The Reading Culture

We revisit our episode with Gregory Maguire.
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Gregory Maguire expresses himself with extreme precision. While many of us may grasp for words to communicate a specific emotion or to describe a series of events, Gregory seemingly has words and turns of phrase on command. What a delight it is to listen to Gregory talk about his journey, his writing, and his thoughts on a wide variety of topics. 

Close to Gregory’s heart is the belief that everyone has a backstory, a context—even our enemies. And no matter how difficult the task may seem, he believes it is our duty to understand that story and find it within ourselves to empathize with them—not to excuse them but to simply see them as humans.

Gregory has built his career around telling the stories of antiheroes, most notably through the reimaginings of classic fairytales in novels such as "Wicked," "Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister," and "Mirror Mirror." That ability to find empathy and a curiosity to understand even the most seemingly undeserving characters emerges in his other children's and young adult books and is deeply rooted in experiences from Gregory’s early life.

Growing up, Mac Barnett’s mom never took their picture books off their shelves. They remained a part of his reading world, even as he grew up and could read more mature books. Maybe that choice helped Mac’s youthful spirit alight for longer. As he often notes, kids’ minds are portals to the imaginary, to making believe. For them, everything is possible: superheroes, magic, ghosts. Mac believes that open-mindedness is crucial to fully understanding and appreciating fiction, which is why he makes the argument that kids are the best audience for fiction, and in particular, picture books.

Mac Barnett is a best-selling, prolific children's author celebrated for his clever, imaginative storytelling and sharp sense of humor. He is known for books like “Extra Yarn,” “Sam and Dave Dig a Hole,” “The Terrible Two,” series and the “Mac B, Kid Spy” series. He has received numerous accolades, including two Caldecott Honors and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award.

In this episode, Mac shares why he believes that most adults struggle to understand what makes a good children’s book. He also unpacks “Frog and Toad” as a work of experimental fiction and reflects on the lessons he's learning from his three-year-old son.

Given Mac's passion for picture books, it's fitting that his reading challenge centers around them. For his challenge, “The Possibilities of Picture Books,” he has curated a selection designed to help us see the capaciousness of the picture book format—just as his mother once did for him. Learn more and download Mac’s recommended reading list at thereadingculturepod.com/mac-barnett

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This episode's Beanstack Featured Librarian is Mari Martinez, an assistant manager and librarian at Broward County Library. She tells us why she sees the library as a secret buffet.

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Connect with Jordan and The Reading Culture @thereadingculturepod and subscribe to our newsletter at thereadingculturepod.com/newsletter.
 
Show Chapters

Chapter 1 - The Picture Book Proclamation

Chapter 2 - A Hall of Clocks

Chapter 3 - Smaller, Better, Faster, Smarter 

Chapter 4 - Writing for Five-Year-Olds

Chapter 5 - The Will to Make Believe (and believe it)

Chapter 6 - Mac to Mac 

Chapter 7 - The Possibilities of Picture Books

Chapter 8 - Beanstack Featured Librarian 

Links

At a young age, Eliot Schrefer acknowledged that he was hiding himself. Growing up queer when he did meant concealing a key part of his identity for the sake of self-preservation. It was through books that he first learned to accept his queerness. That thread leads to one of his most well-known books, “Queer Ducks (and Other Animals).” We unravel that and so much more about Eliot’s journey in this episode.

While his coming of age taught Eliot Schrefer to stop living his life exclusively as an observer, as an author, found himself once more removing himself from his work. This time, though, it’s intentional and for vastly different purposes. To Eliot, writing is about asking questions that the author is not supposed to answer. That’s for the reader to do.

Eliot is a bestselling author celebrated for his young adult and middle-grade novels, including “Endangered,” and the rest of his Ape Quartet series, “Queer Ducks” (that even landed him on The Daily Show!), as well as “The Darkness Outside Us” and its newly released sequel, “The Brightness Between Us.” Eliot is also a Printz Honoree and a two-time National Book Award finalist. 

In this episode, Eliot shares how he has practiced self-concealment in both his life and stories, and why he believes this has helped him better connect with his teen audience. He also reveals why his current influences include Carl Sagan, Jane Goodall, and Eeyore. 

For his reading challenge, Beyond the Human Experience, Eliot wants us too to practice seeing the world outside of the human perspective. He says it "reminds us that we're not the only creatures worth caring about." 

Learn more and download Eliot’s recommended reading list at thereadingculturepod.com/eliot-schrefer

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This episode's Featured Librarian is Tammy McIntyre, a library media specialist in Gwinnett County Georgia for many years and now works with us at Beanstack. Today she offers a guiding principle she follows as a librarian and especially as a parent.

Show Chapters

Chapter 1 - Carl Sagan and M.T. Anderson Walk Into a Bar…

Chapter 2 - Science, Fantasy, and the Matrix (Printer) 

Chapter 3 - What I Believe

Chapter 4 - The View From the Closet

Chapter 5 - Duck Hunt

Chapter 6 - I Ask the Questions Around Here

Chapter 7 - Beyond the Human Experience

Chapter 8 - Beanstack Featured Librarian 

Links

Every moment of every day, our attention is the subject of a battle. As adults, we struggle to focus on the 'right' things—so how can we expect our kids to? With this in mind, capturing and holding young readers’ attention is a key focus for Katherine Marsh in her books. But she’s determined to do so without sacrificing intellectual depth. 

Striking this balance has become her mission: to keep readers on the edge of their seats, while delivering something meaningful. To achieve that, she draws on her journalism background and the early influence of her grandmother’s captivating stories from Ukraine.

Katherine Marsh is an award-winning author best known for her novels “The Night Tourist,” “Nowhere Boy,” and “The Lost Year,” a National Book Award finalist for young people’s literature. Her stories often unfold against the backdrop of the harsh, historical, or present realities, but as she notes, all of her stories are also mysteries. They have always had that hook! Her work has earned her several honors in addition to being a National Book Award finalist, including the Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery, along with being a New York Times notable selection.

In this episode, Katherine explores ways to address the setback in children's reading caused by the pandemic and dives into her article on the topic for The Atlantic. Katherine also recounts a jarring story passed down to her and considers the profound role of the story in raising her. She also reflects on how her time as a journalist has impacted how she approaches that craft of storytelling.

Fun fact about Katherine: we attended the same high school! In fact, so did my script editor, Josia. It was a boarding school where we all did not know one another but shared the experience of being atypical students. Because of that coincidence and the fact that, as Katherine says, “kids love boarding school stories,” she curated her reading challenge, "Boarding School Ties,” which includes books that all take place in or are about boarding schools.  

Learn more and download Katherine’s recommended reading list at thereadingculturepod.com/katherine-marsh.

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This episode's Beanstack Featured Librarian is Ms. Mari Martinez, an assistant manager and librarian at Broward County Library. She tells us that sometimes the best strategy for the library... is to get out of the library!

Show Chapters

Chapter 1 - Stories From Grandma

Chapter 2 - The Joy of Being Bored

Chapter 3 - Our Animal Friends at Maple Farm

Chapter 4 - Cutting Through the Noise

Chapter 5 - A Diverse Diet

Chapter 6 - The Kids Are (Sort of) All Right

Chapter 7 - Boarding School Ties

Chapter 8 - Beanstack Featured Librarian 

Links

Zoraida Córdova doesn’t care about what a book should be. When she writes, she’s interested in.. well… what she’s interested in. That means Zoraida doesn't prioritize following rules or meeting pre-set expectations. If she wants to write about sappy zombies, she will. If she wants to create a deep, profound novel, she will. Above all, she values creative freedom.

She has always made a way for herself and her spirit to shine through her work. Whether it’s writing for Star Wars or Disney’s Meant to Be collection, short stories for one of her anthologies about creatures like vampires, mermaids and faeries, or her epic novel “The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina," Zoraida keeps it fresh and original. And her readers love it! By following her own passions instead of trying to satisfy what she “should do,” Zoraida delivers something readers crave—authenticity.

Zoraida Córdova is an award-winning author celebrated for her genre-blending, magical tales like “Labyrinth Lost,” the first book in her Brooklyn Brujas series, which earned her an International Latino Book Award. Her versatility spans adult literary fiction, romance, young adult fiction, editing anthologies, and even adding a touch of romance to the Star Wars universe.