Dr. Elisabeth Paige interviews middle grade author and English professor Chris Baron about two recent books: the Passover anthology "On All Other Nights," which he co-edited with Joshua Levy and Naomi Milliner, and his verse novel "Spark" about California wildfires. Baron discusses his preference for poetry, his writing journey into middle grade, and why certain stories choose verse versus prose and vice versa. He explains Passover’s meaning, family traditions, and how the anthology maps short stories to Seder steps with discussion questions, aiming to strengthen unity and Jewish identity in a difficult climate. "Spark" follows best friends Finn and Rabbit in a Northern California town facing wildfires, evacuation, grief, and rebuilding; Baron reads several poems, describes extensive research, and highlights themes of hope, agency, conservation, PTSD support from a teacher-counselor, Jewish heritage symbolism, and the role of pets.

You can find information about Dr. Elisabeth Paige at www.mindfulhappykids.com.

Dr. Elisabeth Paige interviews middle grade author Dan Gemeinhart about his writing journey and three of his ten novels: The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise, Coyote Lost and Found, and Busted. Dan discusses why his stories include grief and death as backstory, how he balances heavy themes with humor, and why animals and friendship are central. They outline Coyote’s road-trip plot to save a buried memory box while Coyote secretly tricks her grieving father, Rodeo, into going home, and describe Coyote Lost and Found as a standalone sequel set in April 2020 during COVID, involving the search for a lost Mary Oliver poetry book that contains the mother’s wishes for scattering her ashes, including masking and an anti-Asian racism incident. They also cover Busted, a comedic intergenerational caper about Oscar, Natasha, and retired mobster Jimmy, and Gemeinhart’s plans to write Midnight Children into a screenplay. He gives advice for kids and aspiring authors.

You can find information about Dr. Elisabeth Paige at www.mindfulhappykids.com.

Dr. Elisabeth Paige and Mike Rosenstein interview children’s author and illustrator Johnny Marciano about his career writing from board books to chapter books to middle grade books and young adult books. He’s even written adult nonfiction. His first book was about his grandfather Ludwig Bemelmans, author of the Madeline series. Johnny discusses learning to paint in Bemelmans’ style for Madeline books but eventually choosing to work primarily with outside illustrators. He explains the dark humor of The Nine Lives of Alexander Baddenfield, and The No-Good Nine and the satire and humor of the Claude series co-created with Emily Chenoweth. He also describes the Frankie Caridi cult-and-telekinesis series, and an in-progress Madeline graphic novel set in occupied Paris. He talks about his forthcoming book, a middle grade historical novel about his Italian grandfather surviving the 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami. Finally, he provides recommendations for aspiring authors.

You can find information about Dr. Elisabeth Paige at www.mindfulhappykids.com.