Messages of Hope: July 2025

Here at the Children’s Book Podcast, where we are purveyors of hope and in community with those cultivating hope for children of all ages. In this new miniseries of indefinite length, I invite my friends from the kidlit community to share what is giving them hope today. 

No matter where you are. No matter what’s going on around you. No matter what is pulling your attention or competing for space in your mind. May these next few minutes offer you rest, peace, and hope.

Hope Ep. 15 - July 5, 2025

Lulu Delacre, author illustrator of Rafi and Rosi: Menu!/Rafi Y Rosi: ¡Menú! (Children's Book Press) shares what is giving her hope today: the laughter of children at the bus stop. The laughter of children reading a book. The laughter of children. Children.

Listen along:

About the Book: Rafi and Rosi: Menu!/Rafi Y Rosi: ¡Menú! by Lulu Delacre. Published by Children's Book Press.

Rafi and Rosi, the curious, fun-loving tree frog siblings, are cooking up a storm with delicious Puerto Rican treats on the menu.

Rafi and his younger sister, Rosi, are excited to help Abuela make her holiday order for sixty pasteles, a traditional Puerto Rican root vegetable dish. When Abuela discovers she is missing one key ingredient, Rafi and Rosi set out to buy it. On the way back they get to make crunchy arañitas and at home they learn Abuela's secret recipe for yummy guava shells in syrup. Later, when their friends can't come to help make the pasteles, Rafi and Rosi save the day, and the best Pasteles Making Party ensues!

Engaging and informative, this book is perfect for newly independent readers. Children will enjoy Rafi and Rosi's explorations of some of their favorite foods.

Check out the other titles in this series:

RAFI AND ROSI - RAFI AND ROSI CARNIVAL! - RAFI AND ROSI PIRATES! - RAFI AND ROSI MUSIC! - RAFI AND ROSI MENU!

Transcript:

Lulu: What gives me hope today is crouching to pick up a dried leaf from my building's lawn to find it unfolds, its wide eyed wings gliding into the breeze... a moth!

Noticing bee and bumblebee feasting tandem on beauty berry and lavender.

The miracle of dried oval seeds that I pushed into moist soil just six days ago, now rise into the sun, a rainbow of celia colors in the making.

And the laughter of children at the bus stop.

The laughter of children reading a book.

The laughter of children.

Children.

For a full transcript, episode takeaways, quotes, and more, visit https://deepcast.fm/episode/what-gives-lulu-delacre-hope

Hope Ep. 16 - July 12, 2025

Maham Khwaja, author of The Home We Make (Lee & Low Books), illustrated by Daby Zainab Faidhi, shares what is giving her hope today: us, grounded and moving through our lives. Second by second. And day by day.

Listen along:

About the Book: The Home We Make by Maham Khwaja; illustrated by Daby Zainab Faidhi. Published by Lee & Low Books.

A moving story about a young girl and her family who are forced to flee their beloved home after violence erupts all around them, and their journey to make a new sense of home.

One day someone asks me, Where is home? And I don't know what to say.Is home here or there?

Told from the perspective of a young refugee girl, debut children's book author and New Voices winner Maham Khwaja tells the story of a family forced to flee their home due to violence. Emotive illustrations by Daby Zainab Faidhi balance the family's love for one another and hope for the future with the harrowing journey to escape on foot, travel by boat, and then finally resettle in a safe place. Through it all, the young girl tries to hold on to all the pieces of her life before and find a way to rebuild a sense of home.

Transcript:

Maham: I know Emily Dickinson has that beautiful poem about hope being the thing with feathers, but for me, hope is not a feathered thing.

Hope is us grounded and moving through our lives, second by second, day by day.

Hope is the decision to be relentless in our living.

Hope is the little orange flower pushing itself through the window grate in the deep of winter.

Hope is the shared smiles with strangers looking out for one another.

Hope is catching glimpses of the beauty the world lays out for us like a courting bird arranging pieces just so hoping we notice.

Hope is knowing this world is worth staying in and fighting for.

Hope is living in this world.

For a full transcript, episode takeaways, quotes, and more, visit https://deepcast.fm/episode/what-gives-maham-khwaja-hope

Hope Ep. 17 - July 19, 2025

Aixa Pérez-Prado, author of Mercedes Sosa: Voice of the People/Mercedes Sosa: La Voz del Pueblo (Children's Book Press) shares what is giving her hope today: how imagination takes flight though the many different voices of storytellers, artists, musicians, and creators from every corner of the planet.

Listen along:

About the Book: Mercedes Sosa: Voice of the People/Mercedes Sosa: La Voz del Pueblo by Aixa Pérez-Prado. Published by Children's Book Press.

A stirring picture book biography of one of Latin America's most beloved singers and human rights advocates, Mercedes Sosa.

Have you ever heard a song that made your heart soar?

A canción that captured your corazón?

A voice so powerful that it made you feel ready to change the world?

This is the story of a singer whose voice sailed through the air like the wings of a condor,inspiring people everywhere.

Written and illustrated by Aixa Pérez-Prado, this is the powerful biography of Argentinean folksinger and human rights advocate Mercedes Sosa. Affectionately known as La Negra, Mercedes used her musical talents and powerful voice to speak out against poverty and inequality in her home country. In the face of a cruel dictatorship, Mercedes refused to be silenced. She bravely stepped on stage to lend a "voice to the voiceless" with uplifting songs of empathy and empowerment. Her unforgettable music and messages of hope continue to resonate with people across the world to this day.

Transcript:

Aixa: What gives me hope or, as we say in my native language, esperanza, is how imagination takes flight through the many different voices of storytellers, artists, musicians, and creators from every corner of the planet.

I see books soaring like birds, with bold, bright wings, each shaped by cultures, languages, and identities that make us who we are.

Children today have access to books written by diverse creators, creators whose experiences lift voices previously unheard, an through those voices carry the stories of generations.

When young people find themselves and discover new worlds to explore in books, hope is born.

Creativity has never belonged to just one kind of person or group of people. It's a human right, shared, experienced, and constructed through community, or colectividad.

When we celebrate stories of all kinds, when books lift the voices of all people, we make room for magic.

Eso me de esperanza.

That gives me hope.

For a full transcript, episode takeaways, quotes, and more, visit https://deepcast.fm/podcast/the-childrens-book-podcast

Hope Ep. 18 - July 26, 2025

Michael Genhart, author of Edie for Equality: Edie Windsor Stands Up for Love (Lee & Low Books), illustrated by Cheryl Thuesday, shares what is giving him hope today: curious kids. They want to know more. They want to understand. And they want to help correct what feels so wrong.

Listen along:

About the Book: Edie for Equality: Edie Windsor Stands Up for Love by Michael Genhart; illustrated by Cheryl Thuesday. Published by Lee & Low Books.

This is a story about a great injustice and how Edie Windsor boldly stood up for what was right and went up against the highest court in the United States.

Growing up in the 1930s, Edie Windsor hadn't always been bold. In fact, she was someone who played by the rules and loved math. Numbers added up right every time and equal meant equal. But when the US government refused to acknowledge the loving relationship of over forty years between her and her spouse Thea Spyer, Edie made a bold move and sued the US government!

In this comprehensive picture book biography, acclaimed author Michael Genhart shares the story of LGBTQ icon Edie Windsor and the pivotal case that set the stage to take down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In United States v. Windsor, Edie's tenacious spirit proved to the Supreme Court and the world that love is love and equal means equal.

Transcript:

Michael: What gives me hope today is young readers and the teachers and librarians and parents who support them being curious.

When I recently shared Edie for Equality with a group of 2nd grades and a child asked, "Do you mean there was a time when my moms couldn't have gotten married? Why is that? Why would the world be that way?"

Last year, when I shared Spanish is the Language of My Family, and a sea of bilingual, brown 2nd through 5th grades wondered, "Why would there have ever been a time at school when children couldn't speak Spanish? What was that hate about?"

What followed were discussions about big subjects: inequality, unfairness, people being treated differently because of who they love, what language they speak at home, the color of their skin, being made to feel less than.

It's curios kids that make me hopeful. They want to know more. They want to understand. And they want to help correct what feels so wrong.

Boots on the ground in school. Teachers, librarians, parents who encourage a child's curiosity. This gives me hope, too.

There are themes of activism in the books that I write. They are an invitation for children to be activists, too. A call to action that they respond to from a place of being curious to loving, loving, caring hearts. This gives me hope.

Next generations who really, really care.

For a full transcript, episode takeaways, quotes, and more, visit https://deepcast.fm/podcast/the-childrens-book-podcast

Be well. Read on. And don’t lose hope.