The Children"s Literature Podcast

11:17

257 – A Close Look at the Cast of The Magician’s Nephew

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/10/04

This is a super deep dive into the newly released photo of the main cast of Greta Gerwig’s first Chronicles of Narnia project, which is a film adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew. The setting has inexplicably been taken from the late 19th century to the 1950’s, and the only representation of a working class Englishman has been removed from the film, which doesn’t quite sit right with me given what I have learned about the complicated ways class affects everything here in

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9:26

256 – Greta Gerwig is DEFINITELY Not Right for Narnia

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/09/28

I said it before. I’m saying it again. Greta Gerwig was not the right person to adapt the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, and Empire Magazine’s glossy spread on the first film (allegedly) based on The Magician’s Nephew reveals a number of very bad story changes that will compromise the plot and alienate a whole lot of potential customers.

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18:49

255 – Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” Saved Romeo and Juliet

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/09/22

“Love Story” from Taylor Swift’s 2008 album Fearless takes the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and gives it a happy ending. All it took was for the characters in the play to confront their problems head on instead of sneaking around.Key to the success of Swift’s love story is that there wasn’t a Friar Lawrence there to come up with a truly idiotic and overcomplicated plan. All it took was for Juliet to meet Romeo outside town and for Romeo to just go work things out with

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33:56

254 – Muppet Treasure Island

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/09/21

To mark the 30th birthday of Muppet Treasure Island and pay tribute to the late and eternally great Tim Curry, Tom the Tale Teller and I sat down to rewatch this classic work based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel. On this rewatch we noticed a bunch of jokes that went RIGHT over our heads as kids. Now we understand why our parents were laughing. As with Muppet Christmas Carol, this film lovingly and faithfully adapts a beloved children’s story. But with Muppets. Tim Curry was the

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5:32

253 – Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/09/03

Dolly Parton was an angel on Earth, entertaining with kindness and warmth. And she spent an absolute fortune helping millions of children learn to love reading from an early age.We didn’t deserve her. But I am so grateful we had her.

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6:49

252 – DC’s Lanterns Show Gets a Big NOPE From Me

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/09/02

I liked Green Lantern comics as a kid. I hoped rather than believed that the new TV adaptation of this DC property would be any good. It wasn’t any good.

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6:40

251 – The Paw Patrol Dino Movie Is Heart of Darkness...

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/08/19

I took my six year old to see the Paw Patrol Dino Movie and I was astonished to discover that writers Cal Brunker and Bob Barlen have brilliantly adapted the 1902 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, which meditates on the barbarous nature of humanity and its unquenchable lust for money, goods, and power.

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19:00

250 – Top 10 Shakespeare Moments in Star Trek

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/08/14

250 Episodes!! My goodness!! Thank you to all of you, whether you have been with the show for a long time or have just recently joined in the fun. I did a livestream to celebrate! It was so nice to chat with lots of you, and I rambled about two of my favorite subjects: Star Trek and Shakespeare.I’ve ranked my top 10 favorite moments from Star Trek that reference the works of William Shakespeare. And I can’t wait for all of you to tell me why I am WRONG and which episodes should have

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25:21

249 – Great Dinosaur Mistakes

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/08/07

I am very delighted to have Dr. Adam S. Smith and Jonathan Emmett return as guests on my show to talk about their splendid new book Great Dinosaur Mistakes, which features famous errors in the ways early paleontologists interpreted fossil finds and how the process of science improves those interpretations. The brilliant illustrations of Stieven Van Der Poorten bring this book to life.These authors have previously collaborated on The Tyrannosaur’s Feathers, also illustrated by Van Der

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48:31

248 – The Tale of Odysseus and Polyphemus

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/08/05

It was too windy for me to sit by the fire, so come join me as I invoke the blessings of Apollo, patron of storytellers, by sitting in front of musical instruments wearing laurel leaves. I really enjoyed the special effects and visual storytelling in Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey, particularly the scene with Polyphemus the cyclops, a character portrayed with the use of an enormous puppet. However, I was dissatisfied by the rewriting of the plot and characters in this scene, so I thought I would

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13:17

247 – Emily Wilson HATES Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/08/04

Emily Wilson, translator of the unneccesarily hated and gossiped-about translation of Homer’s Odyssey, has seen Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of The Odyssey and . . . she HATES it. Hilariously, and with all of the scorn that only a very posh professor can heap upon a film review. I love it.

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20:27

246 – I Loved and Hated Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/07/23

Christopher Nolan’s movies are big, loud spectacles. The Odyssey is messy and sometimes puzzling, but it is worth talking about. I can only wonder what Homer would think!

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10:27

245 – Emily Wilson’s Odyssey Was Kinda Boring

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/07/16

There was a LOT of online hubbub about Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey, which seems to be the one Christopher Nolan relied on for his upcoming film version. I found it to be neither a brilliantly modern take on an ancient epic nor a horrifically woke piece of trash. My moderate take will likely rouse the ire of both sides, but that’s ok.

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7:50

244 – The Death of Robin Hood is a Spiteful Mess

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/07/16

I am always up for an interesting new perspective on an old story. The Death of Robin Hood wasn’t interesting. It was bleak, depressing, violent, hopeless, historically inaccurate, and poorly lit. It doesn’t matter that very good actors were cast in this movie; even the best performances can’t save a horrible story.

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22:33

243 – The US Bill of Rights

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/07/15

I was back in the USA for the big 250th birthday celebration, so here are some thoughts I had time to share about the US Bill of Rights. I also had a quick livestream on the Fourth of July to read the Declaration of Independence and chat with some of you!

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6:02

242 – Supergirl’s Mom Is Disappointed in Her

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/06/28

Supergirl was produced by James Gunn, directed by Craig Gillespie, and directed by Ana Nogueira. I blame all three of them equally for this very, very bad movie. Millie Alcock was not the right choice for Supergirl but she’s just an actress doing a gig, so I don’t blame her. This film was such a raging disappointment that I needed to unleash my fury in the way that only a passive-aggressive mom can. Thanks for absolutely nothing, James Gunn.

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26:19

241 – A Tea Party with George Orwell and Douglas Adams

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/06/26

Things have been crazy in the last few weeks, so let’s have a nice relaxing cup of tea with two great authors who wrote essays about Britain’s most beloved beverage: George Orwell and Douglas Adams. I will be reading what they had to say, sharing a cup of tea with you, and ranking my favorite British biscuits to serve with tea. Please vote on whether or not you all prefer to dunk biscuits or nibble on them separately from your tea, whether Bourbon Creams or Custard Creams are nicer, and

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11:40

240 – Masters of the Universe Is FUN!!!

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/06/12

Did Masters of the Universe have the power? YES! Was it perfect? NO! Did it need to be? NO! Did it give me everything I wanted? YES!

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18:36

239 – Kat’s A+ Homework In Ten Things I Hate About You

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/06/11

In the film 10 Things I Hate About You, Katarina Stratford gets an assignment to rewrite Shakespeare’s Sonnet 141. Her poem that perfectly pays tribute to the play The Taming of the Shrew while perfectly illustrating the complex emotions that come with teen relationships.This episode is an excerpt from a recent livestream over on my YouTube channel. You can find the full livestream here:

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17:46

238 – Why Do Story Changes Annoy Us So Much?

The Children"s Literature Podcast ·

2026/05/28

Why do some stories work when they play around with the race, gender, or location of a story and its characters, and why are others an annoying mess? It has to do with the basic split between how story adaptations for stage and screen are framed — either the story will be rooted in an immersive realistic setting, where every little detail matters, or it takes place in the Land of Make-Believe, where only the story and the performance matters and an immersive replication of a world and its

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