You May Contribute A Verse

Une Episode Avec Andrea Caulfield

It's author and educator Andrea Caulfield [https://vocesunplugged.com/pages/andrea-caulfield] on the podcast today! Andrea is World Language Curriculum Specialist for Denver Public Schools and is quadrilingual, something I (Josh) hope to be when I grow up. Andrea has partnered with Voces Digital to publish Les Zombies Attaquent Quebec, a French-language short novelette for French learners. Andrea's perspective on language learning is refreshing and new here. Her experiences with Voces and path to publishing her book are both entertaining and enlightening, which is also all you can hope for when you're reading something educational in a language you're trying to learn! Shout out to our friend Jan Thomas [https://www.janthomasbooks.com/Home.html] for connecting us to Andrea! This chat was absolutement un plaisir. PS I had one good window to record my intro, found my mic settings all messed up, and then a crew started jackhammering the street right outside my window. Apologies for the very poor quality on my end! _________   This episode’s book reviews:    STILL FRIENDS [https://www.troystory.ca/still-friends.html], words by Troy Wilson [https://www.troystory.ca], pictures by Mike Deas [https://deasillustration.com/blog/] VIGDIS: A BOOK ABOUT THE WORLD'S FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT [https://skandisk.com/products/vigdis-the-worlds-first-female-president-may-2024] by Ran Flygenring [https://www.instagram.com/ranflygenring/] _________ 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  [https://www.instagram.com/hellomaddiefrost/]or on her website Maddie-Frost.com  [https://www.maddie-frost.com/] Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com [https://scottholmesmusic.com/]   Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here [https://linktr.ee/VerseShow]!!  Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords [https://twitter.com/JoshMonkwords], @brennajeanneret [https://twitter.com/BrennaJeanneret], and @jonseym0ur [https://twitter.com/JSeym0ur] and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

There's a Stan Yan in the Basement

Otherwise known as The Many Misfortunes of Stan Yan's Internet Connection, which we managed around quite successfully, I'd say! Join us for a chat with Stan Yan [https://www.stanyan.me/], author-illustrator-graphic novelist-comic artist of (yes, I already made the book title puns above) There's a Zombie in the Basement [https://www.stanyan.me/store] and (JLG Gold Standard) The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang [https://www.stanyan.me/store]! Despite our intermittent connection issues this was an absolutely wonderful chat as we got to know the breadth of Stan's educational and illustrative chops. Next time we'll talk more about his history as a stockbroker. _________ This episode’s book reviews:  THE STUFF BETWEEN THE STARS [https://store.abramsbooks.com/products/the-stuff-between-the-stars], words by Sandra Nickel [https://sandranickel.com/] and illustrations by Aimee Sicuro [https://www.aimeesicuro.com/] SPARKLE PIGS [https://www.harpercollins.com/collections/books-series-sparkle-pigs] by Kit Holliday (hi Steph!) [https://www.stephaniecampisi.com/] _________ 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  [https://www.instagram.com/hellomaddiefrost/]or on her website Maddie-Frost.com  [https://www.maddie-frost.com/] Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com [https://scottholmesmusic.com/]   Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here [https://linktr.ee/VerseShow]!!  Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords [https://twitter.com/JoshMonkwords], @brennajeanneret [https://twitter.com/BrennaJeanneret], and @jonseym0ur [https://twitter.com/JSeym0ur] and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Ocean's Heart, Land's Heart with Jilanne Hoffman

Jilanne Hofmann is back (here's her first episode [https://www.verse.show/podcast/episode/9ff07606/a-cure-for-rock-brain-with-jilanne-hoffmann])! She has some updates from several things we discussed in our first chat, namely that now The Ocean's Heart [https://jilannehoffmann.com/my-books/the-oceans-heart-the-tiny-creatures-essential-to-life/] is out in the world, and HeartLand [https://jilannehoffmann.com/my-books/heartland/]is soon to be born!  We talk about both of these as well as her work with the educational market. And lots more! Stay tuned for passion and... heart? _________   This episode’s book reviews (all author-illustrators this week!):    THE OCEAN'S HEART by Jill herself, illustrated by Khoa Le [https://www.khoaleartwork.com/] CALVIN GETS THE LAST WORD by Margo Sorenson [https://www.margosorenson.com/], illustrated by Mike Deas [https://deasillustration.com/blog/] --------- 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  [https://www.instagram.com/hellomaddiefrost/]or on her website Maddie-Frost.com  [https://www.maddie-frost.com/] Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com [https://scottholmesmusic.com/]   Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here [https://linktr.ee/VerseShow]!!  Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords [https://twitter.com/JoshMonkwords], @brennajeanneret [https://twitter.com/BrennaJeanneret], and @jonseym0ur [https://twitter.com/JSeym0ur] and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Literary Manager Lindsey Aduskevich, After All These Years

It's not every day we get to hear fresh thoughts from a literary agent/manager in her first four months of agenting. Lindsey Aduskevich [https://lindseyaduskevich.com/] joins us today for some insights on her journey to becoming a Junior Literary Manager at Martin Literary [https://www.martinlit.com/]!   What's more important is that we have known Lindsey for six years, since one fateful Twitter (RIP) thread led to the creation of our first critique group. And look at us now!   _________   This episode’s book reviews (all author-illustrators this week!):    DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE [https://www.harpercollins.com/products/duck-duck-goose-john-hare?variant=41378575220770] by John Hare [https://john-hare.squarespace.com/] THE SEARCH FOR OUR COSMIC NEIGHBORS [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-search-for-our-cosmic-neighbors-chloe-savage/63ff5285ff067cf0] by Chloe Savage [https://chloesavage.co.uk/home] NO MORE GNOMES [https://bookshop.org/p/books/no-more-gnomes-beth-mills/4a5849b8aa703759] by Beth Mills [https://beth-mills.com/] ---------   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  [https://www.instagram.com/hellomaddiefrost/]or on her website Maddie-Frost.com  [https://www.maddie-frost.com/]   Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com [https://scottholmesmusic.com/]     Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here [https://linktr.ee/VerseShow]!!    Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords [https://twitter.com/JoshMonkwords], @brennajeanneret [https://twitter.com/BrennaJeanneret], and @jonseym0ur [https://twitter.com/JSeym0ur] and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!

Winsome Bingham on Friday!

Winsome writes. Winsome reads. Winsome cares. And Winsome Bingham speaks. About her editorial voice, her lyricism, her Reycraft family, her views on humor, joy, trauma, craft, and the perfect mix of art and words. Winsome Bingham [http://binghamwrites.com] is the author of several very acclaimed books, including Soul Food Sunday, Fish Fry Friday, The Walk, Missing Momma, The Table, Life is Beautiful, and, coming September 1, 2026, On Fridays, her latest collaboration with Jason Griffin (go listen to our conversation with him if you haven't yet!). Today our reviews are for On Fridays [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/825010/on-fridays-by-by-winsome-bingham-illustrated-by-jason-griffin/], because you should go and preorder it or request it from your library immediately! You are going to love Winsome's verse!   ---------   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  [https://www.instagram.com/hellomaddiefrost/]or on her website Maddie-Frost.com  [https://www.maddie-frost.com/] Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com [https://scottholmesmusic.com/]   Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here [https://linktr.ee/VerseShow]!!  Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords [https://twitter.com/JoshMonkwords], @brennajeanneret [https://twitter.com/BrennaJeanneret], and @jonseym0ur [https://twitter.com/JSeym0ur] and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!