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Blogs & Podcasts

Find early literacy tips and children's books on the Children's Blog. Discover your next great read on the Books Movies Music Blog. Dig into Nashville history with the Community History Blog. Listen to stories, history, and culture on NPL Podcasts. Please see this Note for Readers.

This blog post is part of a series examining classic children’s literature titles that have been deemed racist. Whether or not you choose to share classic books such as these with the children in your life, we encourage you to have open conversations with them on the topic of race.

Podcast
family folk tales logo

An orphaned girl with a cruel brother, a pot of flowers, a fairy queen, and an enchanted hen and cabbages: can all these parts work together to earn the girl a “happily ever after” with a prince?

When it's super hot outside (feels like 105!), I like to take my mind off of the searing heat by reading some fun books about penguins. Don't you?

Podcast
Just Listen Podcast Logo

Published anonymously by Jonathan Swift in 1729, “A Modest Proposal” is a satirical essay. It suggests that the impoverished Irish might ease their economic troubles by selling their children as food for rich gentlemen and ladies. This work is a paradox that forces readers, or listeners, in this case, to question themselves about the human condition and the differences between social classes.