Mostly Book Talk
A podcast for teachers, librarians, and parents who are passionate about supporting children's and teenagers' reading for pleasure. We dive into the vibrant world of children’s and YA literature, offering expert book recommendations, engaging author interviews, and practical advice on how to nurture a lifelong love of reading.
Whether you’re looking to expand your classroom or library collection, discover fresh titles for your students or children, or explore proven strategies for creating reading-rich environments, you will find it here. From picture books to young adult novels, we highlight new releases, hidden gems, and must-read favourites that are sure to grow your 'To Be Read' pile.
Tune in for thoughtful conversations and inspiring ideas that make reading irresistible for every young reader.
- Perfect for educators, school librarians, and book-loving families
- New episodes regularly featuring authors, reading experts, and literacy advocates
- Build reading cultures, spark book buzz, and celebrate the joy of stories
Subscribe now and join a community committed to making reading a pleasure.
Episodes
57 episodes
National Year of Reading - The Federation of Children's Book Groups
For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event,...
Episode 43 - Ultimate Superstar: Rashmi Sirdeshpande on her new books Hari Kumar and Super Uma
In this episode we are joined by author Rashmi Sirdeshpande about her new books - Hari Kumar Ultimate Superstar (illustrated by
National Year of Reading - EmpathyLab
For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunit...
National Year of Reading - Chapter One
For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunit...
National Year of Reading - Coram Beanstalk
For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunit...
Part 6 - The Reading Crisis - Why children aren't reading and what we can do about it
For Part 6 we asked all our interviewees for one thing they would do to address the reading crisis. Properly funded libraries and librarians were unsurprisingly a strong theme, but also a rethink about how we position children's reading - ho...
National Year of Reading - Books for Keeps
For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunit...
Episode 42 - Rock the Vote! with Nadia Shireen
In this episode we talk with Nadia Shireen about the mad and upredictable world of Grimwood and book five in the series, Rock the Vote! which has recently come out in paperback.
Episode 41 - I Want Everything! with author and illustrator Sophy Henn
In this episode we talk to author Sophy Henn about her new picture book I Want Everything! - which is about how sometimes it might feel like you want everything, but when you real...
Part 5 - The Reading Crisis - Why children aren't reading and what we can do about it.
In part 5 we continue looking at what works to support reading for pleasure, focusing more this time on opportunities for authors to engage with readers and the importance of wider family and community involvement and spaces to discover and ...
Episode 40 - Author Sarah Crossan talks about her new thriller, Gone for Good
We are joined by author Sarah Crossan to talk about her new verse novel, Gone for Good . It is a read in one go thriller about the troubled teen industry....
Part 4 - The Reading Crisis - Why children aren't reading and what we can do about it
In part 4 we hear more about what we should be doing to address the decline in children’s reading for pleasure. In this episode we focus on approaches in schools and how to involve staff and pupils in creating a reading for pleasure cult...
National Year of Reading - Youth Libraries Group
For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opportunit...
Episode 39 - Badgers are Go! with Susannah Lloyd - Revenge of the Claw
In this episode we talk to Susannah Lloyd about the latest instalment in her Badgers are Go! series, Revenge of the Claw. Illustrated by Nici Gregory.We cover lots of ingeniou...
Part 3: The Reading Crisis - Why children aren't reading and what we can do about it
In part 3 of our mini series about 'The Reading Crisis', we hear more about access, but also about who decides which books get published, how they're marketed, and how they get into children's hands, as well as the lack of coverage in the media...
National Year of Reading - Stepping into Stories Kids' Lit Fest
For the National Year of Reading, we are sharing a series of short conversations with people who are involved in promoting reading with young people. This could be a programme, resources or a literary event, and we're giving them the opp...
The Reading Crisis - Why children aren't reading and what we can do about it - Part 2
In part two of our mini series about The Reading Crisis, we look at how testing, technology and access to books are affecting reading for pleasure.For this series we interviewed the following people (not all feature in every episode):
The Reading Crisis - Why children aren't reading and what we can do about it - Part 1
The first in our mini series about The Reading Crisis - why children aren't reading and what we can do about it. In this episode we look at what the data tells us about children's reading and start to discuss what some of the barriers are to ch...
Episode 38 - Wild Journey: an interview with AM Dassu about her latest book
In in this episode we talk to AM Dassu about her latest book, Wild Journey. This is a collection of five interlinked stories about children around the world all connected by the sight of...
The Reading Crisis - Why Children aren't reading and what we can do about it
A quick trailer for our new mini series which will be out soon on the 'reading crisis' where we explore why children aren't reading and what we can do about it. Look out for the first episode.
Episode 37 - Libraries are a very good thing!
We are back and have an episode all about libraries. First up is an interview with Rebecca Gediking who is the Head of Libraries at GLL and also the Chair of the GLL Literary Foundation - which does lots of great work supporting children's auth...
Episode 36 - Nathanael Lessore, author of Steady for This and King of Nothing
We talk to Nathanael Lessore about his very successful debut and follow up books, about what's important when writing for teens and the role of humour.You can find Nate's books here:<...
Episode 35 - Poetry by Heart, an interview with Dr Julie Blake
Just in time for National Poetry Day, we have an interview with Dr Julie Blake the founder and co-director of Poetry by Heart. Working with schools across the whole of England, over 128,000 pupils take...