New children’s books center intergenerational relationships in life and the afterlife

Intergenerational relationships take center stage in two new children’s books. First, in The One About the Blackbird , a little boy learns to play guitar from his grandfather and they form a deep bond over music. In today’s episode, author Melanie Florence and illustrator Matt James join NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe to discuss their collaboration and shared love of The Beatles. Then, And They Walk On deals with a heavy topic: Where do our loved ones go after they die? Author Kevin Maillard and illustrator Rafael López spoke with Rascoe about “walking on” and incorporating Seminole culture in their story. To listen to Book of the Day sponsor-free and support NPR's book coverage, sign up for Book of the Day+ at plus.npr.org/bookoftheday See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

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New children’s books center intergenerational relationships in life and the afterlife is an episode from NPR's Book of the Day by NPR.

This episode is 18:49 long.

This episode was published on Apr 10, 2026.

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