One of my favorite listens in the world of children’s literature is American Girls Podcast, in which two historians, Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney, reread each book of the popular American Girl series, offering their scholarly, cultural, and hilarious takes on the books as adults. American Girls Podcast, which releases new episodes every other Monday, takes me back to those pleasant hours spent playing with my dolls (I’m a Molly/Kit for those wondering) and reading the books with my sisters, but it also reminds me of the joys of experiencing children’s literature at any age, both when rereading old favorites or encountering new books for the first time.

Even for those who didn’t play with or collect the dolls, general fans of historical fiction and children’s books will enjoy the podcast for the ways that Horrocks and Mahoney use their expertise and experience in education and public history to discuss the historical accuracy of the books and how scholarly conversations about the time periods have changed since the books’ publications. The hosts often bring in expert guests to help further flesh out these moments in history. For example, in Happy Birthday, Molly!, when a British refugee comes to stay with the family during WWII, the hosts remark on how it was a telling choice to make the refugee a non-Jewish girl, which emphasizes a general avoidance of discussing the Holocaust and antisemitism across the books. In a conversation with Holocaust history scholar Leah Sauter on a later episode, she confirms how most refugees would have been Jewish children and discusses the ways stories of Jewish children during the Holocaust are told in children’s literature beyond Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl.

The hosts also contextualize the titles in the larger literary landscape related to the subject of each series, both when the books were published and now. When they read the Kaya series (all six books published in 2002), the first with an Indigenous main character (Kaya is part of the Nimíipuu or Nez Perce tribe), they discuss how lacking the representation of Indigenous authors and characters was in their own school reading experiences, and they offer current recommendations for children’s and YA books by and about Indigenous people.

If you join the show’s Patreon (for $3 a month) you get access to an additional episode each month, in which Horrocks and Mahoney read other children’s and YA books, including familiar favorites such as the Dear America series and E. L. Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, plus new releases like Malinda Lo’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club. As on their regular episodes, these conversations are nuanced and informative. When covering Konigsburg’s evergreen classic, they both recall the fun they had reading the book as kids (Mahoney was thrilled to discover it still made her laugh as an adult), but they also point out important layers that they missed, such as how the story is only possible because of the main characters’ privilege as white kids in New York City. When reading Lo’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club, the hosts are encouraged by the diversity that is now more common in books for young readers. Mahoney wished she had the book when she was younger as a model and affirmation of young queer love, but it is clear that both hosts loved reading the book as adults for its flow between narratives of different family members and Lo’s extensive research into lesser-known history to tell a realistic story.

The podcast is not geared directly toward younger listeners, not because of “inappropriate” material, but because of the many adult pop-culture references the hosts make that younger listeners would likely not be familiar with (for example, they love discussing The Bachelor). However, it’s great for parents, especially as the hosts have increased content for parents on the podcast and in the Patreon Discord in response to listener requests. These include discussions of whether a book that contains difficult subject matter — such as kidnapping and violence against children in the Kaya series or the more subtle messaging about shame in the Josefina series — might not be suitable for some children, and a channel in the Patreon Discord for parents to connect. But whether you have a child in your life or simply want to enjoy some children’s literature yourself, this show is sure to bring a smile to your face and a few new books to your TBR pile.