Inkandescent Kids

Ep1 Inkandescent Kids: Harper Kuehn, 13, interviews her mom — Alexandra Kuehn, author of the children’s book, “Libby the Lunch Buddy”

Hello Inkandescent Kids! We are so excited to bring you another episode of our podcast and video show where we shine a light on the work being done by kids, for kids, and about kids!

I’m Hope Katz Gibbs, proud founder and publisher of the magazine, podcast and video show. With my editor, Ellen Smith, we are on a mission to help kids maximize their critical thinking skills, creativity, and learn to think like a reporter.

Today is an exciting day because one of our favorite children’s book authors, Alexandra Kuehn, is being interviewed by her daughter Harper about her first book, Libby the Lunchbuddy.

Now, I’m going to turn the stage over to Harper to tell us about herself, her mom, and this wonderful book inspired by her first day at school.

Harper: Thank you for having me!!

“Libby the Lunch Buddy,” by Alexandra Kuehn

First, I’ll tell you a little about my mom: My Mom was born in Maryland and always loved to write and read. She loves everything from children’s books to romance, to creepy horror stories. Her favorites ranged from “The Little Prince” to anything by RL Stine.

 She wrote her first children’s book “Libby the Lunchbuddy” last year to help my sister Vivienne get through her first day in Kindergarten.

And now I’m going to tell you a little about myself: I am 13 and going into the 8th grade. I’m in choir and theater at school and  I love to sing, dance, and hang out with my friends and family. When I’m older I’d love to be an actress.

Ok mom, here we go:

  • Why did you want to write this book?
  • When did you first come up with the topic?
  • Tell us about the illustrations!
  • Do you want to write more books? What will the topics be?
  • You also have a talk show on Fox News! Let’s talk about that a little bit!
  • You are such a great mom to me and my sister Vivienne, who will also be doing an interview for Inkandescent Kids later this year. What’s your favorite part about being a mom?
  • What advice do you have for anyone who wants to write a children’s book?
  • What was the hardest part of the publishing process?
  • What is your favorite part?
  • What advice do you have for kids who want to grow up to be writers?

Hope: Wow Harper, that was awesome! Like you, I’m a big fan of your mom – and now you! At Inkandescent Kids, our editor Ellen Smith and I will be featuring the work of more students from around the country — and eventually around the world.

We offer journalism training programs taught by award-winning reporters and professional photographers, videographers, illustrators, and more.

Join us on our journey to raise the voice of kids everywhere! Learn more at www.InkandescentKids.com.

We’ll see you soon!

About the show: From the mouths of kids come the most profound thoughts and ideas. On the Inkandescent® Kids Show, we take it one step further with interviews by kids, for kids. Yes, there are a few adults involved, too, including experts on parenting, education, and more!

Read all about it: Launched on August 8, 2025, InkandescentKids.com magazine is on a mission to teach kids from kindergarten to college to think critically, like a reporter. Students are welcome to submit articles, photos, illustrations, videos, puzzles, games, and more for review and publication.

We also offer classes: 

  • Journalism (3 sessions): I am an award-winning reporter and teach the journalism classes. In Class 1, the assignment is to be part of our “So You Want to be a …” book project, in which they interview a parent about their work. They learn how to do research, develop interview questions, and practice asking the questions; then they write the article, and we work on it together until it’s ready for our student editors to copyedit and publish it.
  • Photojournalism (2 sessions): Our Inkandescent photographer, AnnaGibbs.com, guides students through the process of taking photos for the articles. She teaches them the essentials of taking a good photograph, how to capture the essence of the story they are working on, and, once she approves the images, we send them to our editorial team for inclusion in the article.
  • Illustration (4 sessions): Award-winning illustrator michaelglenwood.com works with students to create artwork to accompany the articles. He teaches them to identify the main concepts in the article they are working on, create 3 sketches for editor review, and then craft the illustration. Upon his review and approval, it goes to the editorial team.
  • Videos and podcasts (4 sessions): With me, Inkandescent’s video and podcast producer, Nelson Benavides, teaches students how to capture the essence of an interview through video and podcasting. He focuses on helping students understand the technical aspects of production.
  • Newsroom (6 sessions): Our InkandescentKids editor, Ellen Smith, is building our student newsrooms that include a team of editors, copyeditors, proofreaders, and a layout team. In addition to our online magazine, they help us craft a bi-monthly printable publication that features a theme. This September-October theme is New Beginnings.

Click here for pricing and payment options, and learn how to join our InkandescentKids family!

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MEET THE INKANDESCENT® RADIO TEAM

Hope Katz Gibbs, Founder & Executive Producer, InkandescentRadio.com

Brandi Wilsker-Merritt, Director of Podcasting

Nelson Benavides, Director of Videography

Max Kukoy, Inkandescent Website Developer

Michael Gibbs, Inkandescent Art Director

 

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