Picture Book Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Happy New Year! Chris starts the year off by revealing his top 10 picture books of 2024.

These books are:

1. The Dictionary Story by Oliver Jeffers & Sam Winston
2. The Search for Carmella by Chloe Savage
3. The Bridges by Tom Percival
4. The Big Bad Wolf Investigates Fairy Tales by Catherine Cawthorne
5. Grey by Laura Dockrill
6. Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield
7. How to Hide. star by Oliver Jeffers
8. Let’s All Say Yes! By Nia Roberts 
9. I Follow the Fox by Rob Biddulph
10. The Girl at the Front of the Class by Onjali Q Rauf

In this episode, Chris reflects on a year filled with reading. From exploring picture books on the podcast to helping older children develop their reading skills in the classroom, and sharing the joy of stories with his daughter, Chris dives into the lessons learned and moments that made this year special. Join him as he celebrates the power of reading in teaching, learning, and family life.

Chris discusses how repetitive phrases in picture books is an important element in helping children with their reading. He later discusses this with author Linda Penisten and why she includes it in her ‘The Adventures of Granola Squatch’ books.

Books mentioned in this podcast:

1. ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?’ by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

2. ‘We're Going on a Bear Hunt’ by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury

3 ‘Chicka Chicka Boom Boom’ by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert

4. ’The Napping House’ by Audrey Wood, illustrated by Don Wood

5. ‘Goodnight Moon’ by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd

6. ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle

7. ‘There’s a Monster in Your Book’ by Tom Fletcher, illustrated by Greg Abbott

8. ‘The Wonky Donkey’ by Craig Smith, illustrated by Katz Cowley

9. ‘Room on the Broom’ by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

10. ’Owl Babies’ by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Patrick Benson

Chris chats with author and illustrator Callen Till to talk about his book ‘Do You Think Molly Is Unique’, a book that gives an important message about standing up for yourself and being proud of who you are.
During the interview, Callen chats about his inspirations, his illustrating process and how he approached writing the book.
To find out more about Callen you can check out his website https://callentill.net/
You can purchase ‘Do You Think Molly Is Unique?’ via Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Do-You-Think-Molly-Unique/dp/B0C2RRQCRG?dplnkId=b76987a9-ba67-4ce1-ba88-cd1e31a5bba3&nodl=1

For his first episode, Chris interviews author Christina Myers who talks about her debut book The Little Boy Who Wouldn’t Eat Cheesecake. Christina mentions what inspired her to be an author, how the idea of the book came about and how she has been able to promote the story.

You can find out more about Christina Myers through her website  ww.humbleandbold.com

Purchase your copy of ‘The Little Boy Who Wouldn’t Eat Cheesecake’ via Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/cTJ95Ys