{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Love Over Blood","description":"In this heartwarming episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed Doherty welcomes Brooklyn teacher and award-winning author Torrey Maldonado to celebrate his debut picture book \u201cJust Right.\u201d Torrey shares the deeply personal story behind the book: his relationship with his niece, whom he helped raise and who later asked him to walk her down the aisle because he had been \u201cthe only dad\u201d she\u2019d ever known. That love and chosen-family bond lives at the center of Just Right. Torrey and Jed talk about how love doesn\u2019t have to be biological to be real or powerful, and how kids can find their \u201cjust right people\u201d in uncles, aunts, teachers, and neighbors, not just parents. Torrey explains that Just Right shows how small, everyday moments can lift a child from \u201cdown to up,\u201d and how cherishing people matters more than any gift. He also describes his writing style as \u201croller coaster fiction\u201d\u2014short, tight, joyful stories kids want to ride again and again. Balancing nearly 30 years of teaching in New York City with writing, he says he writes \u201cspoonful by spoonful,\u201d like slowly tunneling out of Shawshank. Later in the episode, Jed chats with Danna Smith, author of \u201cZenguin.\u201d Danna introduces listeners to a sweet, anxious little penguin who learns calming techniques like breathing, yoga, and simple mindfulness. Drawing on her own childhood anxiety, Dana talks about giving kids (and parents) a gentle, playful toolbox to recognize big feelings and find their calm\u2014one breath, and one page, at a time. ","author_name":"Reading With Your Kids Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/readingwithyourkids.libsyn.com\/site","html":"