About Travis Jonker

Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.

Our Third Annual Year-in-Review Episode!

December 30, 2020 by Travis Jonker Leave a Comment

We look back at children’s literature in 2020.

From Picture Books to a Graphic Novel: Mike Curato Visits The Yarn

December 13, 2020 by Travis Jonker 1 Comment

It was a pleasure sitting down over Zoom with Mike Curato to talk about his debut YA graphic novel, Flamer. It’s a book readers won’t soon forget.

Filed Under: All Episodes, The Unraveller Tagged With: First Second, Flamer, graphic novels, Mike Curato, YA

HELLO, NEIGHBOR: Matthew Cordell Visits The Yarn

November 19, 2020 by Travis Jonker Leave a Comment

Travis: It was a pleasure to talk with Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell about his Mr. Rogers bio Hello, Neighbor. We hope you enjoy the episode: Subscribe below to catch every episode: iTunes Spotify Stitcher

Filed Under: All Episodes, The Unraveller Tagged With: Hello Neighbor, Matthew Cordell

Redefining the American Child with Grace Lin

October 18, 2020 by Travis Jonker Leave a Comment

We spoke with Grace Lin about her Caldecott Honor winning book, A BIG MOONCAKE FOR LITTLE STAR.

Filed Under: All Episodes, The Unraveller Tagged With: A BIG MOONCAKE FOR LITTLE STAR, grace lin, Little Brown

Keeping it 100 with Oge Mora

September 23, 2020 by Travis Jonker Leave a Comment

Today we have the conclusion of our two-part episode with Oge Mora.

Filed Under: All Episodes, The Unraveller Tagged With: Little Brown, Oge Mora, podcast, Saturday

The Yarn Turns Five!

September 2, 2020 by Travis Jonker Leave a Comment

This podcast is five years old! In this episode, Colby looks back to the beginning of The Yarn, and ahead to the new school year.

Filed Under: All Episodes Tagged With: the yarn

‘I have an enviable amount of paper’ – Oge Mora Takes Us Behind the Scenes of THANK YOU, OMU!

August 19, 2020 by Travis Jonker Leave a Comment

Travis: It was a joy to talk with Oge Mora about her book Thank You, Omu! In this episode (part one of two) She talks about how the book started as a project for school, how she makes her art, and what it was like to win a Caldecott Honor with her first book. We […]

Filed Under: All Episodes, The Unraveller Tagged With: Little Brown, Oge Mora, THANK YOU OMU