My name is Joshua Van Laningham.

In May 2022 I purchased a 10-book set of The Adventures of Sophie Mouse at a garage sale for $10. I was immediately taken by Jennifer A Bell’s art and Poppy Green’s characters. Was kidlit always this good? What happened since I read Redwall in middle school? I gotta see more.

So I did.

A few months and hundreds of kidlit books later, I’d gone from taken to obsessed.  

This blog catalogues my journey into children’s literature (mostly chapter books):

Passion Projects are rant-style posts where I talk about a topic in kidlit I have a lot to say about.

Series Spotlights provide an overview of an entire series I’ve read. The story’s plot, character, themes, and just cool stuff goes here.

Cover Stories discuss a specific series and how their cover arts have changed over time.

Book Smarts are more traditional single book reviews. A book that maybe doesn’t fit into the other post types or something I feel people should hear about right now.

Double Booked compares two similar chapter book series.

Carte Blanche covers non-chapter book posts. Usually French comics and graphic novels.

Whether you’re interested in kidlit or not, there might be something here that interests you. I will try to update at least once a month, possibly more.

Welcome to The Mousehold, the kidlit blog equivalent of Redwall Abbey. Come for the cheese, stay for the reads.