RAR #272: Giving Flora Her Voice with Astrid Sheckels

Read-Aloud Revival ®

Sarah Mackenzie

Books, Homeschool, How To, Read-aloud, Kids & Family, Teaching From Rest, Reading, Education, Parenting

4.9 • 3.3K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Astrid Sheckels continues the wit and whimsy of childhood through her marvelous and magnificent illustrations and storytelling.

You might recognize her from the Hector Fox and Friends series or Sea Dog and Sea Dog Rescue, and she created the gorgeous cover and interior illustrations for Beyond Mulberry Glen by Millie Florence.

Today we’re chatting about her new book, Flora and the Jazzers, which Kirkus called “sumptuously illustrated” in their starred review and I couldn’t agree more. This jazz-age Cinderella story starring a ferret named Flora and set in a 1920s New York hotel is going to blow you away, I just know it.

Astrid is a New Englander who loves to paint animals in clothes, so clearly she is a woman after my own heart, and I just know you’ll fall in love with her too.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

How childhood family read-alouds instilled a love for stories in Astrid
The way one of Astrid’s earliest childhood drawings became the inspiration for Flora
Why a sketchbook is an ideal tool for budding creatives

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/astrid-sheckels

Don't forget to pre-order your copy of Flora and the Jazzers and then tell us you did so you get your pre-order bonus mail!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Flora and the Jazzers is the newest picture book written and illustrated by Astrid Shekels.
0:07.0	Kirkus gave it a starred review saying it's a sumptuously illustrated Jazz Age Cinderella story.
0:14.0	The children's book review called it a triumph.
0:17.0	Flora and the Jazzers lands on bookshelves everywhere on October 7th. The first 500 people to pre-order and tell us about it will receive a happy bit of bookish mail, including a vintage-inspired postcard, a sticker sheet featuring Flora and all four of her jazzers, and an exclusive Flora and the Jazzers bookmark, all illustrated by
0:39.1	Astrid Shackles.
0:40.3	Pre-order your copy now anywhere books are sold, and then head to waxwingbooks.com to tell us
0:45.9	that you did.
0:46.6	Or you can just text the word Flora, F-L-O-R-A, to the number 33-77777.
0:53.0	Thank you. R.A. to the number 3-3-777.
0:54.3	Hello, hello, welcome to the Read Aloud Revival.
1:12.5	I'm your host, Sarah McKenzie, and this is the show that helps you make meaningful and
1:17.5	lasting connections with your kids through books.
1:21.0	Today, I have an absolute treat for you because one of my very favorite picture book, authors and illustrators, is here to chat with us.
1:30.4	I'm talking about none other than Astrid Sheckles. You may know her as the author and illustrator
1:36.1	of the Hector Fox and Friends series, or maybe Seadog or Sea Dog Rescue. She's also the
1:42.8	illustrator of the cover and the interior illustrations
1:46.1	of Beyond Mulberry Glen by Mellie Florence. And she has a new book coming. It hits shelves
1:52.8	next week, October 7, 2025. It is called Flora and the Jazzers and it is a stunner.
2:01.6	I cannot wait for you to get your hands on this book.
2:05.6	Astrid lives in New England and loves painting animals in clothing so you know she is my kind of girl.
2:13.6	We have loved working with her at Waxing Books, which is, of course, the sister publishing
2:17.9	company to Read Aloud Revival, where we are making the best read alouds we can for your family,
	...

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