Chalk + Ink Chat: Episode 63; All Things Kindergarten with Jyoti Rajan Gopal and Tina M. Cho

Jyoti Rajan Gopal and Tina M. Cho chat about all things kindergarten. We talk about beautiful beginning of the year books to build community, the importance of extended family, and Tina and Jyoti’s upcoming releases.

We celebrated so many wonderful community building books. Here are just a few of the titles mentioned in the episode.

When Jyoti mentioned All Are Welcome, I of course had to talk about the super fun fact that Suzanne Kaufman illustrated my family in that book on the gatefold spread. I also talked about the powerful bumper sticker writing activity I do with my class each year, which includes All Are Welcome.

This year I added Jyoti's book, American Desi. The bumper sticker phrase changes in American Desi, which my students didn't notice. We had a deep discussion about how the changing bumper sticker phrase illuminates the themes of the book, embracing diversity and acceptance.

We talked about the stereotypical representation of grandparents in media. Often times older people images depict older people as being sedentary and rickety. This is not the case in Tina's The Ocean Calls or Jyoti's My Paati's Saris. Both of these grandmas are on the move, filling their grandchildren's lives with vibrant colors.

We also talked about Jyoti's and Tina's upcoming releases. Jyoti's Desert Queen looks absolutely stunning, and ever since I heard about Tina's middle grade graphic novel, I have been waiting anxiously to hold a copy in my hands. It will be a wonderful sliding glass door book to add to my classroom library collection.

Be sure to read Hà Dinh’s wonderful debut picture book, Where Wildflowers Grow, to prepare for our next episode.

​Until then, happy listening!