Messages of Hope: May 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. 8 - May 3, 2025

Rachel Michelle Wilson (To Catch a Ghost) shares what is giving her hope today: the small moments in our every day.

Listen along:

Transcript:

Rachel: For me, hope can feel abstract and hard to reach until I look for it in the small moments. So I hope you don't mind if I share just a few with you today.

I saw hope this morning when my husband made breakfast and we ate it on our front porch in the sun with our dog all cozy at our feet.

I saw hope last week when a friend sent me a message that helped me feel both seen and understood.

I saw hope last year when I read how to peer pants the right way to kids for the first time and unprompted, they felt safe enough to raise their hand and declare, "I peed my pants! I peed my pants!"

I saw hope in a flower, a sailboat, and a mossy tree.

I saw hope when I got to eat school lunch with a group of girls who when asked what their favorite kind of story is to write, they confidently answered comedy.

I saw hope at a school visit assembly. We had just finished writing a picture book together, and when I asked for volunteers to illustrate it, an entire class cheered on one student who was typically shy but really good at drawing. This gave him the courage he needed to raise his hand and draw.

Thank you to all those who courageously share their voices, their stories, and themselves. And also to those who offer a space for others to do the same, like you, Matthew. Thanks for offering that space to your listeners and to me.

All right, I'm signing off with a big cheesy pizza. Cheers. From where I live in Washington State, you'll see what I mean when To Catch a Ghost comes out.

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

Hope Ep. 9 - May 10, 2025

Parul L. Bhandari (Shine a Light on Diwali) shares what is giving her hope today: that people are good and that people are going to keep sharing stories despite what they’re being told by the world around them.

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Transcript:

Parul: I'm leaning into culture and learning in my books, and actually that is what's giving me hope these days.

In a world where things like DEIB and universities and colleges are getting questioned on, you know, how they do things to better society, I have hope in parents.

I have hope in families.

I have hope in people that are going to try to continue to share culture well-beyond what some institution tells us.

And if they ban our books, we will rise up stronger. We will share stories verbally.

So I think by writing things down, that's been my mechanism to share these stories.

But parents out there, families out there, grandparents out there, whoever is involved in your child's life that is sharing stories of culture and diversity, I applaud you and keep doing it and just talk about it.

And every moment that we do those things, we are building a better and a more hopeful future generation.

So that is what gives me hope today, is that I know that people are good and people are going to keep sharing stories despite what they're being told by the world around them.

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

Hope Ep. 10 - May 17, 2025

Suzy Ultman (I Like Your Chutzpah And Other Yiddish Words You'll Like) shares what is giving her hope today: looking for the helpers.

Listen along:

Transcript:

Suzy: Thinking about what gives me hope, I go back to Mr. Rogers and looking for the helpers.

There are so many people around us that are helping teach and heal and support and advocate and create community and provide important services to help folx belong and feel safe.

And when I look to all those people around me doing those things, it not only provides me with hope, knowing they're out there working hard to support their communities, but it also inspires me to keep on a path and continue to reach out to those around me and advocate where I can and create and be out there in the world with some more hope.

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

Hope Ep. 11 - May 31, 2025

Kate Jenks Landry (A Summer Without Anna) shares what is giving her hope today: writing with kids. We don’t need permission to make art. Creation is always available to us and it’s so much harder to feel hopeless when you’re creating.

Listen along:

Transcript:

Kate: It is a difficult moment to be a human.

There are days when I feel totally overwhelmed by grief and fear and disappointment at what is happening in the world.

If I am being totally honest, it's also really easy as a writer to get caught up trying to win at publishing, to sell a new manuscript, or have your book become a bestseller.

When I get bogged down by this doubt and despair, the best way to push back against it is to volunteer as a writer in the classroom.

It's hard to feel worried or too sorry for myself when I'm helping to write a comic about a sentient cardboard box or a poem about a magic chocolate bar.

I think it's so important that we keep publishing outstanding and diverse books for kids and ensuring that they all have access to them.

But it can also be really powerful to sit with a kid and listen to their own ideas and give them some encouragement and some simple tools to help them shape their words into something they're proud of.

Writing with kids reminds me that we don't need permission to make art.

Creation is always available to us, and it's so much harder to feel hopeless when you're creating.

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

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