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Did you know that bees have five eyes? Or there’s an actual place called Unicorn Peak near Mount Rainier in Washington? Those are some of the factoids shared on Reading Bug Adventures, a kids’ podcast put together by the owners of a San Carlos children’s bookstore. Each episode, there are original stories, songs, sound effects and coloring exercises.
After eight years of educating and entertaining listeners through the podcast, owner Lauren Savage is bringing together other kids’ podcasters for the family-run independent bookstore’s first Kids Pod Fest on Aug. 30.
The festival will take place inside and outside of the Laurel Street store in downtown San Carlos. It will feature the hosts of: Dorktales Storytime, Folktales From Sudan and The Ten News. There will also be a raffle for giveaways.
Savage, a 20-year resident of San Carlos, said the event is a great way to help families find podcasts they like.
“The real problem with podcasts out there for kids … is it’s kind of hard to discover (them),” she said. “This is such a neat way to curate our own list because a lot of the distributors of podcasts pick and choose their distribution list, and that’s their opinion, right? So we thought, “Wow, we love all of our podcasts. Let’s curate this so that these are the four that people are looking at right now.’”
Each podcaster will put on 10- to 15- minute performances. There will be crafts between performances, listening stations and trivia with The Ten News, which has featured guests like Dr. Anthony Fauci and Sarah Natochenny, the voice of Pokémon’s Ash Ketchum.
The event came together after Dorktales’ executive producer (and the podcast host’s mom), Jodi Murphy, approached Savage with the idea. Voice actor Jonathan Cormur hosts the podcast which has clever and geeky retellings of classic fairytales, along with original Once Upon a Time stories, with characters like fan-favorite Reginald T. Hedgehog. Savage and Murphy worked together to plan the festival over the last couple of months.
Savage writes all the Reading Bug episodes from scratch with original stories. She also writes the music, which her friends and family help produce. They record it in a studio or at her home and it takes about three to four hours to record an episode, she said.
The original Reading Bug podcast, which has over 100 episodes to date, led to recent spinoffs: Lauren’s Little Bedtime Stories, The Bookworm’s Story Snacks and The Fact Fly’s One Big Question.
Savage said podcasts are another way to “learn, to be comforted, to really engage in just a different, fun way.”
“Entertainment is so important,” she said. “I’m not against television, but podcasts are just another option, right?”
Research backs this up. A 2025 study found that when children listen to audio without a corresponding visual (including audiobooks), it can bolster their imagination; and foster literacy skills, the desire to read and meaningful family interactions.
The store already hosts frequent in-person community activities. There are newborn storytimes twice a month, sing-alongs, an adult book club, author talks (with guests like Dav Pilkey, author and illustrator of the “Dog Man” and “Captain Underpants” series) and storytime with crafts. It also started the monthly book subscription service Reading Bug Box in 2015, which owners say now ships to children in all 50 U.S. states.
And events are in-line with the store’s founding. Savage, who majored in musical theater at Emerson College, opened The Reading Bug with her mother-in-law Diane Savage in 2008 to give kids more to do while strolling on Laurel Street and to promote a love of reading.
Lauren said the experience has been a joy. She’s watched her three kids, and other children, grow up running around the bookstore over the last 18 years. The store doubled from its original size in 2011 with a dedicated event space.
“We’re kind of the pioneers of making downtown Laurel Street a destination for families,” she said.
The store is meant to look like an enchanted forest pop-up book with trees against the walls that look foldable, toadstool seating and giant red mushrooms.
“We love the magical space that we’ve created,” she said.
Savage hopes the podcast fest will become an annual event.
Organizers recommend coming at the beginning of the event because performances will take place between 11 a.m. and noon. Raffle ticket donations will go toward cancer research, Savage said.
Kids Pod Fest. Sunday, Aug. 30, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Reading Bug, 785 Laurel St., San Carlos. Free. thereadingbug.com/event/2026-08-30/kids-podcast-festival.
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