Author: TQ Townsend

The Shoes that Were Danced to Pieces

“Die zertanzten Schuhe,” or “The Shoes That Were Danced to Pieces” was first published in 1815 in the second volume of tales collected by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. It’s usually translated into English as “The Twelve Dancing Princesses.”

In this one I DO NOT burn my marshmallow (YAY!) and celebrate by making a Thin Mint s’more. Many thanks to a dear friend in Los Angeles who sent me two boxes of these unmatchable treats at great expense.

Thank you to HeinzInJune for providing his insight as a native speaker of German. No matter how much I study the language, as an outsider there will be little nuances that I can never fully understand and I am grateful for help like this.

You can see the video version of this episode on YouTube:

178 – Let’s Talk Harry Potter Casting

Six actors have been confirmed for the new Harry Potter series on HBO. But are all of them good choices? When a book is adapted to the screen, how can casting choices be creative without breaking the story, distorting the characters, or introducing themes that simply don’t belong?

What a Wild Few Weeks

My show chugged along in happy quiet obscurity for quite a while, and that was fine with me. Of course I wanted to do my best when it came to sharing great books with my kids, other people’s kids, and the kind of awesome grownups who haven’t forgotten how important children’s literature is. I am of course happy and overwhelmed and bewildered now that the show is gaining so much traction. But I will try to just keep doing what I have been doing and not let this change my life much. I wanted to make a few promises to those who listen to and watch the show, though:

1. I have never and will never accept payment to endorse or review a book.

I do accept complimentary review copies of books (this is completely standard practice for book reviewers), although these mostly arrive in digital format. When I am done reviewing a physical book, I donate it to a local school or public library, and when I am done reviewing a digital copy I delete it. These standards are important to me so that I keep myself honest, and that I can build a reputation as someone who is trustworthy. This doesn’t mean I might never have some sort of paid arrangement with any company, ever (say, if I ran ads on the show), but if that’s ever the case I will make it very clear to you. I will only ever select books to talk about on this show because I think they are high quality and would be good for families and educators to give to children.

2. I’m not going to run ads for now

My professional background is in education, copywriting, editing, and tutoring. All of this “monetization” stuff is way over my head and I’m not interested in jumping in before I understand what the results will be. I’m also lucky in that I have a comfortable home, a wonderful family, and enough to live on. I don’t need to run ads on my show. I would rather keep bringing people together over great stories.

3. I do have some fun ideas for merch, though

I feel like I understand merch a bit better than ads and sponsors, and I have some fun literary-themed ideas for merch. You’ll start seeing these things soon, and any funds I get will be used to upgrade my gear. I am currently just recording everything right from my laptop, and I know that a better camera and microphone would make things better for viewers and listeners. I don’t think I need to get too crazy with my tech setup, but a few other little improvements would make it easier for me to record more often.

4. After talking with my family, my kids will still be on the show sometimes

My children started appearing on the show because I literally couldn’t keep them off of it. They love books even more than I do and they often have much more interesting ideas about them than me. My concern has always been making sure that they have a healthy, normal childhood. I do not approve of adults who monetize their children. Whenever my kids have appeared on the show, it was because they wanted to. They have come to me with great ideas, and my older daughter is already turning into a thoughtful interviewer when we have guests on. But I will never make them appear on the show, and I will never tell them what to say. If they ever feel like they don’t want to do this any more, that’s fine. Family comes first, even if it means deleting old episodes that they are no longer happy with. If I ever feel their happiness, privacy, or safety is compromised by the show, they will no longer participate.

5. THANKS FOR LISTENING!

I know I say this in every episode, but it’s because I mean it. I will never get tired of saying it. Thank you! Thank you to longtime listeners, and thank you to newcomers. I hope this show can continute to be a nice friendly place where we all share our love of books together.

177 – A Fireside Reading of Cenerentola

Come join me by the fire while I read “Cenerentola,” which was written in the 17th century by Giambattista Basile. It’s the oldest recorded European version of a Cinderella story, and I think it’s a lot wilder and funnier than the better known one by Charles Perrault. In this reading you’ll get some commentary to help you understand the historic and cultural context of the tale.

And what are we reading this week at my house? The Hunger Games and Manx fairy tales are both in high demand!

If you like, you can watch the video version of this episode as well:

 

The Kids Need Their Minecraft Moment

This isn’t a proper episode as it’s not really about books, but I wanted to share some thoughts I had about why the Minecraft movie is doing so well. Before social media and digital streaming, kids had more opportunities for exciting shared cultural moments. TV shows and movies had to be seen when they aired or there’d be no chance to participate in the face-to-face conversation at school the next day. The art being consumed almost becomes irrelevant; what matters is that kids experience it together, and I had a fun chance to witness that this weekend when I took a bunch of girls to go see the Minecraft movie.

176 – Fireside Fairy Tale: Ye Xian

Big things have happened to the show in the last week. I have pleased the Algorithm Gods and my YouTube channel is getting a lot of attention. My inbox is overflowing with emails and I have had a few offers from sponsors, but I won’t change anything for now. I want to take some time to think about what the show’s growth could mean and make choices that will be the best for myself, my family, and my values.

In the main segment, join me for another Fireside Fairy Tale. This time I’m revisiting “Ye Xian,” a Cinderella story recorded over 1000 years ago in China. This time I wanted to provide commentary that focused on the story’s Confucian values. I actually think it would be a great way to introduce these concepts to children who are studying ancient China.

I had better success with toasting my marshmallow this time as well, which I am quite pleased about. You can watch the YouTube version of this Fireside Fairy Tale here:

About the last few days . . .

So . . . things have been a little crazy for the last few days. This show has chugged along nicely since I started it back in 2021, rebooted it in 2022, and branched out to YouTube. I’ve loved getting to know so many of you and I have really enjoyed the conversations we’ve had about great books for kids.

My channel on YouTube has clearly pleased the algorithm gods, and it’s all been a little overwhelming. I made this video to say thank you to all of you, but by the time I managed to sit down to write this post, I have a few thousand MORE subscribers to thank.

It’s all very overwhelming and I am so grateful to those of you who tune into the show. I don’t plan to change anything for now, and I never want to lose my focus on children’s literature and why it’s important to people of all ages.

175 – Let’s Read the Original Snow White from 1812

As a palate cleanser from the utter dreck that was Disney’s latest live action remake, I got cozy by my back yard fire pit and read the original 1812 version of “Snow White” as recorded by the Brothers Grimm. They made heavy edits to their folktales over the years, so you might be surprised by what’s in this older tale — including the fact that the villain is NOT Snow White’s stepmother and what “black as ebony” actually refers to!

Please tell me if you enjoyed this fireside fairy tale with commentary. I will be happy do do more, weather permitting, and can read fairy tales with or without commentary as you prefer.

174 – The Snow White Remake was Dreadful

To nobody’s surprise, Snow White (2025) was awful and has pulled in my lowest Snape Score ever for its total lack of faithfulness to its literary source material. I usually approach episodes with the attitude that the stories and people on my show are my guests, and I try to roll out the red carpet by dressing my best and doing some nice graphics and editing. This movie deserves none of that. You’re just getting me ranting in my gym clothes while in full on cranky mommy mode.

173 – Can the Paddington Statue Be Repaired?

A beloved statue of Paddington Bear in author Michael Bond’s hometown of Newbury was sawed in half by two guys for reasons that are hard to comprehend. The culprits have been caught, but can the damage to this adorable statue be fixed? Luckily I know someone who knows a thing or two about fiberglass — my dad.