The Story Seeds Podcast Literary Safari

Betsy Bird shares the exciting news that we are nominated for a Webby People's Voice Award in the "Individual Episode - Family and Kids" podcast category. Listen to find out how to vote for our nominated episode, "A Nose that Knows," with Katherine Applegate. Every vote counts, so we're counting on you to cast your ballot and share this episode with three friends!

In our bonus interview episode of The Story Seeds Podcast, host Betsy Bird chats with Newbery Award-winning Katherine Applegate (author of the newly published eco-fable Willodeen) after her starring appearance in Episode 11 “A Nose that Knows.” Listen for a behind the scenes look at Katherine’s collaboration with nine-year old Jocelyn on her real-life inspired story idea about a dog who helps a girl with cancer (and the story that grew out of it, “Two Girls, One With Four Paws".) The episode concludes with a fun rapid fire Q&A with Katherine on everything from why she writes to the grossest thing she has ever eaten!

This bonus episode is brought to you by Macmillan Children’s Publishing.

The Story Seeds Podcast is back with a special episode to raise awareness for childhood cancer. Nine-year old Jocelyn teams up with Newbery Award-winning author Katherine Applegate to grow her story seed about a super dog who helps a girl with cancer feel better. Jocelyn’s story idea was inspired by her own experience and diagnosis with leukemia—the most common type of childhood cancer in the world—and how her dog Sally sensed she had cancer even before the doctors knew.

Listen along as Jocelyn and Katherine meet up on a video chat with their BFF canine companions to hash out Jocelyn’s story idea, then sit back and hear the story Katherine grew out of their collaboration, “Two Brave Girls, One with Four Paws.” This episode is sponsored by Macmillan Children’s Publishing.

During the summer of 2021, Story Seeds hosted an inaugural virtual podcasting camp where young people learned the skills they need to grow the seeds of their curiosities into their own podcasts. One of their assignments was to develop five questions and interview an elder, family member or friend about one of three topics: music they listened to as a teenager, food they like to make, or something they are proud of. This montage of eight intimate interviews conducted by our campers ages 8-15 captures moments of curiosity, lifelong passions, and new perspectives on the familiar.

We're honored. Our episode "A Worm's Worth" with author Jason Reynolds is in the spotlight on CBC Podcast Playlist, a bi-weekly podcast from Canada's Radio One which samples "fresh, new, provocative, and the most intriguing" programs from the podcasting world. This episode is featured on their June 3rd episode titled "Feel good stories for when you need them most." This week, we give it the good old encore treatment because we agree that it will brighten your day. (If you've already heard it, trust us, it's worthy of a re-listen because there’s always something new to discover in Jason Reynold's stories!)

We’d like to tell you about our new activity book, Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity. It’s techie, yet screen free and pairs perfectly with Story Seeds. Inside, you’ll find QR codes that link to each episode of season one and hands-on activities to get you writing, reading, baking, experimenting, and so much more!

Grownups, learn more at www.storyseedspodcast.com