You might know S.D. Smith as the author of the Green Ember series of books. He also happens to be hilarious – which makes this episode so much fun!
At all five Great Homeschool Conventions in 2018, Sarah Mackenzie interviewed S.D. Smith live on stage. At one point, he flipped the whole thing on its head and interviewed Sarah. Hilarity ensued, and somehow they even managed to have a bit of serious conversation.
Plus a secret is revealed: Did you know that S.D. named a character in his books after Sarah?
You get to hear the whole thing on today’s episode of the Read-Aloud Revival podcast. You’ll hear:
- what it really means to write for children
- why the Read-Aloud Revival changed the name of its tagline
- what happened when Sarah met her “other favorite author” (scroll down for the photo that goes with that story!)
This one is great for the whole family – you don’t want to miss it!
Click the play button below:
Listener Guide
Use the time stamps below to skip to any part of the podcast:
- 3:45 Are you heading to a Great Homeschool Convention?
- 5:40 Meant for reading aloud …
- 7:25 Writing for children
- 10:27 If S.D. wasn’t an author …?
- 13:37 S.D. makes fun of Sarah for a bit …
- 16:33 Going full-time
- 20:00 His heart’s desire …
- 22:25 S.D. takes over the podcast
- 25:47 Vision and heart for reading aloud
- 29:10 Why did people respond?
- 30:12 A new tagline
- 33:52 Kids’ questions
- 41:44 Let the kids speak
First, the picture S.D. was talking about in the podcast:
Yes, that’s Kate DiCamillo. And yes, it’s also every single one of my neck veins. To get the scoop on this photo, listen at around minute 14:07 of the podcast. AHEM.
Links from this episode:
- Order The Wreck and Rise of Whitson Mariner
- Great Homeschool Conventions
- RAR #44: Magic and Fear in Children’s Books, N.D. Wilson
- Nurturing Competent Communicators, Andrew Pudewa
- RAR Membership
- Get the FREE booklist and more – go to readaloudrevial.com or text BOOKS to 345345
Quotes to remember:
“The thing that I love about kids is that they’re so generous, so sweet, so special. They’re considerate, they’re kind, and I think that extends to the sort of the way they behave in person. But also to the way that they’re thinking about stories. They’re ready to welcome good things into their hearts and they’re ready to surrender in a good way- to just get lost in the story.” -S.D. Smith
“One of the things I think is so powerful about reading stories with our kids is that we get practice. Every time we read a story, we encounter a character who has to overcome obstacles. If we give our kids stories as they’re growing, by the time they’re grown and they face those obstacles in their lives they’ll know, they’ve seen, and they’ve borne witness to heroes finding what they need in themselves and in God to meet the obstacle- to overcome the obstacle.” -Sarah Mackenzie
“The books began as stories I told my kids. So they were read-aloud and they were improvised in the moment.” -S.D. Smith
”I thought I was writing a manifesto on reading aloud. And then as I was writing, I realized it was more like a manifesto on connecting with our kids… and reading aloud ends up being the avenue we do that with. But the point isn’t the books. The point is the children.” -Sarah Mackenzie
Books from this episode:
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