{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Otter Space, Inner Space: Helping Kids Talk About Belonging with Jen De Oliveira","description":"In this episode of Reading With Your Kids, Jed Doherty welcomes back Jen De Oliveira to celebrate her early reader graphic novel, Pip and Pals Otter Space. Jen shares how Pip, a river otter, went through many iterations\u2014from the youngest of three siblings, to a tinkering kid with a \u201cfix-it\u201d dad, to the green-furred \u201cspace otter\u201d readers meet today. Guided (and sometimes challenged) by her editor Esther Hernandez, Jen describes the emotional roller coaster of being told a story \u201cisn\u2019t quite working\u201d and having to return to the sketchbook to discover something better. Jen explains how she thinks in both words and pictures, making comics the perfect medium for her storytelling. She traces her journey from wanting to work in animation, to teaching elementary school, to rediscovering comics as a classroom teacher building a more diverse library for her students. Jen also dives into craft\u2014outlining like a screenwriter, thumbnailing pages, and learning to let images replace unnecessary dialogue. Beneath the silly \u201cotter space\u201d premise, the book explores identity, belonging, and the idea of home. Pip wonders whether she truly belongs where she is or if there\u2019s a distant \u201chome planet,\u201d opening rich opportunities for family conversations about community, multiple homes, and feeling like you don\u2019t quite fit in. Jen also makes a strong case for graphic novels as real reading, emphasizing visual literacy and the power of \u201creading as thinking.\u201d In the final segment, author and longtime educator Melanie Padgett joins the show to discuss Aikens River Rat, a middle-grade novel inspired by her late husband\u2019s 1970s South Carolina childhood. Centered on twelve-year-old Adrian and his beloved Paw Paw, the book celebrates intergenerational relationships, outdoor adventures, and the beauty of South Carolina\u2019s rivers. Melanie highlights how stories like these can both meet classroom learning goals and spark meaningful family conversations about nature, history, music, and shared memories. ","author_name":"Reading With Your Kids Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/readingwithyourkids.libsyn.com\/site","html":"