The Joyful Child Meets The Chismosas Only Book Club

In this joyful, wisdom-packed episode of Reading With Your Kids, we're shining a light on two amazing creators who are helping kids (and their grownups) find calm, connection, and a love of stories.

First, Jed chats with musician, yoga teacher, and mindfulness author Kira Willey about her new parenting book The Joyful Child. Kira shares how years of performing in schools taught her the "magic formula" for engaging kids: music, rhythm, movement, and mindful breathing. She explains why a parent's own emotional state is the most powerful tool in a child's self-regulation, and offers down-to-earth strategies for staying calm in real-life moments—like when your child melts down in the grocery store. Kira also describes simple one-minute activities, car-friendly games, and her Mindfulness Moments for Kids board books that sneak powerful breathing tools into sweet stories.

Then we head to Texas to meet Laekan Zea Kemp, author of the funny and heartfelt middle grade novel The Chismosas Only Book Club. Laekan introduces us to four freshman friends navigating high school, family expectations, and their own anxieties. She talks about blending prose with graphic novel sections to hook reluctant readers and bridge kids from comics to longer fiction. Laekan also shares how her work as a high school ESL teacher shaped the book, why simultaneous English–Spanish publication matters, and the very real challenges teens face today with fear, social media, and school.

It's an episode full of heart, humor, and practical ideas for raising joyful, mindful, book-loving kids.