Toddling the Stacks—A Children’s Literature Podcast

Sean Gill, PhD
  • 5.0 (3)
  • Kids & Family
  • Updated Weekly

Featuring adult-level analysis of children's literature, with a twist of humor, Toddling the Stacks is the passion project of award-winning educator and Princeton English PhD Sean Gill. We believe that picture books (and other forms of kidlit) are the perfect foil for understanding and appreciating the craft of literature in a world where attention spans are depleted and time is at an absurd premium. Join us every Monday for new reviews!

  1. Aug 17

    Robert Lawson's They Were Strong and Good | Insularity, Kinship, and Family

    Robert Lawson played a role in some great children's literature: The Story of Ferdinand, Mr. Popper's Penguins, the Newbery Award winning Rabbit Hill. His 1941 picture book They Were Strong and Good is not one of them. Racist, isolationist, and weirdly insular, it is essentially unreadable today as anything but a historical comparand. The illustrations aren't that great, either. Yet, it won a Caldecott and had a second print run just one month after its first edition. It's still in print today. In this episode, we don't go so far as to answer why--but we do address why it probably shouldn't be.  Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, give us a follow and review!  --- Visit us at http://www.toddlingthestacks.com for previous episodes, info on the show, and what Adalyn is reading now!  If you like the episode, please subscribe and share with friends! YT: https://www.youtube.com/@ToddlingTheStacks Insta: https://www.instagram.com/toddlingthestacks/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/toddlingthestacks.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588725012180 Show graphics by Emily Tetrault. Theme and interstitials excerpted from Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1. All book images used under the Fair Use exceptions to exclusive copyright as defined under Title 17, subsection 107,  of US Code.

  2. Aug 3

    BJ Novak's The Book with No Pictures | Children's Literature Criticism: Manifestos, Modernism, and the Works that Change Us

    In 2010, the New York Times declared the picture book more or less dead. Today, though, they seem more vibrant and alive than ever, with varied voices, innovative illustrations, and compelling stories that encourage parents to luxuriate in this form rather than too-quickly moving to chapter books. What occasioned this reinvigoration? What can the history of literature broadly tell us about this specific moment in picture bookery? This week, we discuss the Picture Book Proclamation, a manifesto published by several very big names in kidlit shortly after that NYT article, and we compare it to the moment of modernism's appearance on the literary scene. BJ Novak wasn't a signatory to this document, but his text nevertheless proves a seminal moment in the new picture book era, and we juxtapose its experiment in style and form with the iconoclastic and epochal works of high modernism. I love all my children equally, of course, but this episode is my favorite yet—I hope you'll join us for it! Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, give us a follow and review!  --- Visit us at http://www.toddlingthestacks.com for previous episodes, info on the show, and what Adalyn is reading now!  If you like the episode, please subscribe and share with friends! YT: https://www.youtube.com/@ToddlingTheStacks Insta: https://www.instagram.com/toddlingthestacks/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/toddlingthestacks.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588725012180 Show graphics by Emily Tetrault. Theme and interstitials excerpted from Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1. All book images used under the Fair Use exceptions to exclusive copyright as defined under Title 17, subsection 107,  of US Code.

  3. Jul 28

    Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon | Children’s Literature Criticism: Freud’s Uncanny and Liminality

    Clearly no one needs to be told to read Margaret Wise Brown's seminal text Goodnight Moon, which is going stronger than ever as it approaches its 80th birthday. But what this episode presupposes is that maybe we all need to talk about how creepy the book can be, no matter how much our kids might love it. To do this, I dive into Freud's understanding of the uncanny, modulating it a bit to help understand why this cozy and sentimental book might rub us the wrong way as adults. I also make an admission perhaps even more embarrassing than that one episode with the macho man impersonation at the end of it!  Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, give us a follow and review!  --- Visit us at http://www.toddlingthestacks.com for previous episodes, info on the show, and what Adalyn is reading now!  If you like the episode, please subscribe and share with friends! YT: https://www.youtube.com/@ToddlingTheStacks Insta: https://www.instagram.com/toddlingthestacks/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/toddlingthestacks.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588725012180 Show graphics by Emily Tetrault. Theme and interstitials excerpted from Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1. All book images used under the Fair Use exceptions to exclusive copyright as defined under Title 17, subsection 107,  of US Code.

  4. Jul 22

    Lois Lenski's The Little Train | Children’s Literature Criticism: Bibliography and Why Editions Matter

    The great bibliographer Fredson Bowers once accused his graduate students of thinking that the editions they used in their textual criticism came down from Mt. Sinai. That might be a bit harsh, but do we really think about the process through which an author's words make it from their minds to our books? The number of other minds and hands through which those words are mediated? In this edition, we look at Lois Lenski's The Little Train, a fine old picture book that's been through the wringer of multiple editions, examining some of the changes that happened along the way. Would this beloved and award winning author have approve of how her picture book is being presented 86 years later? One way to find out!  Also: send us your 90s picture book recommendations!  Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, give us a follow and review!  --- Visit us at http://www.toddlingthestacks.com for previous episodes, info on the show, and what Adalyn is reading now!  If you like the episode, please subscribe and share with friends! YT: https://www.youtube.com/@ToddlingTheStacks Insta: https://www.instagram.com/toddlingthestacks/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/toddlingthestacks.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588725012180 Show graphics by Emily Tetrault. Theme and interstitials excerpted from Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1. All book images used under the Fair Use exceptions to exclusive copyright as defined under Title 17, subsection 107,  of US Code.

  5. Jul 13

    Berenstain Bears and Little Blue Truck | Children’s Literature Criticism: Serialization and Generic Form

    The genre of novel has dominated fiction for centuries now, and its form hasn't exactly spared picture books. But as valuable as this genre is, do we leave something behind when we fail to consider other, more episodic forms of fiction that allow for slow, plodding exposition across many texts that lets children luxuriate in the worlds being created? In this episode, we'll look at how serial picture books like The Berenstain Bears and Little Blue Truck create worlds differently, using an almost programmatic importation of the libraries they've accreted from previous writing. While these texts are popular, they hardly represent the standard for picture book publishing. Why?  All this and more in less than 20 minutes! Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, give us a follow and review!  --- Visit us at http://www.toddlingthestacks.com for previous episodes, info on the show, and what Adalyn is reading now!  If you like the episode, please subscribe and share with friends! YT: https://www.youtube.com/@ToddlingTheStacks Insta: https://www.instagram.com/toddlingthestacks/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/toddlingthestacks.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588725012180 Show graphics by Emily Tetrault. Theme and interstitials excerpted from Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1. All book images used under the Fair Use exceptions to exclusive copyright as defined under Title 17, subsection 107,  of US Code.

  6. Jul 6

    Hubert and the Apple Tree | Children's Literature Criticism: Death, Grief & Childhood

    We all dread teaching our children about death—probably because of the way death figures into our own lives. If we could forestall death's terror by refiguring it as a natural part of lived experience, would it help our children (and us?) to live more purposeful and holistic lives? In this episode, we look at a codex that presents such a life. Tinted with a bittersweet melancholy, this beautiful picture book has a lot to offer for both children and adults. It recasts the entire category of "children's book about grief." Join us for some close reading and pondering, and as always, subscribe and review if you like what you hear! Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, give us a follow and review!  --- Visit us at http://www.toddlingthestacks.com for previous episodes, info on the show, and what Adalyn is reading now!  If you like the episode, please subscribe and share with friends! YT: https://www.youtube.com/@ToddlingTheStacks Insta: https://www.instagram.com/toddlingthestacks/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/toddlingthestacks.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588725012180 Show graphics by Emily Tetrault. Theme and interstitials excerpted from Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1. All book images used under the Fair Use exceptions to exclusive copyright as defined under Title 17, subsection 107,  of US Code.

  7. Jun 29

    Edgar and Ingri D'Aulaires’ Abraham Lincoln | Children’s Literature Criticism: Caldecott Award Values and the Work of Biography

    Happy 250th Birthday, USA!Shall we try for a few more, do you think? What do Abe Lincoln and Hobbits have in common? How do biographers decide what information to include in biographies? Just as importantly, how do they decide what to exclude? And what has our walk down Caldecott Lane started to tell us about the values of the Caldecott Award? All of these questions and more--somehow in less than fifteen minutes!--as we look at Edgar and Ingri D'Aulaires' 1939 text Abraham Lincoln, which won the third-ever Caldecott Award in 1940. More like a middle-grade biography than a true picture book, this text was redone by the D'Aulaires' in 1957 to include color illustrations. Should it have won the Caldecott? Should you consider it for your little? Only one way to find out!  Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, give us a follow and review!  --- Visit us at http://www.toddlingthestacks.com for previous episodes, info on the show, and what Adalyn is reading now!  If you like the episode, please subscribe and share with friends! YT: https://www.youtube.com/@ToddlingTheStacks Insta: https://www.instagram.com/toddlingthestacks/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/toddlingthestacks.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588725012180 Show graphics by Emily Tetrault. Theme and interstitials excerpted from Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1. All book images used under the Fair Use exceptions to exclusive copyright as defined under Title 17, subsection 107,  of US Code.

  8. Jun 24

    The Gigantic Turnip | Children’s Literature Criticism: Making Meaning and Book Bans

    Happy Pride!  People—and by that we mean corporations—often start Pride off strong and end with a whimper. But we recognize that while Pride is about pride, it's also about resistance. And resistance is a very, very long-form game. Today's episode looks at four picture book iterations of a classic Russian folktale, The Gigantic Turnip: One from the USSR; one from modern Russia; one from Britain in the 90s; and one from the US a few years back. How do these various versions of the story change its meaning? Does the central core of the story itself contain its own meaning that resists translation and adaptation? Most importantly this month, how does literature's ability to be interpreted, to gain meaning from the very act of reading, consternate the job of government censors? It's the episode where we modestly propose that if you want to ban books, you might as well ban them all!  Give it a listen, and if you like what you hear, give us a follow and review!  --- Visit us at http://www.toddlingthestacks.com for previous episodes, info on the show, and what Adalyn is reading now!  If you like the episode, please subscribe and share with friends! YT: https://www.youtube.com/@ToddlingTheStacks Insta: https://www.instagram.com/toddlingthestacks/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/toddlingthestacks.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61588725012180 Show graphics by Emily Tetrault. Theme and interstitials excerpted from Erik Satie's Gnossienne #1. All book images used under the Fair Use exceptions to exclusive copyright as defined under Title 17, subsection 107,  of US Code.

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About

Featuring adult-level analysis of children's literature, with a twist of humor, Toddling the Stacks is the passion project of award-winning educator and Princeton English PhD Sean Gill. We believe that picture books (and other forms of kidlit) are the perfect foil for understanding and appreciating the craft of literature in a world where attention spans are depleted and time is at an absurd premium. Join us every Monday for new reviews!

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