Gemma | Chapters 14 - 15

Why do we say this when a secret is revealed?Sources used:Oxford English Dictionary (OED) – historical citations for “let the cat out of the bag” and idiom notesMerriam-Webster Dictionary – idiom entr...

28 Aug 20253min

Wren returns to the Hall of Hidden Wonders - a magical place that feels alive, changing each time she visits. The man in the green coat is waiting, and today he has a challenge: find her spark, the gi...

26 Aug 20258min

There’s a tiny tool in your backpack with a giant history. In this kid-friendly history-sode, Auntie Jo Jo traces the pencil’s journey from a 1500s graphite discovery in England to the first wooden pe...

21 Aug 20254min

Wren Calder has always been good at staying invisible: at home, at school, even in the crowded hallways where louder voices take up all the space. But on a quiet afternoon in the school library, she s...

19 Aug 20259min

Auntie Jo Jo’s Library opens her library to a very special guest! This episode I sat down with author Christine Devane to talk about her children’s book, Elephant Beach.Christine shares how she brings...

15 Aug 202524min

Popcorn and movies go together like peanut butter and jelly but how did this crunchy, buttery snack become a star at the theater? Sources used:National Popcorn Board – History of PopcornSmithsonian Ma...

14 Aug 20254min

On the first day of seventh grade, Sam expects the usual: new classes, new teachers, and probably a forgotten locker combination. What he doesn’t expect is for a strange brass key to tumble out of his...

12 Aug 20254min

Why does school start in late summer and end in late spring? And who came up with the idea of school in the first place? Sources used:PBS Learning Media – A History of School in AmericaNational Park S...

7 Aug 20256min