Life hacks and tangents and accidental nonfiction, oh my!

Lots of potential episode titles in this one. Our conversation with Chloe Ito Ward is here!

Grab her book Love Grows Here... here!

Our podcast service auto-transcribed my intro with the name You Make a Drip Be Diverse. Should we change it to this AI-generated alternative??

(I apologize for the noise on my solo recording that sounded like I was recording from inside an airplane engine!)

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This episode’s book reviews:

MILLIE FLEUR'S POISON GARDEN by Christy Mandin

LUIS AND TABITHA by Steph Campisi (hi Steph!), illustrated by Hollie Mengert

EVERY DOG IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD by Philip C Stead, illustrated by Matthew Cordell

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

The vibes are strong with James McGowan! Agent, author, YouTuber, and great guest!

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This episode’s book reviews:

CAN I BE YOUR DOG by Troy Cummings

BUILDING A BEAK: HOW A TOUCAN'S RESCUE INSPIRED THE WORLD, written by Becca McMurdie, illustrated by Diana Hernandez

EMERGENCY QUARTERS, written by Carlos Matias, illustrated by Gracey Zhang

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Papa J Funk is here and he's taking no questions.

Luckily for us, Josh Funk IS taking questions!

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This episode’s book reviews:

TOUCH THE SKY by Stephanie Lucianovic, illustrated by Chris Park

THE MESS THAT WE MADE by Michelle Lord, illustrated by Julia Blattman

DUCK AND MOOSE: DUCK MOVES IN and MOOSE BLASTS OFF by Kirk Reedstrom

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Jacob Sager Weinstein. You can find Jacob on Twitter and Bluesky.

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This episode’s book reviews:

STAY WILD MY CHILD by Mandy Archer, with illustrations by Shane Crampton

A SPOONFUL OF FROGS by Casey Lyall’s illustrated by Vera Brosgol

SUMMER: A SOLSTICE STORY written by Kelsey Gross and illustrated by Renata Liwska

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

The world lost one of the brightest lights in the kidlit sky last week with the passing of author Katey Howes.

Today we're remembering Katey and honoring her memory with a reshare of a conversation Josh first had with her in July 2021.

If you have a memory of Katey you'd like to share, please consider doing so via this Google Form. A memory book will be created and gifted to each of her three children, containing photos and remembrances from those of us in the kidlit community who were fortunate enough to know her.

Katey's work is beautiful, sincere, encouraging, and timeless. To further support her family, if you're able, order one of her books or request them from your local library. Katey's published work can be found on her website.

Katey's latest book, Reindeer Remainders, is just a few weeks away from release. Please also consider ordering it from Amazon or your local bookseller.

Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.

Our guest for this conversation was Charles Santoso. You can find Charles on Twitter and Instagram.

DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!

This episode’s book reviews:

SOMETIMES: A DAY FULL OF FEELINGS by Stephanie Stansbie, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli

TOO MUCH SLIME by Frances Gilbert illustrated by Vin Vogel

NANCY BESS HAD A DRESS by Claire Noland illustrated by Angela C. Hawkins

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Thanks and see ya next time.

You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.

Pants vs Cake. Pantsing vs archaeology. The Mental Snack Drawer. Flax Eggs. Blogs on Saturday. The meh shelf.

Betsy Bird pops into the co-host chair as we grill Brenna on her debut The Law of Birthdays in what turned out to be quite the conversation!

Get The Law of Birthdays here!

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This episode’s book reviews:

I DO NOT EAT CHILDREN by Matthew Cutler

I AM NOT A CHAIR by Ross Burach

EVERGREEN by Matthew Cordell

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

A generous helping of Adam Rex awaits you. No cause for alarm, the episode title is merely a play on the title of one of Adam's three 2023 book releases!

Catch these books in order of age group: Oh No, the Aunts are Here, The Story of Gumluck the Wizard, and A Little Like Waking!

Guess what? YOU MAY CONTRIBUTE A VERSE IS FIVE YEARS OLD.

Thank you for listening! I wish this milestone would have coincided with our 100th episode, but we're ALMOST THERE.

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This episode’s book reviews:

HOW TO MAKE A PEANUT BUTTER SANDWICH IN 17 EASY STEPS by Bambi Edlund

A LITTLE LIKE WAKING by Podcast Guest Adam Rex!

KATHI Q BUILDS A TIME MACHINE by Jo-Anne Scranton, illustrated by Gabi Moraes

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com

Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com

Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!

Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!