How can you transform story time into a powerful tool for literacy, engagement, and empowerment? In this inspiring episode of the Picture This Podcast, host Adam Lehrhaupt sits down with award-winning author and educator, JaNay Brown-Wood!
JaNay shares her incredible insights on how to connect students to literature through interactive storytelling, rich cultural representation, and innovative cross-curricular strategies. We explore her work on new titles like Scientists Like Me and On Our Way: What a Day, and discuss how educators can leverage rhythm, rhyme, and call-and-response to create a classroom where every student finds themselves in the story.
This episode is a must-listen for elementary teachers and librarians looking for practical ways to:

• Integrate STEM and social studies with language arts.
• Build a diverse classroom library that reflects all students.
• Model dialogic reading and foster critical thinking.
• Spark creativity through personal and cultural narratives.

Guest Spotlight:
JaNay Brown-Wood is a passionate advocate for diverse children's literature, a prolific author, and an expert in early literacy. Her work focuses on creating books that help young readers feel seen and celebrated.
🔗 Explore her work and find resources at her website: https://www.janaybrownwood.com
🔗 Get inspired with her "Jammies" story-start resources: https://www.janaybrownwood.com/jammies
⏱️ Timestamp Breakdown:
0:00 – Welcome and introduction to Dr. JaNay Brown-Wood
1:20 – Using rhythm, rhyme, and onomatopoeia for engagement
3:30 – The influence of oral storytelling and the griot tradition
5:00 – Real-life emotional connections to Imani’s Moon
6:00 – STEM meets storytelling: Coding Maasai warriors
8:30 – Intentional cross-curricular lesson planning
10:00 – Hands-on STEM activities from Scientists Like Me
13:00 – How picture books inspire creativity and critical thinking
14:45 – Using fractured fairy tales to spark cultural storytelling
18:30 – Modeling dialogic reading with adult learners
22:00 – Interactive reading as a foundation for literacy
23:30 – Behind the scenes: Jammies with JaNay and story-start resources
25:00 – Author-editor collaboration stories
30:00 – Centering diversity: Who gets to tell the story?
33:00 – Curating a classroom collection that reflects every student
📚 Books & Resources Mentioned:
I always recommend shopping a local independent bookstore, but if that's not an option you can support the podcast by using the Amazon links below.
Scientists Like Me by JaNay Brown-Wood
On Our Way: What a Day by JaNay Brown-Wood
Imani’s Moon by Janay Brown-Wood
✅ Action Items for Educators:

• Try using rhythm and call-and-response during your next read-aloud to boost student engagement.
• Explore new titles for your classroom that include diverse characters and cultures.
• Consider using a picture book as a jumping-off point for a STEM or social studies lesson.

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