Today is a behind-the-scenes deep dive duo chat with children’s author and teacher/literacy interventionist Brooke Graham, and award-winning Australian illustrator Kristen Willis.

This is a fascinating chat about how Brooke and Kristen created Family Feast, releasing 29 September and published by EK Books.

As we've already heard about Kristen's creative background in episode 8 of The KidLit Pod, Shara Curlett asks Brooke to share her background, and Brooke tells us how creativity came from early reading, her 26-year-long teaching career, and one-on-one intervention work supporting children with dyslexia/dysgraphia. She also shares how her earlier books, Go Away Worry Monster! and Nova’s Missing Masterpiece, drew on anxiety and self-regulation strategies after family challenges, including her husband’s death.

From here we do a deep dive into Family Feast. Brooke shares how her loud Maltese family and childhood embarrassment inspired the words, how she felt throughout the illustration process, and we also hear from Kristen, who shares how despite having already illustrated three published picture books, Family Feast was actually her first illustration contract!

Kristen shares her process (character design, storyboards, gouache/colored pencil, emotive color palette) and Brooke shares at what stage she saw it all, and how she felt seeing her words translated into images. Brooke also shares how important her critique group was throughout this process, including connecting Brooke with Kristen after other illustrators fell through.

Following this, Shara, Brooke and Kristen share a fun 'live reveal' of their favorite spreads from the book, followed by a quick fire would you rather game.

Family Feast will be launched at Quick Brown Fox bookstore on 11 October at 11am.

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LINKS:

Family Feast by author Brooke Graham and illustrator Kristen Willis

Family Feast launch information

Brooke Graham on Instagram: @brookegrahamauthor

Brooke Graham Website: www.brookegrahamauthor.com

Kristen Willis on Instagram: @tondocreative

Kristen Willis Website: www.tondo.com.au

OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED:

Go Away, Worry Monster! by author Brooke Graham and illustrator Robin Tatlow-Lord

Nova's Missing Masterpiece by author Brooke Graham and illustrator Robin Tatlow-Lord

Peek-a-Boo Lottie by author Laura Holloway and illustrator Kristen Willis

Casa Mia by author Josie Montano and illustrator Kristen Willis

Evie's Spare Love by author Bec Nanayakkara and illustrator Kristen Willis

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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)

During Covid, Lauren Hackney lost her aviation job, had to sell her house, and also had to navigate her husband's life threatening heart attack. And creativity is what saved them.

In episode 18 of The KidLit Pod, host Shara Curlett welcomes Queensland author and screenwriter Lauren Hackney, who began writing with her children during this challenging time. Their bedtime idea became the internationally sold chapter book, The Lolly Shop, which was later adapted into an award-winning animated screenplay.

Lauren discusses early creativity through a love of music. When she later discovered travel, her world view was opened up and she pursued a career in the aviation industry. But when Lauren found herself without a job after sixteen years, she had to rethink everything, digging back down into those creative roots and deciding to embark on the pursuit of a creative path, leading Lauren to believe that everyone's story is important, and it may not land where you thought it would, but it's still going to land somewhere if you believe in it.

Since then, Lauren has persisted through many rejections, learning to “foster the no,” and has slowly built relationships in publishing and screen. She explains how her curiosity led to her YouTube interview series organically unfolding, which came from her innate curiosity of really wanting to know how others got into the hot seat, and how could she get there. This in turn landed her a role the content manager for Inspiring Minds Magazine.

Now, Lauren is fully immersed in the kidlit world. Alongside pursuing her passion of creativity, she has also developed a workshop to help bridge the gap with English. Lauren shares her classroom workshop “Build a Burger,” a kid-friendly story-structure analogy adaptable to books, film, and articles, which helps to understand storytelling in a fully immersive way that hits all the sense.

Lauren also talks about her debut picture book Panda (Daisy Lane Publishing), about a cow who believes she’s a dog, which explores identity and friendship, before sharing upcoming launch plans and current reads.

LINKS:

Lauren Hackney on Instagram - @lbe.hackney

Lauren Hackney's YouTube Interview series

BOOK SPOTLIGHT - Panda by Lauren Hackney, illustrated by Emma Hay

Emma Hay, illustrator on Instagram - @emmahayillustrator

SHOUT OUTS:

Jennifer Sharpe of Daisy Lane Publishing

Jess Galatola on Instagram - @jess.galatola

Julie Ann Grasso on Instagram - @julieannegrasso_books

Adam Wallace on Instagram - @adamwallacestuff

READING:

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

Black Gully - Jack Roney

Dragon Snare by Rhiannon Williams

Beautiful Chaos by Jess Urlichs

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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)

Patience, persistence, and passion are three core elements that led Shara to writing her middle-grade fantasy novel, Protector of Beyond (Penguin Australia), which is out the day this podcast goes to air.

This episode of The KidLit Pod flips the usual format, as Jennifer Ennion, a freelance travel journalist and emerging children’s author/illustrator with her first picture book slated with Thames & Hudson, interviews Shara to mark the release of Protector of Beyond (Penguin Australia), where they discuss its origins, title, themes of found family and self-belief.

Throughout this in-depth chat, Shara shares how her writing journey began because of a significant period of grief, where she took to writing to process this and wrote two 90,000 word novels. Following this, she had further challenges that led her to writing in "the cracks" in whatever way possible and persisting despite what was thrown at her.

This chat delves into resilience, parenting challenges, the pantser process, and the editing process. Shara and Jennifer discuss community, including the KidLitMums, as well as Shara’s debut middle-grade novel, Welcome to Miracle (Scholastic Australia, 2025), before Shara asks Jennifer to share a bit more about Jen's debut picture book novel with Thames & Hudson.

They talk illustrations and covers, and finish with Shara sharing her upcoming launch events in Brisbane and Sydney.

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Jennifer Ennion on Instagram:

@jenniferennion

@jenniferennion_art

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)

When Graci Kim was young, she felt like a side character in her own life. 40 years on and Graci is now a New York Times Bestselling author, as well as most recently the 2026 winner of the Junior Fiction award at the NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adult.

In this episode, Graci shares how a belief that she would die young led her to live the fullest life possible, which included running away with the circus at 16, and becoming a New Zealand diplomat.

The belief she held was reinforced by odd occurrences such as unexplained fainting spells, the need for emergency eye surgery which left her temporarily sightless, and a traumatic event at the age of 27 (the number that happened to have been in Graci's head, in which she believed that this life would come to a close), where she narrowly survived a traumatic accident involving a concrete truck.

This all led Graci to take charge of her life and become the hero of her own story. And it sparked her desire to write books around Korean mythology, that she would have wanted to read as a child.

Graci shares her persistence to publication through harsh rejections, major rewrites, until the eventual success of The Last Fallen Star through Rick Riordan Presents. She discusses her New York Times list moment via Barnes & Noble’s Young Reader pick and how she sent her face overseas to create buzz. She also shares about her latest Slinger duology, how she built the world and how she has drawn from Korean philosophy. Graci touches on the influence motherhood has had on her writing, and how it has encouraged her to slow down.

Following this, Graci shares her current reads, and shares her shout-outs to the team at Penguin Random House NZ, Book Hero, and her readers.

LINKS:

Graci Kim Website - gracikim.com

Graci Kim on Instagram - @gracikimwrites

The Last Fallen Star - first book in the Gifted Clans series

Dreamslinger - first book in the Slinger duology

Mixed - Picture Book by Arree Chung

Magic Candies - Picture Book by Heena Baek

Book Hero NZ

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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)

And we're back with another KidLit Hang! Shara Curlett hosts Bethany Loveridge and Adrian Beck for a bonus episode, where they chat about everything - and absolutely nothing at the same time.

They discuss the Book Week/Book Month juggle, deadlines across multiple publishers (Adrian), and balancing school visits with parenting commitments. Shara recaps a Sydney trip where she visited the Penguin studios and attended the Dymocks conference in the Hunter Valley. She shares a bit about Sofie Laguna and Mark McBride’s Blunderbore presentation, and she asks Bethany and Adrian for their thoughts on using reference images.

Adrian discusses his school visit tips shared on The Book Deal, as well as performing at the Whitsunday Voices Festival, praising the energy of festivals and likening them to The Big Day Out for kids, which Shara loved.

Bethany previews upcoming appearances (including StoryFest St George) where they discuss illustrator battles, and she also shares about a Girls Write Now workshop she did.

This month's book spotlight is Bethany’s new picture book The Picture Perfect Present.

This is followed by another "Would You Rather", this time hosted by Adrian as he attempts to bring the conversation back to books. The trio then swap current reading/watching, give industry shout-outs (Tim Harris, The Lighthouse Toowoomba, Jess Horn), and note upcoming events including Shara’s Protector of Beyond launch plans.

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BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Picture Perfect Present by Bethany Loveridge and Amie Sabadin

Sofie Laguna and Marc McBride, author and illustrator of Blunderbore

Melbourne Kids Book Fest 2-3 October 2026

Lachlan Carter Author

Mick Elliot - author / illustrator of Uranus FC

Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival

Storyfest St George

Tim Harris Author

Jess Horn - A Hat for Every Harriet

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Bethany Loveridge Website - bethanyloveridge.com

Bethany Loveridge on Instagram - @bethanyloveridgeauthor

Adrian Beck Website - adrianbeck.com.au

Adrian Beck on Instagram - @adrianbeckbooks

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)

When author Sharon Giltrow found herself at her book launch with no books available from her overseas publisher, she knew something had to change. Now, she's regained her rights and taken back control.

In episode 14 of The KidLit Pod, Sharon Giltrow, children’s author, shares how she grew up as the youngest of eight on a South Australian farm and spent 30 years working in play-and language-based early childhood and special needs education, which led to her love of language and passion for storytelling.

Sharon shares how her experiences as both a teacher and a parent motivated her to write her humorous role-reversal picture books Bedtime Daddy (launched via Instagram Live during COVID), Get Ready Mama (shortlisted for the Speech Pathology Australia Picture Book Awards) - both published through EK Books, and Let’s Go Shopping, Grandma, with a UK publisher.

She then went with a US publisher for her junior fiction Utility Belt series—Samara Rubin and the Utility Belt, and Toby King and the Utility Belt. However, Sharon soon found herself in a unique situation - lots of booked events and school visits, with no books to show or sell.

Sharon realised something had to change, and made the decision to regain her rights and shift to hybrid authorship, self-publishing in Australia, where she shares her experiences including product development, distribution, marketing, and school visits.

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Mentions:

The Utility Belt Junior Fiction Series (Samara Rubin, Toby King)

SCBWI WA (Western Australia)

Everglade - Rise of the Witch by Kitty Black

Love, Death and Other Scenes - Memoir by Nova Weetman

Sharon Giltrow Website (signed Utility Belt copies available)

Utility Belt Series Teaching Notes

Sharon Giltrow Instagram - @sharongiltrow1

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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)

The foundational building blocks of language are essential for setting a child up for success. And tackling this, one book at a time (including those pesky homophones), is Jess Galatola.

In episode 13 of The KidLit Pod, Jess shares how she always wanted to be a teacher, and she always loved storytelling, but she never made the connection between the two until later in life - that she could bring two passions together to create beautiful stories that connect with kids.

As a former drama/English teacher and curriculum specialist, Jess Galatola discusses her early love of storytelling, drama, and reading (especially Enid Blyton). Shara and Jess share how teaching and mentoring can help benefit a child, and how the simple question of, 'What do you want to be when you're older' should be reconsidered to, 'What do you enjoy now?'

They discuss parenting in a world of AI and deepfakes, the importance of critical thinking, empathy, and building connection in classrooms, as well as how reading aloud remains valuable even for older kids.

Jess shares her experiences supporting her eldest child’s DLD, dyslexia, and dysgraphia, contrasts her sons’ different attitudes to school, and describes limiting screens and using graphic novels to encourage a love of reading.

Following this, Jess discusses the inspiration and the pathway to publication behind her graphic novel Seasons of Clementine (Perentie Press), and her picture book (Larrikin House), both out this year. She also previews upcoming projects: YA short, Parallel Tracks (Rhiza Press) and picture book, The Little Breeze (EK Books).

BOOK SPOTLIGHT:

The Witch Who Couldn’t Spell (phonics/homophones and perseverance) published by Larrikin House, author Jess Galatola and illustrator Lu Baker.

MENTIONS:

Perentie Press - Bethany Loveridge and Rochelle Stephens

Fiona from Are You Afraid of the Books - @are_you_afraid_of_the_books

Bethany Loveridge - @bethanyloveridgeauthor

Hayley Hackenberg - @hayleehackenbergauthor

Kristen Willis - @tondocreative

Seetha Dodd - @seethadodd_author

Jenni Barrand - @illustration_jennibarrand

Lu Baker - @lubakerart

The Prime Minister Problem by Brenton Cullen

Megan Daly - Raising Readers

Sold A Story podcast

2027 Perentie Prize for Graphic Novel Manuscripts (text only)

LINKS:

Jess Galatola on Instagram - @jess.galatola

Jess Galatola website - www.jessgalatola.com.au

Seasons of Clementine by Jess Galatola, illustrated by Jasmine Berry

Some Families Change by Jess Galatola, illustrated by Jenni Barrand

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)

Tenille Seow is an Australian author passionate about creating accessible fantasy stories for younger readers, despite challenges with dyslexia.

In episode 12 of The KidLit Pod, Tenille describes a childhood immersed in books, how her mother encouraged reading, and how when they couldn't afford to attend certain events, that her mum would create little gift bags with a book to make it feel like they're not missing out.

Tenille shares the importance of well-resourced school libraries and how in looking for a high school for her children, she's looking for the needs of each individual child rather than the friendship groups. She also discusses her support of her own children’s reading and device balance.

The discussion shifts to creativity and ways for children to release tension and worry, including hobbies that consume children to keep them busy. Tenille makes an interesting point about how over time, devices have condensed and shrunk to one device, and now consumer demand is showing that it's expanding out again as people don't want everything in a single device.

Shara shares more about The Light Within: The Aura Academy of Magic, and Tenille shares how in 2023 a popular YA fantasy novel took her by surprise with its difficult names, strong language, and mature content inspired her to write a “between” book for readers transitioning from middle grade to YA, with magic, tension, and romance but without the explicit content.

Tenille shares about her experience in working with an editor, finding a cover artist, marketing challenges, and how her personal challenges shape her need for support, feedback, and accessible storytelling. Tenille also shares how dyslexia has not been a barrier in following her dreams.

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BOOK SPOTLIGHT: The Light Within

The Light Within - Hardback and ebook

The Light Within - Amazon - read more

Tenille Seow on Instagram - @teaspoonstorytime

Tenille's Editor - Helen Thorton-Gussy from Edit Co

Tenille's Cover Designer - Zoe Sizemore did the cover from CIP designs

Your Kids Next Read podcast

Your Kids Next Read Facebook page for parent recommendations

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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)