The Children's Literature Podcast
Hosted by TQ Townsend and Chloë Townsend
I watched both of the Winnie The Pooh: Blood and Honey movies. They are NOT for kids. But they do take ideas from Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne with illustrations by E.H. Shepard and use them in some creative, interesting, and icky ways.
Again, don’t show these movies to your kids.
“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:
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?
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:
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:
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.
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.
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.
Disney’s live action remake of Snow White is nearly upon us. This is the most pre-hated movie ever, largely because the film’s star Rachel Zegler disparaged the original film as being “very evidently” a product of 1937. She wasn’t wrong about that — the only problem was her attitude.
Dave Cullen is a YouTuber who focuses on pop culture and science fiction, and his debut novel Deus V Machina: A Cody Stockton Mystery is one of the most intersting independent books I’ve read in a while. This novel blends multiple genres in creative and unexpected ways, and it will appeal to thoughtful teenagers who are ready to think about complex philosophical ideas but who also want to enjoy some good action and adventure.
During our conversation, Dave explains his ideas about how artificial intelligence will affect authors and illustrators, and we focus on the themes and ideas in Deus V Machina rather than its actual plot and characters, because we don’t want to spoil the story for readers.
Our conversation is also on YouTube: