The Watchung Booksellers Podcast
Watchung Booksellers' community of writers and readers dive deep into what they do for the love of books.
Watchung Booksellers is located in the heart of Montclair, NJ, a literary beacon filled with writers, journalists, publishers, and avid readers. Each year we host hundreds of author events and every day the most interesting and dedicated readers walk through our doors. Their insights and enthusiasm have inspired us to share our conversations with book-lovers everywhere. We invite you to listen and be a part of our community!
The Watchung Booksellers Podcast
Episode 4: Mental Health Books for Kids
In this episode of the Watchung Booksellers Podcast, children's book publisher Lauri Hornik and children's buyer and bookseller Aubrey Cece discuss the much needed and growing market for mental health books for kids. Through creating and selling titles with topics ranging from anxiety, depression, LGBTQ+ issues and more, these two dedicate themselves toward making sure all kids feel seen in the books they read.
Our Guests:
Lauri Hornik is the founding publisher of Rocky Pond Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers that focuses on mental health and Jewish content for children and teens. She served as publisher of Dial Books for Young Readers for almost twenty years. Among the books she has edited are National Book Award Finalists A River Between Us by Richard Peck and The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin; New York Times Bestsellers The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak and Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan; and Sydney Taylor Book Award winner Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder. Lauri is a mother and stepmother to four adult children and lives in Montclair with her husband.
Aubrey Cece is the children’s book and gift buyer as well as the children’s event planner for The Kid’s Room at watchung booksellers. She’s a born creative with the love of everything books and art. Her favorite color is lime green and her creative touch shows all throughout the store. You’ll almost never see her without a pair of Converse on her feet and when you talk to her she’ll welcome you into a story about her family while she finds the perfect book for you and your child. She is passionate about children’s mental health and LGBTQ+ issues.
Books:
A full list of the books and authors mentioned in this episode is available on our website.
Resources:
American Library Association Rainbow List
Register for Upcoming Events
Books:
A full list of the books and authors mentioned in this episode is available here.
Register for Upcoming Events.
The Watchung Booksellers Podcast is produced by Kathryn Counsell and Marni Jessup and is recorded at Silver Stream Studio in Montclair, NJ.
The show is edited by Kathryn Counsell and Bree Testa. Special thanks to Timmy Kellenyi and Derek Mattheiss.
Original music is composed and performed by Violet Mujica.
Art & design and social media by Evelyn Moulton. Research and show notes by Caroline Shurtleff.
Thanks to all the staff at Watchung Booksellers and The Kids’ Room!
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Hello everybody and welcome back to Watchung Booksellers podcast. Thanks for joining us today. I'm Marni and I'm here with Catherine, and we're excited to share another conversation about books with you. Today we're switching it up from conversations between writers to chat between a publisher and a bookseller. Aside from their love of children's books, they share a dedication to creating and selling books that support the mental health of kids and families.
Kathryn:May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we thought it was the perfect time to share a talk about books that speak to that subject, especially for kids. It's really fascinating how this market has grown and improved over the years and is now bursting with fantastic books. Our guests have so much knowledge to share, so we'll get right to introducing them. Meet Lori Hornick and Aubrey Cheche.
Marni:Lori Hornick is the founding publisher of Rocky Pond Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers that focuses on mental health and Jewish content for children and teens. She served as publisher of Dial Books for young readers for almost 20 years. Among the books she's edited are National Book Award finalists A River Between Us by Richard Peck and the Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin, new York Times bestseller the Book with no Pictures by BJ Novak and Counting by Sevens by Holly Goldberg. Sloan Lori is a mother and stepmother to four adult children and lives in Montclair with her husband.
Kathryn:And Aubrey Cece is the children's book and gift buyer, as well as the children's event planner for the kids' room at Wachung Booksellers. She's a born creative with a love of everything books and art. Her favorite color is lime green and her creative touch shows all throughout the bookstore. You'll almost never see her without a pair of Converse on her feet and when you talk to her she'll welcome you into a story about her family while she finds the perfect book for you and your child. She is passionate about children's mental health and LGBTQ plus issues.
Marni:Enjoy the conversation and we'll be back afterwards to fill you in on what's coming up in the store.
Lauri:Hi Aubrey. Hi, lori, I'm really pleased that we're going to be able to sit down and talk about children's books, ya books with mental health content, because it's such a focus of mine and I'm very curious about what parents are coming into the store asking for and what books with that content are really working lately.
Aubrey:Yeah, there is an influx of those types of books coming in to the store within the past couple months, but even within the past couple years that have been just available for everyone. This morning I actually had someone come in and ask for a book on mindfulness and she ended up getting these little prompt cards that she could use with a class about mindfulness.
Lauri:Yeah, that's neat. I love that more elementary school teachers are doing mindfulness meditation with their kids. It's such a help for anxiety and for focus.
Aubrey:And there's a lot more available now. You know there used to be just a couple of books that were the same ones that everyone had available, that were available, and now there's so many to choose from.
Lauri:It's actually difficult, Right, but a lot on mindfulness and finding your calm and workbooks more interactive things than just a picture book or a novel and those are for mostly for elementary school age kids.
Aubrey:There's a range of them, but it goes all the way down from a three-year-old up to YA.
Lauri:Mm-hmm. A few years ago I started my own line of books that I want to be very mental health focused, that I want to be very mental health focused books for kids who are going through anxiety, depression, older kids who are suffering from any type of mental illness, and I've been surprised by how often there's a picture book that can actually say something about mental health.
Aubrey:So for a very young kid.
Lauri:I've done a lot of picture books that are about anxiety that I think are really going to help young kids make sense of what is happening in their bodies.
Aubrey:Right, right, or to somebody else around them. Yeah, books on grief and depression, yeah, and other topics like that that maybe weren't talked about very much have blossomed and exploded in the market, and I think it's really important that that is discussed, and I'm very happy that you are making more or putting more books out like that?
Lauri:Yeah, grief is definitely. I sort of joked at my last presentation to my marketing team about my new books that every time I present a new list of books I have a book about grief. But there are so many different types of grief and so many different ways to talk about grief and I think everyone needs to be processing grief quite a lot, yeah. So yeah, I really I'm proud of that piece of my list, and I remember when I was a kid I think the only picture books about grief were about a pet dying.
Aubrey:Right, right, yeah, and even those have gotten better. They have, and it's not the same two, you know. That's the thing.
Lauri:What are the picture books that have sort of social, emotional, learning content or mental health content that really are leaving your store more than others? What are the popular ones?
Aubrey:We have a whole concept section, so we have it broken down by different topics. So grief is one and emotions is another, which could actually be broken down even further if we really wanted to get into it. But gender identity and the idea of families we have a whole shelf just on families because that the idea of families is so wide now too, so I feel like emotions is probably the biggest section that we tend to point people to.
Aubrey:But also besides the concept section, a lot of just the quote unquote regular picture books that come out could also be used in for those things yeah absolutely.
Lauri:I mean, you know what is, what is a picture book that's not about social emotional learning really? Right right, I mean I edited the book, the BJ Novak book, the book with no pictures, which is all amazing yeah. But I suppose I could probably find a way that even that one has a social emotional learning aspect.
Lauri:Yeah, that's been such a pleasure for me that the field and that readers have gone in that direction, because that's always been what I want to publish books about Real kids and real teens experiencing these stepping stone moments and how to process it Right.
Aubrey:For the older crowd. How do you go about that without introducing like such large trauma, possibly that might be involved in?
Lauri:Yeah, I do have that conversation with authors all the time. I have a book coming this fall called Light Enough to Float by Lauren Seal that is. It's a novel in verse about anorexia recovery and she said right from the start that when she was starting to create this book she was so conscious of not wanting to offer subject matter that the reader isn't already aware, of, not wanting to right, traumatize and also not wanting to put harmful ideas in a reader's head. I mean, of course, these books have trigger warnings now, so they you know they'll have a content note at the beginning and you either could decide not to read it or you could just be prepared emotionally for getting to that content. And I really hope always that these content warnings are not being used to censor a book, but instead just being used for preparation.
Aubrey:Well, my 12-year-old looks at those content warnings a lot because there are certain things that trigger them. And so it's very important that they're there, and I love that they're there because it's helpful without having to sit down and read the whole book as a parent, before your child reads it, you know, they can just go and choose for themselves too?
Lauri:Yeah, I think so too. And content warnings it's an interesting thing to try to figure out what the warning should say and what you need to alert a reader to in advance. I remember I was giving a presentation about a book where the pet dog dies, and I'm not. You know this conversation should have trigger warnings. But I gave that presentation. At the beginning of the presentation to the Penguin team. I said I just want you all to know that I'm going to be talking about pet dog dying and later somebody came up to me and said I think you're going a little far with the content warnings.
Aubrey:I don't know that could be a trigger. It definitely could be. You don't know who's sitting there, who. Maybe just yesterday that happened and it could have been triggering.
Lauri:Right, but then the trigger is possibly also a trigger. That's true, yeah.
Aubrey:There is that line there, right, that's hard to yeah.
Lauri:Yeah, but yes, I mean, when you're focusing on mental health and mental illness content, there's a lot of trying to be extra careful about authenticity, sensitivity, not accidentally being harmful in any way in the content. So I do seek guidance from other readers before my books come out and the authors always do as well, and I mean one thing that I really focus on are books that are written by people who have lived experience of the content.
Aubrey:So Lauren Seal, yeah, that's very important yeah.
Lauri:Oh, I read the most wonderful novel and verse that just came out recently by John Shue, called Louder Than Hunger.
Aubrey:Oh, that's on my pile to be read.
Lauri:Oh, it is wonderful, and this is also a novel about a kid in eating disorder treatment, so in a psychiatric hospital for eating disorder treatment, and written by somebody who did live it as a child. And yeah, just beautiful, just beautiful. I'm so glad that that one and this one light enough to float, which is so this Louder Than Hunger is a boy, and you know, you don't. It's so important that people know that it's not just girls who have eating disorders.
Aubrey:That's something else that I really like with the books that are coming out now is that the characters are also varied, whether it be race, gender it covers so many people in the world so you can find something that might be closer to what you. You know everybody has like little ways. They want to read, what they want to read about, who they want to read about.
Lauri:So I think it's really important for everyone to be able to find that. I do too. I mean, that was the number one inspiration for me in starting this list, because I saw my own daughter struggle and not find the books that she felt connected enough to find the books that she felt connected enough to, and she really wanted to find them. So I want, I want to, I want to be bringing some of those books out. Yeah, I have a book coming out on tuesday that's a graphic novel memoir about living with ocd as a boy and not undiagnosed OCD and then eventually getting diagnosed.
Lauri:So I'm so excited to have that book out in the world. It's called Puzzled.
Aubrey:Oh, that's on my list to read too.
Lauri:Good, good, good, I love it. It's by Pan.
Aubrey:Cook. Yeah, I mean, I have Crohn's disease and I have actually just recently read two middle reader and or three two or three middle reader books that have come out about it. And then there's a YA one and you know it's not something that you necessarily want to read about, but it's something that I can relate to, so much so that I want to read about a character who maybe went through something similar to me and I think that's great that it's out there.
Lauri:Yeah absolutely yeah, I know it's funny that those books all came out at the same time. Yeah, yeah. What subject matter are you especially glad that you've seen in a book lately, or that you feel like you wish you were seeing?
Aubrey:For me, gender identity and transgender children and things like that. I think LGBTQ spectrum is very important for everyone to be learning more about and for children and young adults to be able to again find themselves in the books that are out there.
Lauri:Right, yeah, I so agree, and I have been disappointed, even quite recently, that books with that content for elementary or even middle school are getting, if not fully, censored. They're not purchased by teachers, by school librarians. There's just this discomfort that means that those books are out there but still not necessarily getting to the kids who need them which is such a shame, yeah, which is why I like to go and order them all for our store.
Aubrey:So then I can go and try and hand sell those books to anyone who might want something like that.
Lauri:There's an American Library Association award list called the Rainbow List, which I'm sure you know. That is like the best LGBTQ representation in kids and teens books of the year, and one of the picture books that I published, called Bodies Are Cool, by Tyler Fetter, was on the rainbow list, which I was a bit surprised by and so pleased by. But you know, you see, on the cover of this book, which is about just celebrating bodies of all sorts, there is a person on the cover, there's a trans male on the cover and you see the scars, the scars right, the um, the top surgery scars.
Lauri:So when have you seen that in a in a picture book right, and so that has been both censored and celebrated yeah, we have that in store and we have another book called everybody has a body and that's also another one, so I love books like that.
Aubrey:Yeah, representation is so important right?
Lauri:well, and when you and I were talking previously about young adult fiction, that's about queer characters and the fact that a lot of it is about struggles rather than the joy right and so have. Are you finding that there's more lately?
Aubrey:that is mostly about joy Still not sure if they're quite there yet. I think there's a little bit more If it's the main character. There's still not just books about the joy Right, but I think that within the next couple months years that we will definitely see that more.
Lauri:Yeah I remember when david levithan wrote boy meets boy, which is was quite a while ago now. It was so revelatory to me because that was entirely joy. It was a gay romance where you know everyone in the school that what there was nothing traumatic about being gay in this fictional school, in this book that probably came out 15 years ago I don't know, and it was so delightful.
Aubrey:When we're reading or watching Heartstopper as an example that has so much joy in it. There is definitely a dark storyline that goes a little bit in the undercurrent, but there is a lot more joy in it. Yes, I feel like a lot of the stories are like that. They have that little bit of undercurrent but, the joy is also there and becoming more prominent.
Aubrey:Yeah, and it's hard to create drama if there's no conflict, right, well, that's true, then right, because who wants to read a book where everything is just happy-go-lucky all the time nothing happens?
Lauri:I mean that's. I felt like Ann Patchett's Tom Lake is that, and I just ate it up.
Aubrey:I did I just listened to a book called Practice Makes Perfect and it was just like a romance that I just needed a break from the other things I had been reading, and so it was just like a nice book and it was just. There was a little conflict the guy might leave town, they might not get together, but it was just sweet their story of like how they fell in love. And it was just what I needed, and now I can move on to my next, whatever.
Lauri:Yeah, louder than hunger, right yeah.
Aubrey:Are there topics that you see that are submitted to you, or ones that you wish were submitted, that I haven't published yet, that I want to?
Lauri:I mean I very much want to publish teen books about living with specific mental illnesses, and one in particular is bipolar disorder. I'm for sure on the lookout for, and it can be fiction or nonfiction but, you know the experience of living with bipolar disorder. I also have really been hoping for a book about the experience of going to one of these wilderness therapy programs that are so controversial, and I think there's so much that hasn't been said about that type of therapeutic program, both negative and positive.
Lauri:So, very hopeful that I'll someday have a book that's set at a wilderness therapy program. Here's hoping, yeah. And yes, I'm interested in nonfiction. Actually, one of the books that I had in mind when I first started the imprint, which is called Rocky Pond Books by the way, I don't think I said that was like an introductory guide to living with mental illness. So for kids at the very start of feeling like I'm uncomfortable with something that's going on in my, in my head, I'm not feeling safe in my relationships for some reason, but I don't know what it is I wanted to create a guide that, would you know, would, would be the first step stop for learning what's going on with you, how to talk about what's going on with you, how to get help. So I did actually go to Mental Health America and create that book with them. So that was one of the first books I published. It's called when to Start and I know it's been. Mental Health America has been selling a lot of them on their website.
Aubrey:But, it's.
Lauri:yeah, that was a book that I just really felt was needed and didn't exist, yeah.
Aubrey:And it's important for it to be out there Because, again, you know, just having it out there on the shelves for somebody to see, to be able to possibly pick it up or flip through it, or, you know, look at it inconspicuously, even at a library or something you know without a parent around.
Lauri:Yeah, I think it's really important to to have out there. Yeah, I'm very hopeful that school guidance counselors will will use this, will distribute it will you know. Offer it to the kids that they know need it, so hopefully it will have a long life.
Aubrey:Yeah, yeah. Is there other aspects to it that you would possibly put out like a workbook for like in connection with it, or We've talked about that a bit.
Lauri:There are some worksheets within the book, okay, and we've talked about maybe doing one that's younger. This one is for, I'd say, 12 and up, but it could be for 20 somethings, it could be for older. I mean it has a lot of just basic information. So far we haven't decided to to do that. I did put it, not put a book together, but I am publishing a book with a high school therapist that's actually about what to do when your parents are problematic. You know how to relate to parents who are not open to what's going on with you, are not open to letting you live the life that you want to live. Or you know how do you, as a teenager, talk to your parents.
Aubrey:How do you?
Lauri:how do you find your own autonomy despite that, and I also hope that the kids I mean I'm sure a lot of kids need that and I hope they'll.
Aubrey:I hope they'll find it, you know, I mean, we say very clearly at the start of the book this is not for your parents.
Lauri:If you're reading this, this is not for you. Go find your own own book.
Aubrey:Yeah, oh, so Children's Mental Health Awareness Week is coming up. Yeah, may 5th through the 11th.
Lauri:What's Watchung Booksellers going to do for that week?
Aubrey:Anything, well, I will definitely be putting a display out of books. The month of May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so we will definitely have a little section out there.
Lauri:That's great. Yeah, I'm very aware of May as a month that I want to publish certain content into, knowing that stores and libraries will put out displays Well, so what do the kids themselves ask for when they come into the store?
Aubrey:When kids come into our store, a lot of them want silly books, Fun silly. A lot of graphic novels. Graphic novels are very popular, so I think putting some of these topics in graphic novel form is a great idea and they like series. I would imagine series definitely yeah, early chapter and middle reader is tough. There's so much out there and it's hard to get somebody off the same series that they've been reading even if they're starting to age out of it you know we have a lot of kids that still come in and want to read Captain Underpants, even though they're beyond that.
Lauri:Yeah, so trying to— Probably rereading as well, right, oh, for sure.
Aubrey:So trying to figure out what to do beyond that is sometimes complicated because kids get really attached to it. Sure, sometimes the books that have a little bit more of the serious topics are a hard sell at a certain age.
Lauri:Yeah, that's where teachers are so important. I mean, I remember, around third and fourth grade, my daughter being so attached to some of the novels that they read in class that I know she would have said no to if I had handed them to her. Oh, yeah, and she was just a fantasy reader, and these teachers were reading contemporary realistic fiction with their kids. I was so grateful.
Aubrey:It's funny how sometimes a parent will suggest a book and the child will automatically dismiss it, not even look at it, and we might, you know, suggest the same book or something similar, and they'll give it a shot At least they'll check out the back and maybe so sometimes not having your parent telling you you should read this or you know having that option is also helpful or so you know.
Lauri:Having that option is also helpful. Do you ever find that a parent is in the store not wanting to buy the book that their child is asking for? I mean, are there parents who are steering their kids too much?
Aubrey:yeah, sometimes, and sometimes it is steering them away from those. Yeah, books like captain underpants are things that they want to keep reading and they know they can read beyond right the simple early chapter books. So they want them to do something further. So trying to find that middle ground can be tough.
Lauri:There are certain series that we try and point everyone to, but most children have read them now, so really what series I'm so Percy Jackson is always a good start, especially, especially, if kids love fantasy, so then finding what's next after that. I love that Percy Jackson gets kids interested in mythology.
Aubrey:Yeah, yeah and we actually have a lot of people that come in after reading Percy Jackson and wanting to get books on just mythology, which is also a lot of fun, well, so graphic novels are.
Lauri:I think it's interesting how they've come along, wanting to get books on just mythology, which is also a lot of fun. Well, so graphic novels are. I think it's interesting how they've come along, because when that genre was fairly new, parents really did not consider it reading.
Aubrey:Oh, a lot of them still don't oh.
Lauri:Well, at least the teachers and librarians have come around.
Aubrey:Yeah, we try and push that. It's still reading. You can almost trick them into reading by offering a graphic novel, sometimes If they're hesitant readers.
Lauri:That's the best way to start, Absolutely, and some graphic novels have won the Newbery Award which is for best writing. So, yeah, I think. Well, the book Mexikid was a Newbery Honor this year, and Roller Girl- Roller Girl was a Newbery Honor. Actually one of the best, best graphic novels that I've ever read is by that Roller Girl author, Victoria Jameson, when Stars Are Scattered oh yeah, yeah, which is co-written by Omar Mohamed, and it's his story of living as a refugee as a kid.
Lauri:It is so brilliant, so fascinating, so kid-interesting. I just love that book. It has everything, yeah.
Aubrey:My middle kid liked to read that. Author. Yeah so we had all of those in our house too. Do you have any favorite books that you haven't published?
Lauri:That I yeah. The ones that I would have loved to have on my own list that are mental health related yeah, yeah, well, one of them I mentioned already, louder Than Hunger. Another is Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, which is a main character with OCD and anxiety, and I just think that the way he shares how that feels in your head is so beautiful. It was really a feat and just such an enjoyable read. Also, it's actually about to come out as a movie on Max, I think that's you know.
Aubrey:That's another thing that I think helps certain kids want to read a book is the tie in with either a show or a movie, and that's also very interesting yeah, a show or a movie, and that's also very interesting. Yeah, that they either read the book first and then watch, or have watched it and now want to come and read the book.
Lauri:I'm so glad that happens yeah, I love that that happens, oh, I also. Another teen novel that I really adore is Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour, which is a girl who's coping with the trauma of her mother's boyfriend having gaslit her and her mother. So it's a fascinating presentation of gaslighting, like how that happens, what it feels like, and just beautiful, beautiful ghost story as well. When did that one come out? Maybe four years ago? Oh, okay, watch Over Me. Oh, it's beautiful. It feels sort of gothic, but it also feels very contemporary.
Lauri:Yeah love her characters. Yeah, and then for the young kids, I love this year's Caldecott winner, big by vashti oh yeah, and that book is beautiful to look at, isn't it?
Aubrey:yeah, about self-esteem, about bullying, about body image and oh so beautiful yeah, yeah, there have been a couple of books um that have come out about bullying recently too, and that is another topic that I feel like was ignored for a very long time yeah, but it's very important for kids to see and be like hey, you know what, maybe that person that's been teasing me or something, maybe that wasn't quite what I thought it was. Yeah, to be able to pick up right on those signals and yeah, that's such a tough one.
Lauri:so what are? What are some good recent books about bullying? There's one called Lola and the Trolls oh yeah, and I guess a lot of schools read the book Wonder as part of a discussion of bullying and also, you know, kindness, that's a, that's quite a gorgeous book.
Aubrey:Yeah, yeah, and it's hard to find that middle reader book for kids that isn't the same book that they've been reading for 30 years, right, right right, that's a real challenge for publishers is to inspire the teachers to start teaching something new.
Lauri:I mean, I understand the challenge because you, you know you have your teaching procedures, you have your teaching procedures, you have your whole class plan. You know it works. But when a new book gets picked up by teachers, it just really, it can really grow, right? I?
Aubrey:just read. There was an article recently about Tommy Orange, the recent book that came out, and there was a teacher who requested that he come visit the classroom and everyone at the publisher was like, oh, he's not going to be able to do that, it's too popular. You know, he's not going to be able to just come to one classroom, but he ended up going and talking to the children and they just adored him and the book was amazing and so you know so changing it up sometimes, but also putting those requests out there.
Aubrey:You never know.
Lauri:Maybe you can find something different. Yeah, I mean, I think authors really should consider something like that, because having a conversation with a group of people kids or adults who have read and loved your book how satisfying would that be Right? I think it would be great. I love to go to school visits with authors, where they're talking to an auditorium full of first graders. The best day, just absolutely the best day.
Aubrey:Oh, and the questions the kids ask. It's always like what's your favorite color? Yeah, yeah.
Lauri:An author that I work with told me that he once got the question what's your net worth? He's a picture book author, so he was being asked by probably a first or second grader.
Aubrey:They've had, you know, dinner conversation, probably the night before.
Lauri:He did not answer that question. Yeah, oh, and I. You know, there are some classic picture books that are just absolute favorites for me, that are mental health favorites, like Owl Babies, the Martin Waddell picture book.
Marni:I don't know that one.
Lauri:Oh, it's so great. It's three little owl babies who are waiting for their mom, mommy owl, to return. She's gone to get food for them and they're just they're quite nervous. Is she going to come back? It is so darling and it's really great for little kids who might be having some separation anxiety. Maybe you know they have a babysitter at home. That would be the perfect book to read.
Aubrey:Right, it sounds like it's a little bit better than the PD Eastman, Are you my Mother, which I loved when I was a kid but kind of scared me too, because everybody the bird met was like kind of not nice to him no, I'm not your mom.
Lauri:So then it's like, yeah, get out of here. So I was like, oh, geez.
Aubrey:I mean, mom does show up in the end, so it's okay.
Lauri:But what a hard world. No, owl babies are so lovely, Lovely. I first heard about it when Lois Lowry was interviewed about reading to her grandchildren grandchild, and she talked about owl babies and she was so right.
Aubrey:I mean, there are some books that have come out recently that I have bought for myself just to have I mean Oliver Jeffers, of course is one of my favorite authors ever. I read his books to my children when they were younger, but he just came out with Begin Again.
Lauri:And it's so beautiful.
Aubrey:And it's just. Not only is it pleasing to look at, it has fluorescent colors. I mean, anything with fluorescent colors draws me in, but it's just beautiful. And he's so philosophical now, and that's definitely one of my favorites recently.
Lauri:Yeah, there are definitely picture books that can be just as meaningful for adults. Sophie Blackall is another one. I sometimes buy hers just for myself. Farmhouse what a gorgeous book that is.
Aubrey:She just came out with a new one, right? Yes, I need to read it. It's called Ahoy.
Lauri:That looks like it's quite funny, it's very cute, it's very nice. Well, and I don't know whether you remember the Bernard Weber books Ira Sleeps Over and Ira Says Goodbye. So those are books about anxiety and I think Ira Sleeps Over was it might have been around when I was a kid. It's not, ira says goodbye, no, so so those are, those are books about anxiety and I I think ira sleeps over was it might have been around when I was a kid. It's not new and it's, um, yeah, there it's a boy who's having you know the kind of anxiety that any kid would have, like a sleepover that make you know the first sleepover. Oh, my gosh, that makes most kids nervous, yeah, and and he just, oh, he does it so beautifully, just, and you know any kid you know you would. You would see in this ira character there's a book actually.
Aubrey:Well, there's two books by lucy ruth cummins called um sleepy sheepy oh, and then sleepy sheepy sleep yes, so the first one is basically fighting good night. But the second one they're doing a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house and they don't want to sleep because they're missing Mom and Dad, and so that's like a little bit of an updated version.
Lauri:Oh good, Well, so, moving away from mental health, children's books, what would you want to suggest to people who are listening, just as their next great what did? What do you love lately?
Aubrey:I am an erratic reader. I jump all over with what I read. I read a lot of nonfiction, a lot on LGBTQ topics and gender especially, yeah, and I often then need to balance that out with different things. So I've read an ARC, an advanced reader copy just recently A book coming out it's May or June called Devil is Fine Verchner, I believe is the last name. And I enjoyed that.
Aubrey:It was different than what I normally read, but then I mentioned that like romance novels, so sometimes I just need something light. So I'm very much back and forth. But I also read a lot of YA because I want to be able to recommend things to people. But also I think YA has done so well now. Sometimes it's an easier read than some of the adult novels.
Lauri:I like some of the topics, so what are some of your?
Aubrey:go-tos. Well, the last one I read, which we've also been doing, I do the YA book club. Oh cool. So we did Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom.
Lauri:So we did one each month. Leigh Bardugo, yeah, so those were fun, she's really good writing her characters.
Aubrey:But again, I like a big mix in there, so I will read some romance novels in there as well.
Lauri:What's the best?
Aubrey:teen romance novel. That's not Heartstopper, that's not Heartstopper. Yeah, that's a tough one. I don't know if I have an answer for that right now. Fair enough, so what do you like? Have you enjoyed reading recently?
Lauri:I'm reading a lot of nonfiction lately that I won't recommend, but one of the novels of fiction that I loved the most in probably the last six months was we All Want Impossible Things.
Aubrey:Oh my God. By Katherine Newman. That book was amazing.
Lauri:It's just it really is. It's such a feat because this is a woman who is helping her best friend through hospice, so her best friend is dying. Yes, it's not a heavy book, it is a delightful book. I laughed and cried literally every page, Absolutely right.
Aubrey:It was so. Oh good, I'm so glad you like that too.
Lauri:So beautiful, oh yes, and she has a new novel coming out in June. I think I can't wait. Oh, I'll definitely be checking it out.
Aubrey:I think we All Want Impossible Things was my favorite book that I read last year, oh yeah 100%.
Lauri:And then the books, the two books that I reread. I don't reread usually, but the two books that I do reread are the Hours by Michael Cunningham, my favorite adult novel of all time, and then my favorite kids' book is Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia McLaughlin, which is just, it's this spare little gem. Every word is perfect. I've read that so many times and it just, it's equally delightful every single time wow, you know I do not reread books.
Aubrey:No, no, I don't like to. No, you usually do, although I might try to read. We All Want Impossible Things. I might reread that one.
Lauri:Yeah, we're both going to go reread that now. Yeah, no, I mean, I reread. So, sarah Plain and Tall, I reread when I'm telling someone about it and then I think, oh, is it really as good as I'm saying? And I reread it. Yes, it is.
Aubrey:Well, I'm going to add that to my list too, then. Yeah, yeah.
Lauri:It's actually about, like a mail order bride from like the days of the pioneering, like early pioneering days in our country. So it's this very interesting historical time period and quite a strange subject matter. It is just tugs at your heart like nothing else. Yeah, these these two kids whose mom has died and and their their dad has brought a woman to maybe be their new mom, and none of them have met her amazing it's so different oh, my very favorite picture book blueberries for sal, for Sal, oh classic, yes yeah, kerplink, kerplunk.
Lauri:Blueberries in the pail.
Aubrey:Yeah, I used to have a lot of books memorized. My children loved to have the same books read to them over and over which ones. So let's see I had. There were a couple Mo Willems that I definitely had memorized. There's a couple that are out of print now. There was one called Food Fight that my kids absolutely loved, and Pizza for the Queen, which is about how pizza originally came about. And Oliver Jeffers. Of course I'm going to keep bringing it back to Oliver.
Lauri:Jeffers oh gosh, he's so good. There's a book that I have from my childhood I actually it was given to me by my mom when I was two and my baby brother was coming home. It's called the Very Little Girl and it's long, long, long out of print. But I have my childhood copy and every few years I think, should I reissue this book? And I find it like that. The art is so darling of this little girl who grows bigger by the end so that she can hold her and take care of her baby brother. I'm not going to reissue it because I I think it's it's too, it's too dated. But oh, my gosh right, I re-decide that every other year.
Aubrey:There's a book when I was younger called Once Upon a Meadow about these four or five friends that all do these little adventures in the meadow and again, it's a little. It's probably a little outdated, but I would love to see that out there.
Lauri:And also.
Aubrey:Henny Puffer's something, and now I can't remember the name. I just looked at it. The other day, though, my husband actually bought it for me.
Lauri:He found it on eBay because it was one of those books that I loved as a kid and I can't find it anywhere.
Lauri:It's good that you remembered the title, because I have a children's novel that I don't remember enough about. I remember how much I loved it but I cannot find it because I just don't have enough. But one that was probably my favorite book when I was about eight or nine is Hope for the Flowers. The author lives in Montclair. I was so delighted when it was soon after I moved to Montclair there was some street festival on Walnut Street and that author had a table with her book Hope for the Flowers. It was like I had come home.
Marni:That's nice.
Lauri:It's about a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.
Aubrey:Oh, you can't go wrong with a caterpillar into a butterfly story. And that can teach you so many things along the way too. Oh yeah, oh yeah.
Lauri:No, this was a caterpillar who just knew that there was something different about him or her. And there was something different about him or her, and there was something different, and in the end, this he turned into a butterfly, so I guess. I was feeling like I am so different from all of you classmates? I don't know, we all probably have that, I think so. Yeah, that's what children's books are all about well.
Aubrey:Thank you so much for coming in and talking with me today.
Lauri:You too, it was a lot of fun it was fun and I will see you in the store.
Aubrey:Alright, I hope so yeah, take care, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music, music music music, music, music music.
Kathryn:Thank you, Lori and Aubrey, for this great conversation and for all that you do to help kids and families everywhere. Before we go, we want to remind you of a few of our author talks you can hear live and in person On Wednesday, May 22nd, join us for a talk with Lettie Teague about her new book. Dear Readers and Writers, the Beloved Books, Faithful Fans and Hidden Private Life of Marguerite Henry. Marguerite Henry was a Newbery Award-winning author who wrote Misty of Chincoteague and so many books about horses that all those horse kids loved when we were little.
Marni:And on May 28th we're celebrating the book release for Garthris Hallberg's the Second Coming. He's going to be talking about it with author and podcaster Willow Paskin. Be sure to pre-order and register before it fills up.
Kathryn:And looking down the road. We are excited to announce that Daniel Silva will be launching his latest thriller, a Death in Cornwall, with us on July 9th at Temple Nair Tameed. He's doing very few events in New Jersey, so we are excited to bring him here. You can register and find out more about all of our upcoming events in our newsletter, on our show notes and at Watchung Booksellers. com. Recording and editing at Silver Stream Studio in Montclair, new Jersey. Special thanks to Timmy Kellneyi, Bree Testa, Derek Matthias and Jake Miller. Original music is composed and performed by Violet Mujica, art and design by Evelyn Moulton and research and show notes by Caroline Shurtleff. Also thanks to all the staff at Watchung Booksellers and the Kids Room for their hard work and love of books.
Marni:And thank you for listening. If you enjoyed it, please like and subscribe and follow us on social media at Wachung Booksellers and if you have any questions you can reach out to us at wbpodcast, at wachungbooksellerscom.
Kathryn:We'll see you next time. Until then, for the love of books, keep reading. © transcript Emily Beynon.
