Authors Kate DiCamillo and Kelly Yang Announce New Podcast “StoryKind” (Exclusive)

Award-winning children’s book authors Kate DiCamillo and Kelly Yang ‘s new project will inspire kids’ creativity in a new way.

Their new podcast, StoryKind, which will release new episode weekly starting Jan. 19, will share “tips for writing, answer questions they receive from young readers, celebrate the hard work of teachers and librarians in literacy spaces and spread the magic of real, human storytelling,” according to a statement shared with PEOPLE.

The effort grew out of the authors’ shared concern over declining literacy among children, as well as a desire to team up and combat the problem.

StoryKind, which is geared toward kids ages 8 and older as well as educators and parents, will consist of weekly, 15-minute episodes expressly designed for easy, inspiring listening. “The hope is that a bite-size conversation reignites the love for longer stories, through reading and trying to draft their own,” the press release states.

“Kelly and I both get a lot of questions from readers — about reading, writing and life,” DiCamillo said in the statement. “We thought it would be good if we could answer some of those questions together, to encourage young writers and readers to tell their own stories. So much of storytelling is a desire for connection, and we thought a podcast would be a way for us all — kids, teachers, librarians — to connect.”

For Yang, who has a reluctant reader of her own at home, trying to get (and keep) kids off their screens is a challenge she knows all too well. She explains that it’s “not because kids don’t want storytelling, they’ve just become addicted to short-form video storytelling.”

That concerns her, she adds, because “what you get from a 10-second video is simply incomparable to the fulfillment that comes with understanding a deeper story. A real, human story.”

“Unfortunately, right now, there only seem to be two options for most kids — read a book or scroll on YouTube,” Yang continued. “We wanted to introduce a third option: a podcast, where kids get to hear two authors tell stories and have silly, fun and meaningful dialogue every week. Hopefully, we’ll get kids interested in longer form storytelling again. From there, the mission is to inspire them to give reading a chance!”

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By interacting with fans and engaging with readers’ questions via the StoryKind podcast, Yang and DiCamillo are “proactively inviting kids into the conversation about shared creativity and connectivity through stories,” the release explains, “action and intention that mirrors many of the themes of their collective works — that anything is possible if you try.”

StoryKind will be available on Spotify, Youtube and Apple podcast streaming platforms each week. Listeners can also follow along on Instagram @storykindpod.