You May Contribute A Verse
This is the podcast You May Contribute a Verse, where we talk to kidlit creators, share their stories, and learn from their journeys!
Episodes
Tonnye Fletcher sprouts into the podcast today and our conversation will be music to your ears. Tonnye's book Music Plants Hope is about a COVID-era symphonic performance to an audience of plants and is delightful, poetic, and touching.
Tonnye's story for how this book came to be, in partnership with editor Winsome Bingham and agent Joyce Sweeney, is a doozy that's worth hearing!
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This episode’s book reviews:
It's Max Beaudry / He'll make your dreams come true
Just kidding, those are mostly lyrics to the Muppet Babies theme song. But Max is with us and we talk about his debut graphic novel AW, NUTS! THE CRUMBELIEVABLE ADVENTURES OF PEANUT AND JELLY. Which is just the start, with volume 2 to hit the shelves in 2027!
Max has a bunch of experience making characters and concepts leap off the page into our lives with his work in TV, and he c...
Stick with our conversation and you will be handsomely rewarded, as was today's guest, Heather Preusser, for her own tenacity and dedication. Heather is the author of the Hedgehog Whodunit chapter book series, the third of which (the Protective Order of Peanuts) releases later this year!
Heather is amazing. We hope you enjoy our chat and her books!
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This episode’s book reviews:
Episode title sure would make a good indie rock band name. Natasha Zimmers is our guest this week, bringing the outdoor passion and her perspective on writing TINY HIKER, out in March from Orca Books.
This episode was plagued with internet troubles, which should be mostly invisible to you the listening audience, but which I mention because we persevered like a proper hiker through rough terrain.
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This episode’s book ...
Karen Chan of Gloo Books is with us today! Not only is Karen a wonderful editor and publisher with a really crystal clear vision for the Gloo Books vibe, but she has leveraged that vibe into an even better book called A Bike is Not Just a Bike: An Ode to Girls Who Dare to Ride, by a talented author named Brenna Jeanneret!
Gloo Books isn't old as publishing houses go, but Karen and team have come a long way in a short time. Enjoy K...
Andrew Hacket is back to discuss his book In This Classroom and his ongoing Leonardo DiCaprio-style work with Red Comet Press! His is the ultimate champagne pass success story and we hope you enjoy!
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This episode’s book reviews:
RAMP IT UP, words by Katrina Tangen, pictures by Wendy Wen
THE RARE BIRD by Elisha Cooper
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The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, a...
Here's to Cowboy!
Jessica Milo is here. We talk (way too late) about her debut book My Pony Wonder, how she came up and with whom, and most importantly, Uber for Unicorns.
Despite the episode title, this is a really fun chat!
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This episode’s book reviews:
KICKS IN THE SKY by CG Esperanza
THE GHOST WHO SAVED HALLOWEEN, words by Jen Anyong, pictures by Kaly Quarles
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How to pee your pants, the Rachel Michelle Wilson way!
Rachel was a delight and if you don't know her work, you do now. She's got hustle, she's got skills, she's got bubble wrap and ghosts (but no play dates). Since we last talked in August, aside from her books To Catch a Ghost and How to Pee Your Pants (the Right Way), she's also announced How to Escape a Playdate, out October 13!
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This episode’s book reviews:&nbs...
It's Joan Marie Galat day! We've been waiting a long time for this one. Joan writes because she's curious, she's dedicated, and she cares deeply about sharing her passion and quiet activism with her audience.
She has a lot to show for her passion! From DOT TO DOT IN THE SKY to WILDLIFE CROSSING, Joan's exploration of the world comes through clearly.
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This episode’s book reviews:
MY DADDY IS A COWBOY, wor...
It's author and educator Andrea Caulfield on the podcast today! Andrea is World Language Curriculum Specialist for Denver Public Schools and is quadrilingual, something I (Josh) hope to be when I grow up. Andrea has partnered with Voces Digital to publish Les Zombies Attaquent Quebec, a French-language short novelette for French learners.
Andrea's perspective on language learning is refreshing and new here. Her experiences with Voc...
Otherwise known as The Many Misfortunes of Stan Yan's Internet Connection, which we managed around quite successfully, I'd say!
Join us for a chat with Stan Yan, author-illustrator-graphic novelist-comic artist of (yes, I already made the book title puns above) There's a Zombie in the Basement and (JLG Gold Standard) The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang!
Despite our intermittent connection issues this was an absolutely wonderful ch...
Jilanne Hofmann is back (here's her first episode)!
She has some updates from several things we discussed in our first chat, namely that now The Ocean's Heart is out in the world, and HeartLand is soon to be born!
We talk about both of these as well as her work with the educational market. And lots more! Stay tuned for passion and... heart?
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This episode’s book reviews (all author-illustrators this week!):&nbs...
It's not every day we get to hear fresh thoughts from a literary agent/manager in her first four months of agenting. Lindsey Aduskevich joins us today for some insights on her journey to becoming a Junior Literary Manager at Martin Literary!
What's more important is that we have known Lindsey for six years, since one fateful Twitter (RIP) thread led to the creation of our first critique group. And look at us now!
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Winsome writes. Winsome reads. Winsome cares. And Winsome Bingham speaks. About her editorial voice, her lyricism, her Reycraft family, her views on humor, joy, trauma, craft, and the perfect mix of art and words.
Winsome Bingham is the author of several very acclaimed books, including Soul Food Sunday, Fish Fry Friday, The Walk, Missing Momma, The Table, Life is Beautiful, and, coming September 1, 2026, On Fridays, her latest coll...
The Michaelangelo to Bob Ross to Akira Kurosawa to Jason Griffin pipeline is strong.
Master Collaborator and accomplished visual artist Jason Griffin is a Caldecott Honoree for his work with Jason Reynolds on their 2022 collaboration Ain't Burned All the Bright, their third book together (we'll talk about the others in this episode).
But his work with our friend and future guest Winsome Bingham is what brings us here today. The 202...
Jess Yoon stands on business. And she's doing way more than sitting in her little room, typing away. She's tapping into her inner child to great effect!
She manifested a Little Golden Book into being and now her Blackpink biography is out in the world! Her picture book Jeong Is Jeong JUST released this month (February 2026), AND her junior novelization of K-Pop Demon Hunters comes out next month!
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Now with 100% more consternation! Or less. Not sure where we landed on consternation.
Steph Lau has gotten some good experiences over the years. Some published, some TBD. But at least we have thus far been graced with ABOMINABLE SNOW DANCER, and will be graced with MEDUSA'S PET ROCK later this year! And more to come!
Steph, you'll have to come back on so we can talk more about pancakes and pastries.
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We make it so today with author Jan (J.E.) Thomas, author of The AI Incident and Control Freaks. Lots of good habit discussion, some Star Trek, and exactly how you can be a certified Human Author. Jan is a delight!
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This episode’s book reviews:
HOW TO GROW A FAMILY TREE by Bea Birdsong, illustrated by Jasu Hu
THIS BOOK IS ON FIRE! by Ron Keres, illustrated by Arthur Lin
CASSINI'S MISSION by Katie Venit, illust...
Today's second-timer is our last-timer of 2025! Matt Forrest Esenwine graces us once again with his delightful, radio-ready voice for a soothing exit to the year.
In addition to Matt's twelve other books (some of which you can hear about in our first conversation from 2021), this year Matt released his anthology A Universe of Rainbows: Multicolored Poems for a Multicolored World.
We don't get to talk a ton about anthologies, ...
Karyn Friedman-Everham (Josh's agent sibling - hi, Joyce!) has a fascinating story that's a little bit backwards from how most of us approach our debuts, but that's what makes her story fascinating and very endearing!
Her 2024 debut was Otter Oughta Know, followed in October 2025 by Chesed. Two different paths, one cool convo!
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This episode’s book reviews:
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