🎧 The Reader's Heart Podcast | Guest: Pooja Makhijani
Here’s the thing about picture books, y'all. They may be written for kids, but they’re so often experienced in community. A child sits beside a grown-up caregiver, teacher, or librarian, and they enter the story together. That makes picture books a uniquely communal art form, one in which the grown-up turning the pages is often as much a part of the audience as the young person listening.
That idea is woven throughout my conversation with author and journalist Pooja Makhijani, whose latest picture book, Together for Mama, (with Nadia Alam), invites young readers and the grown-ups who care for them into a conversation about postpartum depression. Our conversation explores that idea alongside other big topics, including the harm that can be caused by mythologizing motherhood and the need for more research into women’s health generally, but most especially as it relates to women of color.
In this context, Together for Mama feels like such a special book. Not only does it open up an opportunity for young and not-so-young readers to think in community about these big and complex ideas, it also illustrates one of the truly magical things about books written for young people: they connect us and remind us that we’re capable of carrying heavy things. But gosh... it’s easier when we do it together.
ABOUT THIS WEEK'S GUEST
Pooja Makhijani is an author and journalist whose work often explores the intersections of family, culture, identity, parenting, and mental health. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, The Atlantic, Teen Vogue, Publishers Weekly, ELLE, Bon Appétit, and many other publications. Her journalism has explored topics ranging from postpartum mood disorders and mothering in Asian American communities to food, immigration, grief, books, and the South Asian diaspora.
Pooja is a 2026 New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellow in prose and a 2026–27 Baldwin For the Arts Fellow. She has also received a General Scholarship from Boyds Mills, formerly the Highlights Foundation, and has twice been in residence at SPACE on Ryder Farm.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
EDUCATOR ACTIVITY
One of my goals for this season of The Reader's Heart is to create resources that help readers continue thinking about the ideas explored in each episode. Whenever possible, I'll be creating student activities inspired by my conversations with authors and illustrators and sharing them here as a free resource for educators. While The Reader's Heart is a podcast for adults, the books we talk about are written for kids. My hope is that these activities will serve as a bridge between the two. I'm excited to share the activity for Together for Mama because it was inspired by two specific aspects of my conversation with Pooja Makhijani:
Our conversation about the complicated feelings children can experience when someone they love is struggling, and the importance of making room for more than one feeling to be true at the same time.
Our discussion about the unique capacity of picture books to help young readers and the grown-ups who care for them explore big, sometimes difficult ideas together.
In this resource, students begin by exploring how two different feelings can both be true at the same time before thinking about the different ways big feelings can look in ourselves and others. From there, readers will reflect on the ways we can show care for the people who matter to us and explore how authors and illustrators use familiar images, like butterflies or a big, black dog, to help us understand feelings that can sometimes be difficult to explain.
To make these activities as useful as possible, I've created them as Canva templates. That means you can make your own copy, adapt them for your learners, and customize them to fit your classroom, library, or book club needs.
That said, although this should go without saying, while I very much hope you'll use these resources with the readers you serve, you are not allowed to sell them. Please feel free to share them (with credit), but I absolutely do not want to find them on Teachers Pay Teachers, y'all.
👉 Download the Together for Mama Educator Activity
RESOURCES & LINKS
Please enjoy a special discount of 20% off the titles mentioned in this episode (or others of your choice) by visiting Bookelicious and using the code JENNIFERLAGARDE. Note: I do not make any money from these sales, but I am delighted that you get to save some!
Pooja's books on Bookelicious
Together For Mama with Nadia Alam
Bread Is Love with Lavanya Naidu
Connect with Pooja
MORE ABOUT THE READER’S HEART
Rooted in the belief that our world needs the magic of children’s literature now more than ever, the Reader’s Heart podcast captures conversations with authors and illustrators about children's literature as a vehicle for empathy and joy in a dark world. I'm so excited about this project and it's my wish that it brings you as much light and hope as it has brought me.
Special thanks to Corinna Luyken for creating the beautiful illustration that will serve as the show's logo. I've always found Corinna's art so moving and she perfectly captured the spirit of what I am trying to do, which is to put warmth and love into the world during a time when so many are working to limit kids' access to the warmth and love inherent in children's literature. (Also, don't forget, you can use the discount above to buy Corinna's books from Bookelicious, too!)
If all goes to plan, episodes will drop every two weeks through September 2026. Once you've had a chance to listen, I hope you will consider leaving The Reader's Heart a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review! Podcast reviews are one of the best ways to support your favorite shows and help others find these conversations.
WHERE TO LISTEN:
Wherever you listen to podcasts!
