Lin Oliver and Goldie Hawn Launch the After-School Kindness Crew

In this episode of The Growing Readers Podcast, host Bianca Schulze sits down with legendary children's book author and SCBWI co-founder Lin Oliver to talk about Pooch on the Loose, the first book in the brand-new series The After-School Kindness Crew, co-written with Academy Award–winning actress and Mind Up founder Goldie Hawn.Lin shares how a single phone call from Goldie blossomed into a creative partnership rooted in a shared concern for children's mental health—and how the two set out to write books where, in the publisher's words, kindness meets chaos. She introduces the trio at the heart of the series—Tony, Mia, and River—three "outlier kids" thrown together in Ms. Gold's fourth-grade classroom, and pulls back the curtain on her decades-long love affair with humor as a "gateway" into the hearts of young readers. She also explains how she and Goldie found a way to weave Mind Up's brain breaks directly into the story so that the reader at home is invited to pause and breathe right alongside the characters.Whether you're a parent looking for funny, big-hearted chapter books that model resilience, an educator searching for stories that show kids what it looks like to choose kindness, or a writer curious about how a 50-year kidlit legacy keeps evolving, this episode is a joyful celebration of why every kid deserves to feel seen on the page.Read the transcript on The Children's Book Review.Highlights:A Phone Call with Goldie: How an unexpected conversation turned into a co-authoring partnership Lin had previously turned down with countless other celebritiesThree Outlier Kids: Why Lin built Tony, Mia, and River as kids who don't fit in with their peersHumor as a Gateway: The story of a mother who heard her son laughing through his bedroom door at night—and why that moment shapes every book Lin writesBrain Breaks on the Page: The lightbulb moment when Lin and Goldie realized they could write mindfulness directly into the story for both the characters and the kid at homeEven Lyle Deserves Love: Why the class bully gets compassion too, and how Mind Up's framework of choice runs underneath the comedyThe Accidental Founding of SCBWI: How a 22-year-old Lin and Steve Mooser started what is now the largest children's writing organization in the worldHopeful, Not Happy: Lin on the one rule that separates children's literature from adult literatureWhat's Next for the Crew: A sneak peek at Slam Dunk Day (book two) and a community TV talent show adventure (book three)Notable Quotes:"If you start with humor, hopefully there's subtext of plot and storyline and heart and values there. But if you start with the humor, you've got the kids." — Lin Oliver"You don't have to have a happy ending, but you have to have a hopeful ending. There's a difference there." — Lin Oliver"If you don't see yourself on the page, you'll go looking for yourself in all the wrong places." — Richard Peck, quoted by Lin OliverBooks Mentioned:The After-School Kindness Crew: Pooch on the Loose by Goldie Hawn and Lin Oliver, illustrated by Breanna Chambers: Amazon or Bookshop.orgAbout Lin Oliver: New York Times bestselling author of more than 65 children's books, including the Hank Zipzer series (with Henry Winkler), Alien Superstar, and Detective Duck. Co-founder and longtime executive director of SCBWI. About Goldie Hawn: Academy Award–winning actress, producer, bestselling author, and founder of MindUP, a global children's mental health program that has reached over 7 million children in 48 countries. Visit: https://www.mindup.org/Credits: Host: Bianca Schulze | Guest: Lin Oliver | Audio Editor: Kelly Rink | Producer: Bianca Schulze