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.

This is a heart-wrenching and fascinating interview with Nora Lester Murad: Activist, Educator, and Writer About Palestine. Nora is Jewish and married a Palestinian, Muslim man. Together they raised three daughters in the West Bank during the Israeli occupation.

Her middle grade novel, "Ida in the Middle" was inspired by her daughter and her own experiences living in the West Bank and coming back to the US to share her experiences. “Ida in the Middle” was a way for Nora to talk about the life she and her family were forced to endure under the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

She talks about her book and the horrific living situation in Palestine and how she believes the only true peace can come if "equality is the only way they'll be a settlement that respects all the people. So, the whole land needs to be decolonized. Whoever wants to live there, should live there, but equally not with rights that are more than other people, which is what they have right now. Jewish people have more rights than non-Jews. That's not stable, it's not defendable, and it will lead to continued conflict until that's, that's fixed."

Please visit my website for more information: www.mindfulhappykids.com.

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

The Petitation Companion: Enhance the Lives of You and Your Pets with Mindfulness Meditation are the adventures of Pago and Pippi, Schipperke pups trying to teach Norman, the negative cat to Petitate. I will be reading you the book, written by myself, Dr. Elisabeth Paige and Joanne Leslie chapter by chapter. I will also be adding the Petitations 1 by 1 set to music composed and recorded by Steve Gruskin.

You can buy the book on Amazon and visit my website www.mindfulhappy kids.com and my Substack, "Mindful, Happy News" for the written versions.

The book is dedicated to Pippi and Pago, I loved tghem with all my heart.]

Elisabeth

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

Julio and Jacoby created Latinx awesome graphic novels focusing on immigration, border crossing, bullying, and radicalization of white supremacies. They are both interviewed in this engaging conversation with Elisabeth Paige and Mike Rosenstein. They talk about their processes, books and futures.

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

In this extremely engaging and interesting conversation, Hannah talks about her book; "Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine;" Interlink Publishing, her family's publishing company where they publish books from Palestine and the Global South; and her role as a "queer, fat, Palestinian activist."

She identifies the historical and current plight of Palestinians both in Palestine and in the United States.

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

In our house, we start the year with a day of thanks. And, with Bobbie reaching a healthy and happy two and us in good health with meaningful jobs and podcast/writing and great people in our lives, we've got a lot to be grateful for. Bobbie and I appreciate all of you who are listening to this podcast and hope that you visit the website: www.mindfulhappykids.com to read about the authors/illustrators we interview.

About a decade ago, I wrote a book, "The Petitation Companion" with my Mom, Joanne Leslie, from the perspective of Pago the Schipperke dog as he has adventures with his friends Pippi the Schipperke and Norman the Negative Cat. I read the gratitude chapter for this podcast, along with adding The Gratitude Petitation set to music for you to do with your pets.

Enjoy! Let me know how you like it at epaigeconsulting@gmail.com.

Elisabeth and Bobbie

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