Strong and True with Eric Rosswood

Full Episode description

Eric Rosswood shares Strong, a picture book biography co-authored with Rob Kearney and illustrated by Nidhi Chanani. Strong is a fresh, charming picture book that shows there are lots of ways to be STRONG.

BOOK DESCRIPTION: Strong by Rob Kearney and Eric Rosswood; illustrated by Nidhi Chanani

A Stonewall Honor Book!

Strong is a fresh, charming picture book that shows there are lots of ways to be STRONG.

Rob dreams of becoming a champion strongman. He wants to flip huge tires, lug boulders, and haul trucks — and someday be the strongest man in the world! But he feels like he can’t fit in with his bright leggings, unicorn T-shirts, and rainbow-dyed hair. Will Rob find a way to step into his true self and be a champion?

With bold illustrations and an engaging, informative text, Strong introduces readers to Rob Kearney and his journey from an athletic kid trying to find his place to the world’s first openly gay professional strongman.

NOTABLE QUOTES:

(6:12) “There’s a lot of ways we can be strong. And there are a lot of different places we can pull our strength from, and get our strength.”

(9:04) “And for me, growing up as a kid, in high school I was always last picked for sports. I was openly gay in high school. And I think that that came with a lot of people believing that I wouldn’t be good at sports. I wouldn’t be strong. And because of that it was like I didn’t have that place. So I never put myself forward in that place.”

(13:35) “We can all be strong in our own ways, but sometimes we can help other people be strong just by being there for them and helping them through their own challenges.”

(14:46) “We also need to see real life people as role models being open about who they are and thriving in life.”

(15:30) “We don’t know we can do something because we’ve never seen it done before. We don’t know openly queer people can do things if we’ve never seen them do those things before.”

(15:43) “Having those role models in literature for kids to see is very important. One, for those kids who are LGBTQ themselves. They can see that and they can strive to those goals. But also for people who are not part of the LGBTQ community, they can see queer people doing things as well, and I think that can help break a lot of stereotypes.”

(17:04) “I think just that we’re all strong in our own unique ways. We all get our strength from different areas. And sometimes it may feel like we’re not strong, but I think it’s important to remember that when we stick to remembering who we are and being true to yourself, you are strong and you can do anything as long as you stay true to yourself.”

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

• Eric Rosswood website – ericrosswood.com

• Rob Kearney, first openly gay Pro ‘Strongman,’ on personal challenges and victories – Nightline (ABC News)

• Purchase the Book – Strong

TALK ABOUT THE EPISODE:

1. How do you define “strong”? Who is someone in your life (yourself included) that you consider strong? How would you describe how strength looks in this person?

2. Do you have any outfits or pieces of clothing that make you feel more like yourself? What do these items look like? Why do you think they’re special to you?

3. What is something you hope to accomplish at some point in your life? Has anyone ever accomplished this before? What steps can you take to help lead you to your goal?

CREDITS:

This podcast episode of The Children’s Book Podcast was written, edited, and produced by Matthew Winner. For a full transcript of this episode, visit matthewcwinner.com. 

Write to me or send me a message at matthewmakespods@gmail.com. 

Our podcast logo was created by Duke Stebbins (https://stebs.design/). 

Our music is by Podington Bear. 

Podcast hosting by Libsyn. 

You can support the show and buy me a coffee at www.matthewcwinner.com.

We are a proud member of Kids Listen, the best place to discover the best in kids podcasts. Learn more at kidslisten.org.

Fellow teachers and librarians, want a way to explore building a stronger culture of reading in our communities? In The Reading Culture podcast, Beanstack co-founder Jordan Bookey hosts conversations that dive into beloved authors’ personal journeys and insights into motivating young people to read. And I am a big fan! Check out the Reading Culture Podcast with Jordan Bookey, from Beanstack. Available wherever podcasts are found.

DISCLAIMER: Bookshop.org affiliate links provided for any book titles mentioned in the episode. Bookshop.org support independent bookstores and also shares a small percentage of any sales made through this podcast back to me, which helps to fund production of this show.