From Birthday Triplets to Greenback the Dog: Raising Kind, Informed Kids

In this episode, Jed welcomes back author and educator Kelly Tooman to celebrate her new picture book, "The Birthday Triplets and the Pony Race Adventure." Kelly, who spent many years in Montessori education and now leads virtual creative writing workshops, shares how her background shaped this whimsical, heart-centered story. The book follows triplets Cookie, Candy, and Coco, who live with their magical Granny Rosie and travel to an adventure factory where they bring birthday joy to someone who is sad or lonely.

Kelly explains that this particular adventure centers on forgiveness and empathy. When Candy faces a mean-spirited rival in a pony race, she must decide whether to ignore his distress or stop to help him, even though he tried to ruin the race. That choice opens the door to powerful family conversations about kindness, compassion, and doing the right thing when it's hard.

Throughout the conversation, Jed and Kelly talk passionately about the importance of reading physical books, nurturing imagination, and giving kids unstructured playtime. Kelly praises Montessori's multi-age, curiosity-driven approach and voices concern about how screens, over-scheduling, and early academic pressure can erode children's focus, creativity, and joy.

Later, Jed is joined by attorney and author Ted Sutton, who introduces his middle grade book "Greenback's Book of Law: Everything You Need to Know as Told by a Friendly Dog." Ted shares how his golden doodle narrator helps kids (and parents!) understand contracts, civics, voting, and everyday law in an accessible way—filling a gap left by traditional schooling and empowering families to be informed, engaged citizens.