On this episode of the Mr B's Bookshop Podcast, we talk picture books and all the lovely pictures and stories they give us. Mr B's Bookseller Laura shares her favourite picture books for a range of ages and why she loves picture books.
Then author Mick Jackson speaks on his picture books While You're Sleeping and We're Going Places, the process of writing and building a picture book, and all of the influences that have gone into this lyrical nonfiction picture books.
Joining us today on the podcast is co-owner of Mr b's Nic Bottomley, speaking about how the children's nonfiction genre has developed, and Dr. Mya-Rose Craig aka Birdgirl, speaking on youth activism and her debut children's nonfiction book We Have a Dream.
Bringing the Legacy Season of the podcast to a close, Ed, Kate and Jess sit down in Mr B's legendary bibliotherapy room, for the first in-person recording of the podcast since the start of the pandemic. In true Mr B's spirit, the discussion quickly turns eclectic, ranging from Barbara Comyns and Raymond Chandler to a novel in verse about Sami history, and how we feel about the term 'family saga'.
Although Jess is handing over the microphone (and moving to Scotland) after five years of hosting the podcast, we'll be back soon! Look out for announcements about the next season on our social media.
Hosted by Jessica Gaitán Johannesson with music by The Bookshop Band
Browse the books mentioned in this episode (at least those which are in print!) HERE.
In the penultimate episode of #MrBsLegacySeason, we find out about a movement which gave rise to a campaign, which gave birth to a thousand written responses and eventually, a book.
We hope you're inspired by this conversation with Kay Michael, co-founder of the movement Culture Declares Emergency and the project Letters to the Earth, and Daniela Torres Perez, co-founder of the UK Student Climate Network, and contributor to 'Letters to the Earth'.
Hosted by Jessica Gaitán Johannesson with music by The Bookshop Band
Browse our recommended reading in the episode Reading List
In the fourth episode of this season, Jess chats to author Julianne Pachico. Julianne's debut was 'The Lucky Ones', a collection of interlinked stories, following a group of school girls in Colombia. Julianne's second book, 'The Anthill', which is out next month, follows a young woman returning to Colombia and the city of Medellin, where she lived until she was eight, to volunteer at an after-school community centre run by her childhood friend.
Join Julianne and Jess as they discuss different perceptions of a country, inside and outside, writing about childhood and political violence, and hear about a bunch of excellent contemporary Colombian books recommended by Julianne!
Hosted by Jessica Gaitán Johannesson with music by The Bookshop Band
Browse the books mentioned in this episode by heading over to the episode Reading List
In the third episode of our Legacy Season, Jess talks to translators Julia Sanches and Daniel Hahn about the ways in which any book is itself a legacy passed on from the writer to the translator.
We hope you enjoy this chat, about re-translations of classics, 'donkey bellies' and what kind of translations the pandemic will generate, among much else!
Hosted by Jessica Gaitán Johannesson with music by The Bookshop Band
Browse the books mentioned in this episode by heading over to our Translation as Legacy reading list
In the second episode of the Legacy Season, Tom Mooney sits down for a virtual chat with novelist Michael Christie, author of the gorgeous novel Greenwood, for a conversation about home-schooling, family-trees and families in trees, climate collapse and the entanglement of all life.
Hosted by Tom Mooney with music by The Bookshop Band
Interested in any of the books mentioned in this episode? Head over to our Legacy of Trees reading list.
Welcome to a brand new season of the Mr B's Podcast - the place where our disembodied voices explore books, ideas and, quite often, very random side-tracks.
Thinking so much about what will come out of the pandemic, and where we will be in a possible afterward, we started talking about the idea of legacy - what will be passed on and left behind from this era: enter The Legacy Season.
Throughout the next few months, with a new episode every two weeks (roughly), we'll be hearing from authors, editors and translators about the role that legacy plays in their work. We'll be exploring the natural world as a legacy running through, and destroyed by, humanity, as well as the legacy of specific conflicts and events in fiction. To kick it all off, join Nic, Sam and Jess as they tackle another HUGE theme, in search of stories of any size.
Hosted by Jessica Gaitan Johannesson with music from The Bookshop Band
We got there! Join Lottie, Nic and Jess as they look back on the experiment that was #MrBsJusticeSeason, our very first themes season of the podcast. Never letting go of the book recommendations, this episode also touches on raising daughters, global injustice and dam-building in Brazil as well as Bruce Springsteen. We also talk about whether themes are a good idea in the first place, concluding that the Justice Season may be over but we'll never stop talking about justice.
As this season draws to a close, we'd love to hear what you thought about it. Join the conversation online using #MrBsJusticeSeason and let us know what you'd love us to talk about when the Mr B's Podcast comes back in the spring!
Music from the Bookshop Band.
Browse through the books mentioned in this episode HERE.
We've arrived at episode 5 of #MrBsJusticeSeason. Join us as we talk to journalist Maeve McClenaghan about her experience of a year investigating the homelessness crisis in the UK, and the book which emerged from this journey.
'No Fixed Abode' is a revealing and moving exploration of how very far the tragedy of homelessness has been allowed to develop, but also about the solutions which already exist. It began with one question, which Maeve asked after coming across a few news stories in 2018: how many people die in the UK while homeless? As it turned out, this piece of statistic just didn't exist.
Hosted by Jessica Gaitan Johannesson. Music by The Bookshop Band.
Have a look at our list of some good books on homelessness HERE.