Jess Yoon stands on business. And she's doing way more than sitting in her little room, typing away. She's tapping into her inner child to great effect!

She manifested a Little Golden Book into being and now her Blackpink biography is out in the world! Her picture book Jeong Is Jeong JUST released this month (February 2026), AND her junior novelization of K-Pop Demon Hunters comes out next month!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

SLEEP TIGHT, DISGUSTING BLOB by Huw Aaron

SEALS ARE JERKS by Jared Chapman

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our 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 and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Now with 100% more consternation! Or less. Not sure where we landed on consternation.

Steph Lau has gotten some good experiences over the years. Some published, some TBD. But at least we have thus far been graced with ABOMINABLE SNOW DANCER, and will be graced with MEDUSA'S PET ROCK later this year! And more to come!

Steph, you'll have to come back on so we can talk more about pancakes and pastries.

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

THE CAVE DOWNWIND OF THE CAFE by Mikey Please

DESERT QUEEN by Jyoti Rajan Gopal, illustrated by Svabhu Kohli

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our 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 and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

We make it so today with author Jan (J.E.) Thomas, author of The AI Incident and Control Freaks. Lots of good habit discussion, some Star Trek, and exactly how you can be a certified Human Author. Jan is a delight!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

HOW TO GROW A FAMILY TREE by Bea Birdsong, illustrated by Jasu Hu

THIS BOOK IS ON FIRE! by Ron Keres, illustrated by Arthur Lin

CASSINI'S MISSION by Katie Venit, illustrated by Julia Blattman

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our 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 and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Today's second-timer is our last-timer of 2025! Matt Forrest Esenwine graces us once again with his delightful, radio-ready voice for a soothing exit to the year.

In addition to Matt's twelve other books (some of which you can hear about in our first conversation from 2021), this year Matt released his anthology A Universe of Rainbows: Multicolored Poems for a Multicolored World.

We don't get to talk a ton about anthologies, so this was a delight!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

JOVITA WORE PANTS by Aida Salazar, illustrated by Molly Mendoza

THIS BOOK IS PERFECT by Ron Keres, illustrated by Arthur Lin

MY DAD IS THE BEST by Fran Pintadera, illustrated by Joan Turu

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our 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 and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Karyn Friedman-Everham (Josh's agent sibling - hi, Joyce!) has a fascinating story that's a little bit backwards from how most of us approach our debuts, but that's what makes her story fascinating and very endearing!

Her 2024 debut was Otter Oughta Know, followed in October 2025 by Chesed. Two different paths, one cool convo!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

NUNU AND THE SEA by Isabella Kung

ERNO RUBIK AND HIS MAGIC CUBE by Kerry Aradhya, illustrated by Kara Kramer

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our 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 and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

It's been almost five years and THIS is our first episode that includes a singalong?

Today it's Rafael and Allison Rozo day! Check out Diego Fuego the Firefighting Dragon, out July 2025, and Unique Like You, out September 2025!

Allison and Rafael are a delight and we hope you enjoy getting to know them as much as we did!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

THE FABULOUS FANNIE FARMER by Emma Bland Smith, illustrated by Susan Reagan

THE A-TO-Z TEACHING TOOLKIT by Alicia Meyers

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our 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 and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

We've known Alicia Meyers since we were all three kidlit babies back in pandemic days when we had no idea what we were doing! Josh still doesn't know what he's doing. Long live Totally Funny Critique Group!

Alicia's educational book The A-to-Z Teaching Toolkit came out this month (November 2025) and we're eagerly awaiting her picture book debut Tic-Errific Me, coming next June!

Alicia hustles. And also rocks a mean teddy bear Halloween costume (check out her socials for evidence).

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

ALL MY STRIPES by Shaina Rudolph and Danielle Royer, illustrated by Jennifer Zivoin

ZOMBEES by Justin Colon, illustrated by Kaly Quarles

THE WORLD'S BEST CLASS PLANT by Audrey Vernick and Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Lynnor Bontiago

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our 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 and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Ainissa Ramirez has something in common with the subject of her debut picture book, Jim West, inventor of the microphone: the passion, the drive, and the creative spark to turn her commitment into her reality.

It was an honor to talk to Ainissa, and if you want to hear more of her voice, listen to her podcast Science Underground, or maybe her TEDx Talk!

_________

This episode’s book reviews:

THE WALK, by Winsome Bingham, illustrated by E.B. Lewis

EVERY MONDAY MABEL, by Jashar Awan

The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our 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 and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!