hopeful message.
Tim explains how a long-running family joke about "fried rutabagas" inspired the title, and how he used that playful seed to explore serious themes like anger, distraction, and hope. Set in the magical land of River Home, Toby's adventures function as a year-long rite of passage for a 13-year-old boy who doesn't like reading, yet finds himself literally living inside a story. Each book features a compass word—heroism, goodness, wisdom, love, hope—that guides Toby's growth. Book five becomes the "fulcrum" for an overarching arc that will carry through books six and seven, touching deeply on social media, AI, and how kids can stay hopeful in an often angry, screen-saturated world.
Tim and Jed also talk about modern parenting, the loss of meaningful rites of passage, and the powerful role of grandparents and intergenerational relationships—especially Tim's special bond with his five grandkids, who appear as characters in the series.
Later in the episode, Jed chats with author and Yorkie breeder Jane Lumen about her picture book Monkey Mae, Noble and Percy's Farm of Strength, a warm, dog-centered story that gently teaches kids about acceptance, inclusion, and differences, inspired by her life as a mom of special needs children.

In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes Chris Navalta, author of Inspiring Stories of Soccer Greats, a powerful middle grade book timed perfectly for the World Cup. Chris, a lifelong sports fan and former sportswriter, shares how soccer's global reach and beautiful simplicity—just a ball and some space—make it the perfect backdrop for stories of perseverance, inequality, and hope.
Chris explains that his goal wasn't just to spotlight stars like Lionel Messi, Alex Morgan, Christian Pulisic, and Vini Jr., but to reveal the real human struggles behind their success. Listeners hear about Messi's growth hormone deficiency and how FC Barcelona's support changed his life, Nigerian star Asisat Oshoala's fight against family expectations, and even David Clark, a blind striker who became England's greatest goal scorer and helped shape blind soccer worldwide. Chris and Jed talk about soccer as a unifying force capable of stopping wars, inspiring underdogs like Leicester City's miracle Premier League win, and offering kids everywhere a dream to chase.
They also explore how families can use the book to spark conversations about resilience, opportunity, and asking, "Can I play this game too?"—no matter a child's circumstances.
In the final segment, Jed chats with David John Preece, creator of the Mister Higgins picture book series. Inspired by his rescue dog, David's books gently invite families into conversations about kindness, inclusion, and grief, especially in Mister Higgins Comforts a Family, where Mister Higgins helps his family cope with the loss of their beloved Thelma.