T.Q. Townsend
The Children's Literature PodcastEpisodes
Episodes of The Children's Literature Podcast
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I’ve just seen the documentary Butterfly in the Sky, which is about the public TV show Reading Rainbow. This show, which was hosted by LeVar Burton, helped millions of kids, including me, to understand just how magical it was to take a look in
Emily Hanford is back with Episode 10 of Sold a Story. I wanted to take some time to listen to this one several times and think about it before responding, because it addresses some very serious challenges in the literacy wars. Some people who
Politics? In a story about a young teen girl from a tiny town in Canada’s smallest province from over 140 years ago? Actually, yes! Politics come up frequently in the classic novel Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery, and they have som
We went to the St. George’s Day celebrations in Leicester City to have some fun and learn a little bit about the very ancient story in which St. George slays a dragon to save a city from its really, really bad breath. Hear the original tale and
Tennyson’s poem “Lancelot and Elaine” plays a huge part in the plot of Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Anne and her friends decide to act out the scene where the Lady of Shalott dies and floats downriver to Camelot, where the cour
Anne of Green Gables features a LOT of poetry. The book is set in the 1880’s, and back then teenagers would carefully select poems to recite to one another in the way that teenagers a few decades ago used to select songs to include in a mix tap
BOOK DRAMA ALERT! The podcast Sold a Story is back after more than a year. This show did some great reporting on just why so many American kids aren’t learning to read – and which literacy gurus and for-profit publishers are behind the problem.
THIS IS NO LONGER THE CHILDREN’S LITERATURE PODCAST!! BECAUSE READING IS FOR LOSERS!!!! THIS IS NOW THE JUVENILE DELINQUENCY PODCAST!!! LISTEN HERE OR WATCH ON YOUTUBE. OR DON’T. WE DON’T CARE!!! IN THIS EPISODE, FIND OUT THE BEST WAYS TO KICK
Lucy Maud Montgomery carefully reconstructed the pop culture of the 1880’s when she wrote Anne of Green Gables including the music that teenagers were wild about. While singing is referenced dozens of times in the book, just three songs are act
The Chronicles of Narnia are getting the Netflix treatment, and I hope that they’re great. I hope they help an entire new generation of kids discover one of the best book series ever written. But I’m not encouraged by the appointment of Greta G
Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908, but it’s actually a work of historical fiction, very carefully recreating the 1880s through accurate depictions of music, teen trends, politics, and even fashion. In this episode, we take a look at th
Chanticleer and the Fox is a Caldecott Medal winning book by Barbara Cooney. It was published in 1958, but it has a long family tree stretching back all the way to Aesop’s Fables. Adapted from “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” from The Canterbury Tales
In this interview, author Ronni Diamondstein discusses her new book, Jackie and the Books She Loved. This story, which was beautifully illustrated by Bats Langley, tells of the love that Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis had for books. From ea
This year three major films are coming out which are based on books written for children, and one more is coming out that is based on The Lord of the Rings, which many teenagers love. But are these adaptations going to be any good?In this episo
Marsha Skrypuch is the author of Winterkill, a work of children’s historical fiction about a boy who lives through the Holodomor, a genocidal campaign of starvation that the Soviet Union imposed on Ukraine during the 1930’s. In this interview,
“The Fox and the Crow” has one of Aesop’s most useful lessons: don’t trust a stranger who comes along with flattering words, because there is a good chance you will regret it! This tale is thousands of years old, but it’s been retold over and o
How well did this episode wrap up the onscreen adaptation of The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan? How many Snapes did the episode earn for its faithfulness to the source material? Did Percy’s big moment with his dad hit the same way it did in t
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is not about World War II, except . . . it kind of is. This novel was published in 1950, but it is set in 1940. Many of the events and themes in the book would have been instantly recognizabl
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is a book that often gets pride of place in school libraries. It’s a thrilling adventure tale in its own right, but it also has much to teach children about the preciousness of human lives, and how the most import
Percy and his friends take a tour of the Underworld, meeting Uncle Hades and getting set up for the big final conflict in the series finale. But how faithfully does “We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of” interpret chapters 17 through 20 of The Lightn
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is starting to drift farther away from its source material in The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. The show is still good, and most of the changes are good for abridging the story. But not all of the changes are
This week Robert Burns turns 265! Each year on January 25, Scotland’s beloved national poet is celebrated in style with song, recitation, and of course, a haggis. It’s all a lot of good fun, but it’s also an important celebration of Scotland’s
Percy Jackson and the Olympians is beginning to diverge from its literary source, The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Many of the changes are good examples of abridgment, and this episode’s depiction of Ares is wickedly fun and very faithful t
How close is the fourth episode of the new series Percy Jackson and the Olympians to its literary source? Not terribly, but that doesn’t mean the episode isn’t good. There’s just one big change that I really disapprove of, as it takes away a bi
Angela Pham Krans is the author of Finding Papa, a beautiful and touching tale about Mai, a little girl whose father has to say goodbye for a while when he leaves to find a new and better home for the family. Eventually Mai and her mother make
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