Find Epic Books for Kids, The Children’s Book Podcast

The Children’s Book Podcast Description

Matthew describes the show like this, exploring big ideas and the way that stories can help us feel seen and understood. 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. The length of each episode is 20 to 30 minutes. This series is ongoing with new episodes available on Tuesdays.

Kid Podcast Guide

Before we learn more about the vibe of the show, we’re going to take a quick break to talk about my Guide to Kid podcasts. One of my favorite parenting tools is Kid podcasts. I use them when I’m running errands with the kiddos to keep them from complaining the whole time. Or when I need a mom break, I’ll just grab an easy activity like coloring pages or a sensory bin, turn on a kid podcast and the kids will be entertained for at least half an hour. I know that Kid Podcasts would help you in your life too, which is why I made a Guide to Kid Podcasts. There are eight different categories ranging from science to mindfulness to audio drama with at least three podcasts in each category.

There are 27 podcasts in total on the guide. I’ve listened to each of the podcasts on this guide, so I can attest to them being kid friendly. And I put my email at the bottom of the guide so that if you try a couple with your kids and none of them are a good fit, you can email me and I will personally help you find a kid podcast that works for your littles and you, you can grab this guide at the link in the show notes.

Introduction to Matthew & The Children’s Book Podcast

My name is Matthew Winter. I’m a teacher and a school librarian outside of Baltimore, Maryland, and I’m the host of the Children’s Book podcast. I have two children currently age seven and 12 there on the podcast all the time, so you can listen to them grow up. And my partner is also a teacher. She’s a general music teacher, so we got music and books in the family. It’s a pretty nice.

So I started the Children’s Book podcast nearly 10 years ago. It was June or July of 2013. And truly the reason why I started was because I wanted to listen to a podcast where authors and illustrators of children’s literature were interviewed and one didn’t exist.

So I was like, well, if it doesn’t exist, I guess I’ll just go ahead and start making one. And in part because as a librarian I wanted to get to know more authors so that I could consider inviting them into our school. And I thought, I bet there’s other librarians that wanna get to know these authors and illustrators too.

So that was the whole start, was just trying to introduce folks to one another, make those connections of authors and illustrators and librarians and teacher.

When you think about inviting somebody into your school and paying money to host that author visit, you might like those books, but you might not know how that person will present in front of your students. What is their message? What is their energy? What is their vibe? What what way will they seek to connect with my students? And so that has always been a really important thing. The podcast focus has shifted over these years, but I think the heart of connection is still there.

The Children’s Book Podcast’s New Focus

So I think made the podcaster mistake ages ago of making a show that was for everyone. And because it was for everyone and ended up being for no one, I had authors and illustrators and teachers and librarians and kids and parents all listening, which is wonderful, but that’s such a wide audience. When I took a break from the show, it gave me a chance to refocus the Children’s Book Podcast to being one that is seeking to reach kids ages 6 to 10-ish…School age kids.

I like to say that I’m making the episodes classroom ready and helping introduce kids to epic books for kids. Because the wave that I’m hoping to ride, the change I’m hoping to see is coming and I can’t wait to be part of this group of podcasters where teachers are bringing podcasts into the classroom, into instruction. We’re getting really close to that point. And I’m excited about what that tipping point will look like in being able to partner with teachers to bring this wonderful medium to reach more and more listeners. I think being able to have a screen free entertainment option, one that the whole family can listen to, but is crafted for a specific age, a show that kids can listen up. They’re a little younger, but they’re listening to something slightly older for them as they’re growing and learning. I think all of these things are really strong qualities that are happening in kids podcasts.

The Vibe of The Children’s Book Podcast

The Children’s Book podcast is just an extension of me as a librarian, only now you don’t have to be at my school to be able to have this connection with me. I love for kids to feel connected, to feel seen, to feel valued, to feel included.

And so I think that vibe is, is certainly channeling Fred Rogers and that wonderful imprint he made on me and so many other people. But for me, I think I would describe that vibe as being gentle, welcoming educational and safe.

Where to Find Matthew & The Children’s Book Podcast

You can find me at matthewcwinner.com. I end up being a person that’s very Google-able, so if you just Google Matthew Winner or The Children’s Book Podcast, the show comes right up. Of course, the Children’s Book podcast is available wherever you find podcasts.

And if you’re a person that’s on social media, you can find me by my name, Matthew C Winner. Perfect.

Matthew’s Favorite Episodes

So, you know, I’m gonna answer this like a librarian and tell you that my favorite episode is the next one that I’m gonna share. It’s always the next one… I am so grateful to work in a medium where books are always coming out and they’re really, really good. And unsurprisingly, the people behind those books are really wonderful too. So every new episode makes me so excited about what connections will be made with those listeners who will feel seen, what words you’ll learn.

One recent episode that I think is is just really wonderful is with Traci Sorell and Madelyn Goodnight. Two indigenous authors and illustrators who wrote a picture book called Powwow Day and being able to talk about what is a powwow, what does that look like, what does regalia look like in what ways have I experienced something that is like that? Whether it is because that is my family background or cultural background or because that’s a new thing for me, but I’m making a connection. Those moments are something that I celebrate with every conversation that I have. So it makes, it makes every next episode my favorite.

The Age Range for The Children’s Book Podcast

This podcast is for school age kids, so about 6 to 10 years old. We talk about picture books, we talk about middle grade novels, but always, always, you don’t need to read the book. We’re talking about topics and connecting to people. So really any, any school-aged kid I think is really gonna see themselves in this show.