Episodes
Tuesday Jun 10, 2025
My So-Called Niche Clue with Katie Venit
Tuesday Jun 10, 2025
Tuesday Jun 10, 2025
I don't think we've ever talked about Jared Leto on the podcast before. Or the board game Clue for that matter. Katie Venit is here with the niche hits!
FORTS and CASSINI'S MISSION are out, respectively, in July and August and to be perfectly honest it's a crime you can't get them now, because they're great and Katie is amazing. We all vibed!
This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press.
Shoutout this week from Brittany Pomales to Elayne Crain for her debut There's Something Odd About the Babysitter!
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This episode’s book reviews:
SPARKLE PIGS by Kit Holliday
MUNCHPIE MORGAN by Merry Lorenz, illustrated by Kenneth Anderson
CACTUS QUEEN by Lori Alexander, illustrated by Jenn Ely
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Monday May 26, 2025
Bonni Goldberg on Duality, Identity, and... Arting
Monday May 26, 2025
Monday May 26, 2025
This episode gets philosophical! As you listen, stand up, spread your arms wide, and tell yourself you are a writer (if you in fact identify as such)!
Bonni Goldberg is a poet, author, public speaker, teacher, and really great podcast guest. Check out her picture book Doña Gracia Saved Worlds and her books on writing! This was a wonderful chat!
This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press.
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Help support Trenise and Travis after a devastating theft here.
This episode’s book reviews:
CAMILLA, CARTOGRAPHER by Julie Dillemuth, illustrated by Laura Wood
THE PHONY BALONEY OF GRETA MALONEY by Karla Clark and illustrator Emma Clements
THE GHOST WITH THE SMELLY OLD UNDERWEAR by Jose Carlos Andres illustrated by Gomez
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes. You can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur and as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Tuesday May 13, 2025
The P Word with Brittany Pomales!
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Tuesday May 13, 2025
Proudly portraying professionalism per perennial plans, presenting: Prittany Pomales... I mean Brittany!
It Started with a P just released in April! (But obviously it hadn't yet when we first recorded this chat last year)
Enjoy - she is a pleasure!
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Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025, AND Jon's new kids' show, Hook Book Barrel!
Our reviews this week:
I ROCK MY HAIR by Angel Tate
BEING A DOG: A TAIL OF MINDFULNESS by Maria Gianferrari, illustrated by Pete Oswald
THE BAKERY DRAGON by Devin Elle Kurtz
DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Tuesday Apr 29, 2025
Vicky Fang Entertains, Educates, and Enlightens
Tuesday Apr 29, 2025
Tuesday Apr 29, 2025
Our response to meeting Vicky Fang? Charmed, I'm sure.
Check out Vicky's chapter book series Ava Lin, the latest installment, Ava Lin, Super Duper Happy, out June 2025!
Our reviews this week:
LLAMAS GO BANANAS by Briony Britten, illustrated by Pauline Gregory
THE INTERPRETER, by Olivia Abtahi, illustrated by Monica Arnaldo
IT STARTED WITH A P, by Brittany Pomales, illustrated by Andrew Joyner
DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Tuesday Apr 15, 2025
Judy Campbell-Smith's Sweet Spot
Tuesday Apr 15, 2025
Tuesday Apr 15, 2025
Judy Campbell-Smith is here! Check out her books Baseball for Breakfast (coming 2026), Ice Cream Everywhere, and AJ's Neighborhood, AND make sure and join PB Power Hour if you can. It's a great resource for the community.
Enjoy!
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Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025, AND Jon's new kids' show, Hook Book Barrel!
Our reviews this week:
THE BAKERY DRAGON by Devin Elle Kurtz
ELWOOD BIGFOOT: WANTED: BIRDIE FRIENDS! by Jill Esbaum and Nate Wragg
KAT HATS by Daniel Pinkwater
DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Tuesday Apr 01, 2025
Carrie Finison’s Origin Story Or How She Got Her Powers
Tuesday Apr 01, 2025
Tuesday Apr 01, 2025
Today’s guest is picture book author Carrie Finison make sure to check out her newest release, Pigs Dig A Road illustrated by Brian Biggs to see her incredible rhyming skills in action!
We chat about Carrie’s start with Baby Bug magazine and writing short snippets, Latin scansion, of all things, and how rhyme has ruined radio for her! We also dove into the Rutgers conference and Carrie was kind enough to share the intro to a piece that landed her her agent along with the query letter!
Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.
This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press
Our guest for this conversation was Carrie Finison. You can find Carrie here.
DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!
This episode’s book reviews:
TOO MUCH! AN OVERWHELMING DAY by Jolene Gutiérrez and illustrated by Angel Chang
LITTLE LION GIRL by Olivia Hope and illustrated by Fiona Woodcock
A PINECONE! by Helen Yoon
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Thanks and see ya next time.
You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.
Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
Bitsy Kemper's Open House!
Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
Tuesday Mar 18, 2025
Do you know Bitsy Kemper? You should. She's fastidious, fanatical, and fantastic. If you've never seen it before, check out her List O'Publishers and all her books, especially her two upcoming books, Best Friends with Grandma and Best Friends with Grandpa!
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Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025, AND Jon's new kids' show, Hook Book Barrel!
Our reviews this week:
THE CAFE AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS by Mikey Please
RIDING THROUGH RICE FIELDS: A TRIP TO THE PHILIPPINES by Michelle Sterling, illustrated by Bianca Austria
CRANKY FRANKY: THE SELFISH SHELLFISH by Michelle Chu and Joseph Penner, illustrated by Sonya Abby
DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
The Idea Doesn’t Care Who Has It With Alastair Heim
Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
Tuesday Mar 04, 2025
Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.
This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press
Our guest for this conversation was Alastair Heim. You can find Alastair here.
DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!
This episode’s book reviews:
OLLIE, THE ACORN, AND THE MIGHTY IDEA by Andrew Hacket and Kaz Windness
WHEN ISAAC HEARS THE RAIN by Julie Thompson and illustrated by Leah Giles
URSULA UPSIDE DOWN by Corey R. Tabor
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Thanks and see ya next time.
You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.
Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
A Picture Book Sandwich with Carter Higgins!
Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
Tuesday Feb 18, 2025
Carter Higgins, author, illustrator, motion designer, librarian, great thinker, is here! You have probably read her books already because they're great, but one of Josh's favorites is discussed within!
And hey, not that you weren't going to anyway, but stay til the very end for an introspective discussion about Carter's next book, Round and Round the Year We Go, which is delightful and contains human children!
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Our sponsor is Tielmour Press! Check out Fungi Are More than Mushrooms, out March 2025!
Our reviews this week:
TUMBLEBABY by Adam Rex and Audrey Helen Weber
MUNCHPIE MORGAN by Merry Lorenz and Kenneth Anderson
EVERY SECOND by Bruno Gibert
DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our quokka mascot Versey, and was generously created for us by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
Erika Cohen Lyons Knows Who She Is
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
Team Versy is Brenna Jeanneret, children’s lit author, mother, rock climber, outdoors person, and podcaster, Josh Monken, children’s lit author, father, science communicator, and podcaster Jon Seymour, podcast wizard, author/illustrator and family man.
This episode was proudly sponsored by Tielmour Press
Our guest for this conversation was Erika Cohen Lyons. You can find Erika here.
DON’T MISS AN EPISODE! Sign up for our newsletter here!
This episode’s book reviews:
MILLIE FLEUR’S POISON GARDEN by Christy Mandin
PARROTFISH HAS A SUPERPOWER by Jill Esbaum and Bob Shea
THE ISLAND BEFORE NO by Christina Uss and illustrated by Hudson Christie
The artwork for You May Contribute a Verse features our new quokka mascot, Versey, and was generously created by the great Maddie Frost! Find her on IG @hellomaddiefrost or on her website Maddie-Frost.com
Our theme music is So Happy by Scott Holmes you can find more of his music at scottholmesmusic.com
Love the podcast and wanna support more episodes like this? Find Community Shoutouts, Merch and our Patreon here!!
Find us on Bluesky @joshmonkwords, @brennajeanneret, and @jonseym0ur as always, let us know what you think via a rating, review, or comment!
Thanks and see ya next time.
You May Contribute a Verse is a homespun production, produced, edited, recorded, conceptualized, and marketed by Josh Monken, Brenna Jeanneret, and Jon Seymour.