The Reading Culture

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. 

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.

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.

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.