Parents' Guide to

The Big Kids Book Club Podcast

By Diana Baron-Moore, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Middle grade and YA author interviews for book lovers.

Podcast Language & Culture Independent Average run time: 25 minutes
Big Kids Book Club: A cartoon of a white woman and man smile from behind a thick open book in front of them

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this podcast.

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What’s It About?

Each half-hour episode of THE BIG KIDS BOOK CLUB PODCAST includes an in-depth author interview. The show's two rotating hosts, Marcus and Emma, have a conversation with an author promoting a newly released title. The podcast partners with publishing houses and small presses to promote new books, primarily by authors based in the UK. This means that listeners may get a chance to hear about lesser-known titles as well as new books that have only just hit the shelves. Interviews often dive deeply into each author's writing process, so young people with an interest in becoming an author themselves may enjoy getting a peek behind the curtain. That said, the show does little to cater to young audiences and unless they already have a real love of reading, this podcast is unlikely to tempt kids to pick up a new book.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

This no-frills interview show gives listeners a chance to hear about new middle-grade and young-adult books from the people who loved them first and best, their authors. The hosts of The Big Kids Book Club Podcast are warm, knowledgeable, and ask thoughtful questions that will get listeners thinking critically about the books even before picking them up. That said, the show often feels like it is speaking more to adults than to kids -- the language and topics of discussion, while not inappropriate, are certainly based on the interests of the adult hosts, rather than an audience of kids. Discussions often presume a high level of knowledge on the part of listeners, throwing around terms like "tropes" and "protagonist" that may be inaccessible to younger listeners and or those not as proficient in literary terms.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how The Big Kids Book Club Podcast discusses what motivates authors to tell the stories they do. Why do writers choose to focus on the issues they do? What are issues or stories that you would want to tell?

  • Sometimes authors write about characters who are very different from themselves and other times they create characters just like them. What do you think are the benefits of writing stories based on your own experienced? What do writers need to be able to write fantasy or science fiction, where it's not as possible to relate to a character's experiences?

  • What genres of books do you like best? What do you like about that kind of book?

Podcast Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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