About this episode

Crystal Stein discusses the creation of multi-sensory board books and their impact on early brain development and representation in children's literature.

In this episode, hosted by Mike “Big Miic” Brooks of KRSM Radio, is joined by Crystal Stein, founder and CEO of Beret Publishing, a Minnesota-based children’s media company creating multi-sensory board books that integrate original music, poetry, Grade 2 braille, and storytelling to support early interactions between children and caregivers. Stein shares her transition from a 16+ year finance and consulting career to launching Beret during COVID after becoming a parent and realizing a lack of diverse classical composers represented in children’s materials. She discusses the importance of reading, singing, and being present in the first 1,000 days, accessibility as a baselinefor all children, and “windows and mirrors” representation through Beret’s Echoes of Excellence collection, which highlights historically overlooked composers such as Vicente Lusitano and George Bridgetower. This episode was recorded live on the radio program For The Culture, which airs on KRSM Radio at 98.9 FM in Minneapolis. For more information, visitlittlemomentscount.org/podcasts

People in this episode

Host: Mike “Big Miic” Brooks

Guest: Crystal Stein

Topics covered

• multi-sensory books
• early brain development
• parenting
• accessibility
• children's media
• representation

Keywords

• multi-sensory books
• early brain development
• children's media
• accessibility
• parenting
• representation
• classical composers

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Beret Publishing, KRSM Radio

Books & works: Echoes of Excellence

Places: Minnesota, Minneapolis

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