Reading With Your Kids Podcast

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.

In this powerful episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes Doug Noll, lawyer-turned-peacemaker and author of Deescalate: How to Calm an Angry Person in 90 Seconds or Less. Doug explains how neuroscience shows we are driven far more by emotion than by rational thought—and how our culture's habit of shaming or ignoring emotions actually damages kids' brains and relationships. He shares how simple emotional validation ("You're really angry…you really wanted that candy bar…you feel unloved") can quickly calm a child's nervous system, reduce tantrums, and build lifelong emotional strength. Doug describes practical tools for parents and teachers, including "listening children into existence," using emotion labels instead of punishment in heated moments, and creating listening circles in classrooms to cut down on disruptions and discipline referrals. He also talks about teaching these same skills to incarcerated people and the remarkable results they've seen in reducing violence and recidivism.
Later in the episode, Jed is joined by Mireya Saldua, who shares her joyful bilingual picture book "Fun Day with Misa." Inspired by her energetic grandpuppy, Misa, Mireya created a story that celebrates the special bond between grandparents and children, especially in Hispanic families. The book appears in both English and Spanish on each page, with fun seek-and-find elements like Misa's blue bone and her name written in Japanese characters. Mireya talks about expanding Come Along with Misa into a series, centering kindness, inclusion, and diverse characters—plus activity sheets, birthday cards, and music to keep families reading, playing, and learning together.

In this inspiring episode of Reading with Your Kids, Jed welcomes Michael J. Wish, author of the middle-grade nonfiction book "Quantum Physics for Kids." Mike shares how a challenge from a fellow teacher—and a disappointing existing kids' book on the topic—pushed him to prove that even the "hardest" science can be explained to 8–12-year-olds with clarity, humor, and heart.
Drawing on his college teaching experience, Mike walks us through a kid-friendly version of quantum physics, from the "purple disaster" (the ultraviolet catastrophe) to Max Planck's radical idea that energy comes in tiny, discrete packets. He explains how this strange, subatomic world helps us understand glowing hot metal, stable atoms, and why the universe doesn't behave the way our everyday intuition expects.
More than just science, Mike and Jed dig deep into mindset, resilience, and learning. Mike argues that success isn't about being "a math person," but about developing "aggressive curiosity" and the willingness to struggle with hard ideas. He shares how he practices this with his own daughter—pushing just past frustration, but stopping before misery—and why failure is really "learning happening right now." He also talks about imposter syndrome, his first humble word-search book, and the joy of hearing a 10-year-old read Quantum Physics for Kids cover-to-cover in one night.
Later in the episode, Jed invites listeners to enjoy a listen-back conversation with author Cynthia Harmony about her beautiful picture book "A Flicker of Hope," which weaves together monarch butterfly migration, Mexican culture, and a touching story of family separation and reunion.

In this powerful two-part episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes two amazing guests whose books open doors to big conversations and joyful family reading.
First, Jed talks with Kimberly Mach, author of the middle-grade novel Present Still Missing. Set just after World War II, the story follows Irene, a baseball-loving girl whose father returns from the war physically present but emotionally distant as he struggles with PTSD—long before it even had that name. Kimberly shares how the book grew from her love of this "out-of-her-time" character and her fascination with the often-overlooked years immediately after the war. She and Jed explore how stories like this can help families talk about mental health, trauma, and the complicated emotions kids feel when a parent is struggling. Kimberly also reflects on moving reader encounters, including a veteran dad who opened up to his daughters at a book event.
Then Jed welcomes Kelly Riera, debut picture book author of What Trucks Love to Do: Wreck and Build Construction Crew. Kelly describes her rhyming, high-energy truck tale, where the vehicles themselves are the characters—waking up, brushing their "teeth," fueling up, working hard, and persevering through a busy construction day. Inspired by her own truck-obsessed kids (and the lack of enough good truck books), Kelly talks about the challenge of writing in rhyme, collaborating with an illustrator, and the joy of seeing her children proudly share her book with classmates. She also gives a sneak peek at book two, What Trucks Love to Do: Help and Serve Crew, celebrating community-helper vehicles and the essential work they represent.

In this lively episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed welcomes author-illustrator Maddie Frost to celebrate her new illustrated middle grade novel, Really Rubie, along with her other upcoming releases. Maddie introduces us to Rubie Fox, an 11-year-old heading off to a month-long summer camp in Vermont—without her best friend Riley, who's sidelined with a broken ankle. Based on Maddie's own camp experiences, the story explores anxiety, homesickness, friendship shifts, and the scary-but-exciting feeling of stepping outside your bubble.
Maddie shares her journey from Mass College of Art animation student and restaurant worker to full-time children's book creator—complete with the "no backup plan" leap where she quit her teaching job to seriously pursue books. She talks about the joy of making deeply personal, funny, slightly awkward stories for middle grade readers and how Rubie's doodle-style illustrations let her embrace imperfection and authenticity. We also hear about her whirlwind June releases: Really Rubie, Stuffy Stand (a picture book about burnout, asking for help, and collaboration), and Farm Shark, a wildly silly farm story written by former Simpsons writer Bill Canterbury.
Later in the episode, Jed is joined by Paul Paolilli and Dan Brewer, co-authors of Pondering: A Story in Cinquains. Dan, a high school English teacher, explains how the American cinquain form helps kids play with language, rhythm, and imagery, while Paul reflects on ponds, nature, and how poetry invites kids to slow down, observe, and imagine. Together, they and Jed explore how poetic picture books can spark conversations, creativity, and deeper family reading experiences.