Our Pod

Here at the Pod, we share thoughts and opinions about the growing need for diversity in
children’s literature. As we get rooted, we will feature stories about Mighty Girls and Gentle Warriors of Change. Please stay a while, and join the conversation.

#WHERESTORIESGROW

May 31, 2025
Purple frame and white centre. Text in black on the right reads: Libraries are Havens. On the left two images show libraries in Gaza before and after

Libraries Are Havens

As an educator, how would you continue teaching young children, when all that remains is a tent, with limited access to any food or water and […]
April 14, 2025

The Story of Vaisakhi

CHALLENGE INJUSTICE These are the words that come to mind when thinking of Vaisakhi. It’s not the food, festivals or folktales but the fierce commitment to being […]
March 15, 2025
Text on the left in black on white background reads: Happy Publication Day! On the right two images from the book We Are Cheesemakers. One is a fascera holding a cheese wheel to rest and the other is a brother and sister of Sikh heritage hiding under a blue checkered blanket.

Happy Publication Day!

The image of the sister and brother hiding under a blanket in their little ‘tug boat’ will hopefully encourage conversations about migration and displacement journeys. There […]
February 2, 2025
book cover shows a parmigiano reggiano cheese wheel in the centre with a label on the top showing the title We Are Cheesemakers in copper foil across the middle and an image of a sister holding up a pair of binoculars with one hand and a madaanī spoon in the other, stirring the milky waves below. Her brother wearing a blue dastaar is leaning over the edge with a spino, both covered in a dhurrie (traditional blanket) and sat in a 'tug boat' or traditional indian copper serving dish (mirroring the copper vats used for boiling milk). The background is a traditional phulkari pattern in muted yellows and browns.

We Are Cheesemakers Cover Reveal

This is a project that has been difficult to ‘reveal’ given the heartache of the world. When we are witnessing harsher border divisions, trade wars, watching […]
April 16, 2024

Meet Rifk Ebeid: Giving Palestinian stories a space to exist

ALT TEXT included for all images. Narratives about marginalized communities are often packed into dense textbooks, making them inaccessible to young minds, or the stories are […]
April 12, 2024

An Independent Bookstore in Montreal – MAKTABA: Librairie Bookshop

For literature enthusiasts, a bookshop evokes the kind of emotion that can lift you off the ground and transport you to places familiar and unknown. They […]
December 6, 2023

13 Children’s Books to Talk about Palestine

This is not just another book list. Like you – the people who are raising their voices, condemning through protest, shouting, screaming and/or conveying through art […]
March 4, 2022
Lilac frame with black tag to the left. Tag has white text which gives website address and hashtag Where Stories Grow. In the white centre, an image to the left shows a photo of the book cover of A Lion's Mane placed standing up next to a lion plush toy on a windowsill.

World Book Day 2022

March 3, 2022 is World Book Day. Created by UNESCO on the 23rd April, 1995, World Book Day was designated as a day to celebrate books […]
February 3, 2022
Lilac frame with black tag in the bottom left with website details. Text in centre of frame reads: Featuring Mixed Media Artist + Illustrator: Parmeet Arora Bori. 3 images from the calendar are placed around the text.

Meet Parmeet Arora Bori: Mixed Media Artist + Illustrator

Our stories can be interpreted through all forms of art, which in turn become historical references to moments or movements in time. Art can be found […]
January 17, 2022
Title image with lilac frame and black tag on the bottom left with website details. In the white space an image on the left is an outline map of Panjab illustrated in watercolour hues of orange and purple. Text on map reads Jaagde Raho (Stay Woke) in Panjabi. Text on right reads: Meet the founder of Jaagde Raho: a social change maker

Jaagde Raho: Strengthening a Nation through Collective Intelligence

SEEDS OF KNOWLEDGE SERIES: SOLUTIONARIES   The issues faced by farmers did not end with the repeal of the 3 farm laws. As a larger Sikh […]
September 3, 2021
Lilac frame with black tag at the bottom left. Text in gold reads: Seeds of Knowledge. In the centre, there is white space with an image of Dr. Zetta Elliott on the left - a Black feminist writer - wearing a dark pink blouse and beaded necklace. To the right, text reads: Featuring the author of over 30 books for children, Zetta Elliott, PhD

Meet Dr. Zetta Elliott: writer of poetry, plays, essays, novels and stories for children

A few years ago, while living in Surrey, British Columbia, I came across the story of Barbara Howard – one of the fastest female sprinters in […]
March 29, 2021
Lilac border with black tag in bottom left that reads: Seeds of Knowledge. Saffron Press logo in gold. In white space above, photo of Kyo Maclear on the left with short black hair, wearing a blue top. Book cover of Spork beside her. On right, text reads: Featuring children's book author, novelist + essayist Kyo Maclear.

Meet Children’s Book Author, Novelist and Essayist: Kyo Maclear

Spork was one of the first picture books we shared with our little one. I had recently launched Saffron Press and was thrilled to find a […]