The KidLit Pod

Shara Curlett

Despite the feeling that digital is taking over, a wonderful group of kidlit people are still writing, sharing, and promoting the importance of, and a love of books and reading. Author Shara Curlett hosts a collective, industry-wide discussion around why books are essential, why modeling reading and reading to kids is more important than ever, and how creators are digging deep to write the best books possible to engage with kids. In this podcast we discuss thoughts, ideas, research, and the science around the importance of stories, and why we need to persist in encouraging our children to turn to a book, rather than a device.

  1. 6d ago

    KLP Chat: Katina Nadebaum on Supporting Neurodiversity through Advocacy and Books

    Katina Nadebaum moved on from a career in corporate governance to pursue a new path that would allow her to better understand and support the neurodiversity within her own family. In episode 27 of The KidLit Pod, host Shara Curlett welcomes Perth-based children’s author and neurodiversity advocate, Katina Nadebaum, who shares how a book-filled childhood (including Enid Blyton), handmade stories, and imaginary friends shaped her creativity. After 25 years in corporate governance and writing, Katina now writes picture books for children — playful, heartfelt stories about big feelings, misunderstood behaviours, and the beauty of embracing exactly who you are. Katina shares how she turned to advocacy and picture books to support her family connection to ADHD, with her advocacy roles now including Director of the ADHD Foundation, member of the Neurodiversity Advisory Board for Scope Psychology, and a Role Model for Books in Homes Australia. Katina has a focus on helping children feel understood and belong. She describes how her debut picture book, Get Lost, Zoomer! (Little Steps Publishing; illustrated by Alexandra Szmidt), was inspired by watching a squirrel in Thailand. She shares the intensive publishing process, school-visit activities, and positive early reader responses. Katina also mentions her therapy-bred dog, Jeff, her love of psychological thrillers, as well as showing gratitude to her mentors. These include creative coach and award-winning author, Margrete Lamond, with a special mention to her new book Drawn from the Heart, which is based on her online course, Pitch-perfect Portfolio, as well as Romi Sharp, of Books On Tour PR & Marketing, as well as Just Write For Kids Australia and the annual Pitch It competition. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LINKS: BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Get Lost, Zoomer! - Order here Katina Nadebaum on Instagram - @katinanadebaum Katina Nadebaum website - katinanadebaum.com ADHD Foundation - Australia Scope Psychology Services Australia Books in Homes - Australia 'Drawn from the Heart' Kickstarter campaign Books On Tour PR & Marketing website Just Write for Kids Australia website - www.justkidslit.com Pitch It! competition ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow The KidLit Pod  on Instagram (@thekidlitpod) Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here: Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett) Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)

  2. Nov 2

    KLP Chat: Ian Brown on Writing, Television and Tortoises!

    Former television producer, Ian Brown, has worked with some of the most famous people in the world, including Harrison Ford, Michael Caine, Pierce Brosnan, Simon Cowell, George Lucas, Gordon Ramsay, George Michael, Jamie Oliver, Jonah Lomu and several Prime Ministers and US Presidents. Now, he's fulfilling a lifelong dream of writing books. Award-winning children's author and London-based writer, Ian, chats with host Shara Curlett about what has led to his successful series of picture books, Albert the Tortoise and his new series, Hugg 'n' Bugg, all illustrated by the talented Eoin Clarke. Ian recounts early creative influences—constant doodling, radio comedy like The Goons, being read Paddington books, and English teachers who encouraged his writing—then traces his path from selling shoes to journalism, local and national newspapers at the tail end of Fleet Street, and a 40+ year television career including This Is Your Life, where he worked with major celebrities and shares a story how he rewrote an entire show the morning of airing, when George Michael flew in on Concorde. Now, Ian is a full-time author. He shares the inspiration behind his award-winning picture book series, Ian's family tortoise Albert, one of which received a nomination for a Carnegie Medal. Ian visits dozens of schools, libraries, bookshops, festivals and other events each year sharing stories of his career, becoming a writer, the importance of resilience and perseverance to chase goals as well as reading his books. His books are also available as ebooks and audio books and have been translated into multiple languages. There are activity books, merch, and also an animated show in the works! Ian shares how he does a lot of work for and supports numerous UK literacy charities, they discuss the concern for school libraries and librarians disappearing. And, to finish, Ian shares Albert’s large social media presence, and notes plans for his hopes to visit Australia for events. LINKS: Albert and Christmas - Big W Albert and Christmas - Booktopia Albert the Tortoise website - www.alberttortoise.com Albert the Tortoise on Facebook Albert the Tortoise on X Albert the Tortoise on Instagram Albert the Tortoise on TikTok Wales Publisher - Graffeg Books Australian Distributor - Peribo Books Follow The KidLit Pod  on Instagram (@thekidlitpod) Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here: Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett) Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)

  3. Oct 26

    KLP Chat: Ben Wood & Andrew McDonald on Pigeons, Twigs, Secrets and Surprises!

    Best-selling creative duo, Ben Wood and Andrew McDonald, delve deep into the world of pigeons, twigs, and their new spin-off series in this jam (and bread)-packed episode. In this episode, host Shara Curlett chats with illustrator Ben and author Andrew, both Melbourne-based, whose work has been translated into 26 languages and recognized by major Australian book awards. Ben and Andrew discuss how creativity shaped their childhoods, their paths into publishing, and how Real Pigeons originated from Andrew’s observations of humans vs. pigeons, alongside a museum-inspired “fancy pigeon” concept. Whilst Ben shares his introduction to the publishing world, alongside how his illustrative style was discovered via Instagram, despite having been already published. The duo explain their collaborative process balancing text, comics, pacing, and humour. Ben shares his illustrative process, and how all of the line work in Real Pigeons is pencil-on-paper. They also discuss using research and building an ongoing idea lists to create a long arc across the series. They address books as an antidote to tech/AI and emphasise the need for creative problem-solving, before announcing a super top secret new project - a Real Pigeons spin-off, Homey: Special Agent Pigeon, launching March 2027 featuring Homey, and new sidekick Flykick! Shara also shares her love for the Hello Twigs books, and how a particular one - Surprise! - entered her family rituals. Ben and Andrew finish the episode by sharing their current reads, love of graphic novels, and lastly, their favourite book in the Real Pigeons series. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LINKS: Real Pigeons Trap Snacks - Book 14 in the Real Pigeons series Real Pigeons Website - realpigeons.com Hello Twigs Website - hellotwigs.com Ben Wood on Instagram - @benwoodillustrator Ben Wood Website - benwood.com.au Andrew McDonald on Instagram - mrandrewmcdonald Andrew McDonald Website - mrandrewmcdonald.com Follow The KidLit Pod  on Instagram (@thekidlitpod) Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here: Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett) Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)

  4. Oct 19

    KLP Chat: Marc McBride & Sofie Laguna on Creativity, Collaborations, Castles and BLUNDERBORE!

    Married creative collaborators Marc McBride (Deltora Quest illustrator) and Sofie Laguna (author and 2015 Miles Franklin Award winner), share the individual and joint paths that brought them to the incredible creation of Blunderbore - a new, fractured fairytale graphic novel that is truly mind-blowing. Throughout this episode, Sofie and Marc share how creativity shaped their childhoods and careers. Sofie describes moving from law to acting, working as a jobbing actor (including being a fairy at children’s parties), studying writing at RMIT, and the path to publishing her first contracted picture book, My Yellow Blanket, with illustrator Tom Jellett, which has recently been re-published. Marc recounts early drawing and storytelling, studying design, art-busking on the sidewalks of Ireland, as well as producing murals around the world. He did set-design work before his break through contributions to Revelation Magazine, which led to illustration contracts. Soon after moving to Sydney, Marc landed a contract to illustrate the covers of Deltora Quest, which gained worldwide recognition and awards.  Sofie and Marc discuss their 'meet-cute' at a children's book festival in 2005, sharing the social demands of festivals and school visits. Sofie then shares her vulnerable Miles Franklin award-winning experience while caring for a young baby. The chat then moves into the years-long evolution of Marc's dream project - the fractured-fairy-tale graphic novel Blunderbore, written by Sofie and illustrated by Marc, as well as the art's various iterations through other children's novels Sofie wrote, as well as The Glimme by Emily Rodda. Blunderbore releases 27 October 2026 with a Halloween launch at Mill Park Library, Melbourne. LINKS: Blunderbore Marc McBride on Instagram - @marcmcbride2 Marc McBride Website - marcmcbride.com Deltora Quest Sofie Laguna on Instagram - @sofielagunabooks Sofie Laguna Website - sofielaguna.com The Eye of the Sheep - 2015 Miles Franklin Award winning novel Follow The KidLit Pod  on Instagram (@thekidlitpod) Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here: Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett) Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)

  5. Oct 12

    KLP Chat: Tim Probert on Lightfall: From Animation to Graphic Novels

    Tim Probert is the award-winning author-illustrator of the critically acclaimed, global sensation, the Lightfall graphic novel series. In episode 23 of The KidLit Pod, host Shara Curlett chats with Tim about his creative origins, career path, and process. With a childhood immersed in creativity, Tim describes how his love for drawing emerged early on, and how he was constantly drawing both because of the enjoyment of it, and as a way of helping him to focus while listening in class at school. He shares how he created LEGO epics, and drew inspiration from games like The Legend of Zelda. Unsure of which creative path to pursue, Tim later studied traditional fine arts at Boston University, taught himself Photoshop, and entered animation via clean-up work on a Dora the Explorer project. Tim illustrated the Kickstarter scratch-and-sniff picture book New York, Phew York!, then moved to NYC, rebuilt his portfolio, and was hired by Macmillan to illustrate Pickle, followed by series work like Rip and Red. He spent 10 years at the Nathan Love animation studio as a design/art director before leaving to do books full time. Shara and Tim then delve into Lightfall’s development (with first character sketches in 2013), his character design choices for anxious Bea and Cad, inspiration including Dinotopia, Bone, Nausicaä, and his workflow: outline, screenplay-format script, thumbnails, red-pencil pages inked in graphite, scanning, Photoshop lettering and digital painting with textures.  Each Lightfall book has 256 pages, is published on a two-year schedule with a contract for six in total, and with book five currently in progress. Tim discusses cinematic influences from storyboarding, using references mainly for environments and color, the challenges of printing dark palettes for The Dark Times, and Lightfall’s growth to 21 languages. The episode closes noting a special-edition hardcover release now available in Australia and New Zealand. LINKS: Tim Probert on Instagram: @timprobert Tim Probert Website: timprobert.com Lightfall series via Harper Collins website New York, Phew York! Pickle D&D: Dungeon Academy Series MENTIONS: Nathan Love animation studio The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkein Dinotopia - James Gurney Nausicaa - Hayao Miyazaki Bone - Jeff Smith Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett Beautiful World, Where Are You - Sally Rooney ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow The KidLit Pod  on Instagram (@thekidlitpod) Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here: Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett) Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)

  6. Oct 5

    KLP Chat: Catherine Bauer on Historical Fiction in Children's Writing

    Historical children's fiction can be a critical link that piques a child's interest in both non fiction and history, and South Australian journalist and for award-winning children’s author, Catherine Bauer, this is an area that has really sparked her joy. In episode 22 of The KidLit Pod, Catherine discusses her creative childhood and how she would delight in making her own books, adding colourful drawings and stapling the pages together. She respects the role that boredom had in developing her imagination, and how encouragement from parents and teachers led her into journalism. Catherine describes balancing writing with single motherhood and work, her research-driven approach to historical themes, and how journalism skills support accuracy and succinct picture-book craft.  With five children's titles behind her, including award-winning Dreaming Soldiers (about a white Australian boy and an Indigenous friend in wartime), three other picture books and a WWII Amsterdam YA novel, Catherine shares the process behind her latest picture book, Joey Gets His Wings (Big Sky), illustrated by Jennifer Horn, including her research methods, and how it was inspired by real WWI mascots, including pilot Captain Elliot “Tab” Pflaum’s leather kangaroo. Catherine also shares incredible tips on writing succinctly, alongside her current projects which include another picture book, alongside a cosy crime mystery. LINKS: Catherine Bauer on Instagram: @catherinebauerwrites Catherine Bauer Website: catherinebauer.com Joey Gets His Wings (latest picture book) Dreaming Soldiers (first award-winning picture book) Tulips for Breakfast (YA novel) Juniper's Painting (picture book) Colourful Memories (picture book) Australia Remembers - Len Waters, Boundless and Born to Fly Follow The KidLit Pod  on Instagram (@thekidlitpod) Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here: Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett) Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)

  7. Sep 28

    KLP Chat: Isobel Joy Te Aho-White on Māori Pūrākau, Illustration and an Award-Winning Debut

    From creating zines to being shoulder tapped to illustrate a picture book, award-winning Aotearoa illustrator-author, Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Izzy) comes onto The KidLit Pod to share her impressive career. In episode 21, Izzy, Ngāi Tahu and Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa, discusses her childhood creativity and how art captured her early on, while her twin sister and older sister were more sporty. Izzy's parents facilitated this love of art by encouraging her to d, private art classes, guiding her art education path early on. Izzy transitioned from a love of high school art and hanging out in the art room to further education that would support a career in art and illustration. From there, she paved her early career in storytelling selling zines at market that showed her art skills and love of pūrākau (ancestral storytelling). These zines resulted in Izzy being “shoulder-tapped” by a publisher, which led to her illustrating 30+ children’s books. Izzy explains her niche combining nature, pūrākau, and kōwhaiwhai as a secondary visual narrative, and how guidance from Mark Kopua affirmed her use of Māori design. Shara and Izzy discuss the development and success of Izzy's debut picture book, Whenua: Māori Pūrākau of Aotearoa (Little Moa), its development first for UK, then was adapted for a NZ audience. Izzy shares the research with her twin and kaumātua, South Island perspective mapping, and winning the 2026 Elsie Locke Award, before they discuss the soon to be released and equally spectacular sequel, Wāhine. Izzy also shares her digital watercolor-like Procreate process, collaboration with Witi Ihimaera, other projects, a future book in the Whenua series, and a dream historical graphic novel that brings together both sides of her lineage. LINKS: Whenua: Māori Pūrākau of Aotearoa by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White Wāhine: Māori Pūrākau of Aotearoa by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White Isobel Joy Te Aho-White on Instagram: @izzyjoyart Isobel Joy Te Aho-White Website: izzyjoyart.com Little Moa (imprint of Hachette New Zealand) Follow The KidLit Pod  on Instagram (@thekidlitpod) Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here: Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett) Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)

  8. Sep 21

    KLP Chat: Aki Fukuoka on Billie B Brown, Manga and 80+ Illustrated Novels

    With an impressive bibliography of having illustrated over 80 novels, Aki Fukuoka is a veteran of the kidlit industry, with 30 of those novels being the Billie B Brown series with Sally Rippin, which has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. In this incredible deep dive with host Shara Curlett, Aki shares how her family immigrated from rural Nagano, Japan to Whangarei, New Zealand when she was eight, where drawing became her identity and her solace. Having been heavily influenced by a love of manga for herself, while also trying to conform to a more western way of drawing for others, alongside a traditional approach for her parents, Aki developed a completely unique three-way style that led her to receive top marks in the country for art. Originally intending to study medicine after high school, Aki found herself (at her mother's encouragement) landing a very rare interview spot at Elam School of Fine Arts. Despite sharing with them that she didn't plan on attend, she was accepted into one of the exclusive spots and decided to pursue a Fine Arts degree there. At first, she juggled that and medicine, until she realised both were too much and she pursued the arts. For her final project, Aki created a multi award-winning experimental graphic novel and sent her portfolio out to publishers. Two year's later while studying her masters, she landed her first major jobs: Scholastic New Zealand and Hardie Grant Egmont’s Billie B Brown with Sally Rippin. Aki shares how since then she has illustrated for 16 years with 30 chapter books, a mystery series, and a new graphic novel line in the Billie B Brown world, whilst also illustrating around 50 other books. Aki and Shara explore the challenges of being New Zealand–based with Australian publishers, illustrator recognition, contracts and getting an agent. Aki shares her adaptation process for Billie B Brown’s Secret Mystery Club, including her digital workflow (Clip Studio Paint/Photoshop), and the experience of touring. Aki shares why graphic novels matter, what she’s reading, and goals to author-illustrate her own graphic novel and picture book, potentially inspired by her family’s immigration. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LINKS: Aki Fukuoka on Instagram - @aki.art Aki Fukuoka website - akiart.co.nz Billie B Brown Graphic Novel - Spooky House - Hardie Grant Egmont Billie B Brown Graphic Novel - Code Breakers - Hardie Grant Egmont Haikyu!! - Manga Series (Sports) Nodame Cantabile - Manga Series (Classical Piano) Vagabond Manga - (Historical) Naruto - Manga Series (Kids') One Piece - Manga Series (Kids') Always Never by Jordi Lafebre - Graphic Novel (European) The Prince and the Dressmaker by Gene Luen Yang - Graphic Novel Stargazing by Gene Luen Yang - Graphic Novel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow The KidLit Pod  on Instagram (@thekidlitpod) Find out more about The KidLit Pod host, Shara Curlett, here: Shara Curlett on Instagram (@sharacurlett) Shara Curlett Website (www.sharacurlett.com)

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About

Despite the feeling that digital is taking over, a wonderful group of kidlit people are still writing, sharing, and promoting the importance of, and a love of books and reading. Author Shara Curlett hosts a collective, industry-wide discussion around why books are essential, why modeling reading and reading to kids is more important than ever, and how creators are digging deep to write the best books possible to engage with kids. In this podcast we discuss thoughts, ideas, research, and the science around the importance of stories, and why we need to persist in encouraging our children to turn to a book, rather than a device.

Information

  • Creator
    Shara Curlett
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    28
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The KidLit Pod
  • Show Website
    The KidLit Pod

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