In honor of Pride Month, Talking About Kids is devoting its June episodes to LGBT+ issues. This first installment is about how understanding history can help LGBT+ youth, and my guest is the “Hip Historian,” Marshall Shore. Marshall is known throughout the southwestern United States and beyond for excavating videos, news stories, and other lost artifacts from the distant and not-so-distant past and using them to make history come alive in engaging events. Along the way, Marshall has helped right some past wrongs that were done to LGBT+ Americans and brought attention to both their contributions and hardships they faced. In doing so, Marshall has comforted and inspired LGBT+ youth. He has advice for how you can do the same. More information about Marshall and how to bring him to your community is talkingaboutkids.com.

George Walker is an artist, educator, and historian, who is best known for his books about public figures ranging from Leonard Cohen to Tom Thomson. George tells these stories without words, using only images printed from wood he engraves. These wordless novels, as they are known, are in the tradition of works by Frans Masereel, Lynd Ward, and Otto Nückel, all famous artists who have inspired George and whom he has written about in his more academic books on creating relief prints and on appreciating wordless novels. I was excited to have George on the podcast because I think there is something profound about his art and his medium that can really benefit kids. First, wordless novels are accessible to everyone, regardless of their language or level of literacy. Children at every age can pick them up, engage their imaginations, and infer a story. As a child develops, a great wordless novel affords the inference of more nuanced stories or even different stories all together. Second, relief printmaking is an inexpensive technique that children can learn very quickly to make their own stories or individual art pieces, but, while it is easy to pick up initially, relief printmaking scaffolds perfectly, allowing infinite room for children to challenge and develop their skills. Of course, George explains all of this better than I do. More information about George and his art is at talkingaboutkids.com.

As a writer, social media figure, and, now, children’s book author, Gina Prosch has focused on hope and joy. The second book in her Holly’s Choice series was just released. It is called, Hope! More Than Wishful Thinking. True to its title, it addresses hope, but, as you will hear, Gina’s conception of hope is not a Pollyanna one, but a practical and empowering one that, in my opinion, aligns with a growth mindset. More information about Gina and her books is at talkingaboutkids.com.