Kate DiCamillo (00:00):

It's what makes literature literature, because it's a synergy between the three of us, the reader, the writer, and the story. It's just because the reader brings something, the reader makes it complete, but makes that connection, makes that connection without even realizing sometimes that they're making that connection.

Sarah Mackenzie (00:28):

Welcome, welcome to the Read-Aloud Revival podcast. This is the show that helps you make meaningful and lasting connections with your kids through books. I am your host, Sarah Mackenzie. I'm the author of Teaching from Rest, The Read-Aloud Family, and a small growing collection of award-winning picture books. And I am so excited about our guest today.

(00:48):

She's been here before a few times. She's one of my very favorite guests to chat with because we have such great conversations. You know her as the author of probably some of your kids' favorite books. She's the author of the Mercy Watson series, big fans of that around here, The Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn-Dixie. I'm talking, of course, about Kate DiCamillo, who is a multiple-time Newbery Award winner. And today we're talking about her newest... No, it's not new. It's old and it's new in all the right ways.

(01:19):

You guys look at this book. This is the 20th anniversary edition of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Look at these sprayed edges. Edward? It is absolutely stunning. It's got this gorgeous ribbon. I have a weakness for collector's editions and beautiful editions of books that I already have multiple copies of because I know that someday I'm going to be cleaning off these bookshelves and giving them to new younger readers or donating them, but there are a few that I have to keep for my own shelf, and I know this is going to be one of them.

(01:52):

Kate, first of all, welcome back to the Read-Aloud Revival.

Kate DiCamillo (01:56):

You know how glad I am to be here.

Sarah Mackenzie (01:58):

It's always so much fun to chat. Tell me, when you got your hands on it, what'd you think?

Kate DiCamillo (02:03):

I was just thinking as you were holding it up, because I've got mine right here, "Do you think it gets old to hold this?" I mean, the thrill of when it arrived is just like... And it feels... This is the thing that we can't really show. I mean, it's gorgeous to look at, but it feels so substantial. And so that kind of sends this subliminal message like, "Oh, you're picking up something that matters." And that's what beautiful bookmaking does.

Sarah Mackenzie (02:40):

It's like, this book, when you pick it up, you just know this book has the potential to change you. That's what it feels like because it's got a weight to it. Even the opening from your note: "Stories are mysterious, where they begin, how they get told, what happens to them after the telling. Each one is a unique journey into the unknown."

(02:58):

Okay. We're going to talk about all these kinds of things. Your books are so different. I mean, I just love this about your writing. They're all so different from each other. It's like, you just refuse to be put in a corner.

Kate DiCamillo (03:10):

It's my contrariness. Yeah. Do not pigeonhole me. Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (03:14):

Exactly. If you start calling me a Southern Gothic writer, I'm going to write The Tale of Despereaux. If you start calling me an author of only books where there's talking animals, I'm going to write Tiger Rising or something. I don't know. I'm just making things up now.

Kate DiCamillo (03:28):

Yeah, no, no. Yeah, you're right. That's right. And you did that very well off the top of your head. And it was that kind of turning from Southern/Gothic-y and magical realism a little bit into, Despereaux was like I understood what I was doing then. Everybody was like, "Write another book like Winn-Dixie." And it was like, "Okay, this is what we were saying before I started, what a rule follower I am and I want to do things the right way." It's astonishing to have people respond to a book the way they responded to Winn-Dixie. It's like, "Of course you want to make people keep on loving you that way." And I spent a long time trying to write something that would please people the way that Winn-Dixie did, and it wasn't working. It all seemed false on the page, and I thought, "Okay, if I'm going to survive, I'm going to have to go in a completely different direction and I'm going to have to give up the idea of writing to please people."

Sarah Mackenzie (04:38):

Well, that reminds me of something I just heard you say on the podcast you do with Kelly Yang called StoryKind, we'll put a link to it in the show notes, by the way, where you talked about how you kind of have to ignore both the criticism and the praise.

Kate DiCamillo (04:53):

I actually probably quoted Hemingway, which is-

Sarah Mackenzie (04:57):

Oh, yes, I think you did.

Kate DiCamillo (04:58):

Yeah. If you believe them when they tell you you're good, then you have to believe them when they tell you you're bad. Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (05:06):

Because I think one of the things you mentioned there was actually sometimes the praise gets in your head. And I remember that in a previous conversation between you and me, I'd asked you, like, "Do you just stare at your Newbery Award?" And you said, "No, put it in the drawer. I can't look at it."

Kate DiCamillo (05:24):

Yeah. No. Nope. I mean, it's just basically kind of like, "None of my business." My business is doing what I can do to listen to the story right and to tell it right and the rest of it. I cannot... I can't. It's not my business.

Sarah Mackenzie (05:45):

It also feels like a really generous way to write because then it gives it to the reader.

Kate DiCamillo (05:49):

And it is the readers. Having a conversation with somebody and talking about movies and that letting go that happens when a movie gets made from a book. But I said it's so instructive because you realize in the process that the story was never yours to begin with. You got to tell it and hold it for a little bit, but it's not for you. And so the story gets to go out on its own without-

Sarah Mackenzie (06:24):

Almost like you were a steward for a time or something.

Kate DiCamillo (06:26):

Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. Yep. Okay. I got you way off track. Sorry.

Sarah Mackenzie (06:31):

No, we're on any tracks today. But what would you say, when you think about The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, because it's so different from so many of your other books, what stands out to you? I don't know how I want to ask this. What do you love most about it? What comes up for you that feels different than your other writing or what makes it feel unique? I don't know. Any of those.

Kate DiCamillo (06:56):

One of the things... And this goes to that thing about it not being mine. There's such a throughline. It's such an easy story to tell about where the story came from, but it's also so easy to talk about its journey out into the world without me because one of the things that I hear so much about this book is from teachers, and this is you and I, this is the perfect place to talk about it. And what happens when they read this book aloud?

(07:30):

And a lot of times what happens is the teacher ends up sobbing, and it unsettles the kids and also brings the whole class together. Or sometimes somebody that... because the teacher is crying, some kid will get up and take the book from the teacher and read it aloud to the rest of the class because the teacher can't go on. And it is the quintessential kind of power of reading aloud, is what I hear so much with this book from so many teachers and also from parents who read it with their kids. And that happens a lot in the signing line. "So we read this together," the parents say, "and I'll turn to the kid and say, 'Did you cry?' And the kid will go, 'No, but he did, but she did,' pointing at the adult."

(08:25):

And one of my favorite ones is a big auditorium, 10-year-old kid stood up to ask a question, and I can't remember how we got on it, but then I said something about how it was a book that tended to make adults cry. And this 10-year-old boy said, "Yeah, well, it made me cry, too. I cried so hard that my mom had to go get the tissues." And that he would stand up there in front of everybody and say it was so moving to me. And when he came through the line, I said, "I was so impressed with you for saying that in front of everybody." And he said, "Well, it was the truth, and it's what a book can do sometimes." It's just like, "Where'd you come from?" [inaudible 00:09:10]. Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (09:13):

I actually pulled something you posted on Facebook recently, I think, about a teacher reading this book. This is what you wrote. "I like to think that this edition is in honor of all the teachers and librarians and parents and grandparents who have shared this book by reading it aloud. A long time ago at a book signing in Texas, a teacher told me she had just finished reading Edward's story to her third-graders. She said that when she got to the end of the book, she was crying too hard to keep reading. Her students were frozen in their seats, staring at her with a mixture of wonder and disbelief. And then she said something miraculous happened. A student stood up and walked to the front of the room. She gently took the book from the teacher's hands and read the end aloud, slowly, calmly, perfectly, to the class. 'Oh,' I said when she told me this story, 'I wish I had been there.' 'But honey,' the teacher said, 'you were. That's the magic of reading aloud.' Thank you to all of you who have shared and keep sharing that magic with your students, your children, your loved ones. We are truly on a miraculous journey, and we are on it together." I'm trying to keep my tears from coming out of my eyes. I feel them right on the edge. It's that you already were, you were there with them, because-

Kate DiCamillo (10:31):

Yeah, that's the beautiful insight from the teacher. Yeah. And it's funny because it's just like, I remember, it's like, I do. It's what I was saying to you. I hear that so often that the teacher can't go on, but that teacher saying to me, "But honey, you were there."

Sarah Mackenzie (10:51):

I mean, I hear from moms all the time constantly that "I couldn't finish reading this," about a book that they're reading aloud with their kids. "I had to stop. My kids were like, 'Mom, keep reading,'" and she can't because she's just crying. That's the power of stories to transform and to connect us. And I also think it does this really beautiful thing that you hint at here when you said her students were frozen in their seats staring at her with a mixture of wonder and disbelief. It's like one of those moments where we realize, "Holy moly, my teacher or my parent, my mom is a human. Wait, she's a person with her own feelings."

Kate DiCamillo (11:25):

It's like seeing the teacher at the grocery store. It's just like-

Sarah Mackenzie (11:28):

Exactly.

Kate DiCamillo (11:29):

... "What are you doing here?"

Sarah Mackenzie (11:31):

"You don't eat, right? What?" Well, it also reminds me of a story that you told me once about your teacher reading aloud too. I think you were a third-grader or something around that age. I could be ad-libbing here and making things up, so correct me. I seem to remember you were a young elementary school student, and the teacher was reading, and there was a bully in the class.

Kate DiCamillo (11:56):

Oh, yeah, it was second grade.

Sarah Mackenzie (11:58):

Okay.

Kate DiCamillo (11:58):

Yeah, Mrs. Boyette was the teacher. Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (12:02):

What happened? Remind me.

Kate DiCamillo (12:03):

Oh, we got to this part of the book that was just riveting. And I was a reader and invested in every story that was told to me. And the bully who was kind of sitting across from me, and I always kind of kept an eye on him because he terrified me, and I looked over at him in this moment in the story, and he was just as engaged in what might happen as I was. And it's just like, it's the same thing as seeing your teacher as a human being. You see the bully as a human being. And that happened because we were in that safe space. And it just changed how I saw him. It's like, "Oh, wait a minute, he's a person, not a monster."

Sarah Mackenzie (12:50):

Yeah. I'm thinking about how reading aloud with my own kids, especially as they got older, especially reading aloud to early teens and teen ages when a lot of times we stop reading aloud, but when we can continue, one of the blessings that it was, one of the things that gave my kids and I anyway, was especially on the days when we were butting heads or against each other, having a hard time coexisting in the same space and seeing each other as equally valuable, I think this always happens. We would read a book and now we're cheering for the same hero and we're worried about the same villain or tearing up at this very poignant moment or laughing. And it's like we remember that we're for each other. We forgot for a second, but the story reminds us that we're for each other.

Kate DiCamillo (13:35):

Yeah. It's a beautiful way to say it that you're for each other. And also, I always think of it as it is like the third place. It's a safe place. It's a room that does not exist until that magic happens of story. And then we enter into that safe place, that third place, and everybody puts down their armor. And when that happens, you can see each other, you can connect. Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (14:05):

You have a heading on your website that I love. You write, "The world is dark, and light is precious. Come closer, dear reader. You must trust me. I am telling you a story."

Kate DiCamillo (14:17):

Despereaux. Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (14:20):

I think you had mentioned that it was a child reader who pointed out to you that your books always have light, so that's a kind of a running theme in your book.

Kate DiCamillo (14:27):

Yeah, stars. It's like, "What's the deal with you and stars?" Yeah. [inaudible 00:14:31].

Sarah Mackenzie (14:32):

Yeah. You're like, "Wow, wait, I didn't realize that." And this is where you'll say, I love it when you say this, you'll say, "The story is smarter than you."

Kate DiCamillo (14:40):

The story is always smarter than I am. And not only that, that thing that... We all know that, that there's no point in being here unless you love and how painful it is to love and how much bravery it takes to love. But that's what stories are for. They remind us of that because we keep forgetting it, and stories remind us. And that's one of the reasons that they're so powerful.

Sarah Mackenzie (15:16):

Well, that idea of the story being smarter than you, for any kids especially who are listening or watching, sometimes when we're reading books, we'll think we might be prompted by a teacher or a parent or whatever. What are some of the themes that are running through here? So for example, a prompt that you might run across is, "What do you think the author was doing when she mentioned stars here?" And what I think is really funny is the way that you'll say, "I was putting stars in the sky, but actually the stars can mean something here because the story is smarter than you." So there is this kind of funny thing we do, I think, where we're pointing out amazing things the story is doing, but we are assuming that the author did it on purpose. And I just love how so often when I talk to you, you're like, "No, that would be the story doing it, actually."

Kate DiCamillo (16:05):

Yeah, right. No. And it's just like, I'm not smart enough to do that. And the other thing that is like, it's what makes literature literature, because it's a synergy between the three of us, the reader, the writer, and the story. It's just because the reader brings something, the reader makes it complete, but makes that connection, makes that connection without even realizing sometimes that they're making that connection. It's not a conscious kind of thing.

(16:39):

And it's like, I don't know if I've said this before on here, but it's like, I was a kid who loved to read, and I would read a story in class and then I would turn to the last page, and oh no, here were 10 questions that I had to answer. What does this mean? And it's like, I never wanted to do those. I just wanted to be in the story. And all of those connections, those subterranean connections that are happening because the story is smarter than I am when I'm working, they're also happening when you're reading.

(17:14):

And so you're making those, and you're not even super aware that you're making those connections. And the 10 questions at the end, I'm sure have a place, but-

Sarah Mackenzie (17:26):

Maybe.

Kate DiCamillo (17:28):

... we're in something else. If you sit and talk with a group of people after you read, I think that that is probably more powerful than answering the 10 questions, because then you can, in the process of conversation, you can process what happened to you as you were reading the story.

Sarah Mackenzie (17:50):

Wow. Yeah. I love the way you even just said that, "process what happened to you as you were reading the story," because you are different when you get on page one than you are when you close the book, you're a different person.

Kate DiCamillo (18:00):

Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (18:01):

I don't know if you've ever seen this book. It's an adult book. It's called How to Write One Song.

Kate DiCamillo (18:07):

No, never even heard of it.

Sarah Mackenzie (18:10):

Okay. Okay. I'm not going to say you need to read it. That's a terrible thing to say. I think you might enjoy it.

Kate DiCamillo (18:18):

I'll get it. I love [inaudible 00:18:19].

Sarah Mackenzie (18:18):

Okay. It is called How to Write One Song, and it is written by the musician, Jeff Tweedy, who is, I think, the lead singer of Wilco.

Kate DiCamillo (18:27):

Oh. Oh, yeah. Wilco.

Sarah Mackenzie (18:28):

Yes. Yes. So for our kid listeners and viewers, this is an adult book. But one of the things he talks about in that book is, the best part of being a musician or writing a song is getting lost in the art he's making. And he describes it as a kind of disappearing, like, you kind of disappear into the music. And I feel like he's kind of saying something similar to what you're saying here, is that this art becomes something bigger than yourself and it becomes bigger than something you could have created because that's the power of story. For Jeff, it's the power of music-making, of writing one song where you couldn't have sat down and said, "I'm going to write exactly this," and then just did it. It takes some story-making synergy that we can't really name or qualify.

Kate DiCamillo (19:15):

Right. We can't. No. I mean, and it's ultimately, that goes back to you reading the first page of the afterward in this edition. It's mysterious. And it's frustratingly mysterious to do it. It's like we all want somebody to tell us how to do it, and we don't know. It's a mystery. We do know that it doesn't happen unless you show up and do some work. But how you do that work, how you put aside your ego, how you listen, how you love, how you choose to get the words down on paper, that is absolutely the journey that you go on by yourself as much as you want somebody to tell you how to do it. And boy, that hope that somebody's going to tell you how to do it never goes away.

Sarah Mackenzie (20:13):

Okay.

Kate DiCamillo (20:14):

And how pointless it would be if somebody could tell you exactly how to do it.

Sarah Mackenzie (20:20):

Oh, tell me more about that. What do you mean?

Kate DiCamillo (20:22):

Well, I mean, if somebody said, "Okay, this is the way, the only way, sit down and do this," then all that subterranean work that is going on inside you without you being aware of it disappears and you might as well just be Lucille Ball on the chocolate line at the chocolate factory. It's just a job then.

Sarah Mackenzie (20:53):

Just a repeated motion.

Kate DiCamillo (20:54):

Yeah. It's like, "Okay, I put this here and I put that there and I put that there and I put that there," and the "Whoop, it's a book." And we say it and there's still a part of me that goes, "Oh, that would be nice." Still though, that would be great to know.

Sarah Mackenzie (21:11):

Yeah. But we do have a lot of young writers and not-so-young writers in our community that are listening and watching, and I do think they'd actually enjoy hearing about where you got the initial idea for this book. Where did Edward appear to you first?

Kate DiCamillo (21:26):

Edward was a literal gift. A friend gave me a rabbit doll for Christmas. And when she handed it to me, I said, "What's his name?" And she said, Edward. And I said, "Thank you very much." And I took him home, and I put him on the couch in the living room. He's big, kind of creepy-looking rabbit. And every time I walked into the living room, I screamed because he's just sitting there looking ominous. And then I had a dream about him where he was underwater, face down on the ocean floor without any clothing on, strange little dream. And I thought, "Oh, that would be a good picture book, like, a rabbit who gets lost at sea."

(22:15):

And it was just, I started with that image and I backed it up from there and the whole thing just kind of told itself. And I had been writing long enough at that point that I understood very clearly that what was happening was a gift, but there was also still just plenty of ego in me to think, "Wow, I have figured out how to write a novel now. I am in business. I'm working on the chocolate box assembly line. It's just going great." And of course I hadn't. It was just that one that it just told itself. And every once in a while that will happen, not often.

Sarah Mackenzie (22:57):

So, when you started with that image, I know that a lot of our writers are always kind of trying to figure out, "How much do I want to know about my story before I write it?" which, of course, there's no right answer here and writers do it all sorts of different ways. Do you know? Did you know what was going to happen to Edward?

Kate DiCamillo (23:16):

Oh, no. Yeah, no, and I never know. And that's how Kelly and I ended up becoming friends and doing the podcast, was we were on a panel together and I said something about not outlining a story. And Kelly was next to me and her head whipped around and she said, "What? How can you do it then?" And I'm like, "How can you do it by figuring out what happens? I can't." I'm friends with the adult novelist, Ann Patchett. We've done a lot of stuff on stage together, and this always comes up, "How do I? How do I? How do I?" And we've taken to saying there's only one wrong way to do things, and that's if you feel like you should be telling the story, if you feel like you're a writer and you're not doing it. Otherwise, it is as individual as you, how you get there.

Sarah Mackenzie (24:17):

When you were young, did you know you wanted to write stories?

Kate DiCamillo (24:21):

No. And the times are so different.

Sarah Mackenzie (24:27):

Did you know that anybody wrote stories? That is the first question, right?

Kate DiCamillo (24:30):

Absolutely not. I just didn't think that human beings had anything to do with it. They were too magical. And writers didn't do school visits and there weren't tours like there are now where your parents can take you to see somebody at a bookstore. That wasn't happening. Didn't occur to me. We were writing essays when we were writing in school. Nobody was encouraging you to do creative writing. So it wasn't until college that I thought that I wanted to do it.

Sarah Mackenzie (25:03):

Speaking of meeting authors, I know we've told the story on the podcast, but it's been several years. So I'm going to tell it again, and we'll put this image on our video here for our viewers. The first time I met you in person, ooh, it might be the only time I've met you in person. I'm not sure if that's true or not.

Kate DiCamillo (25:20):

I think it was, yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (25:22):

Yeah, I think it might be. I think all the other times have been right here online. You came to our Spokane community. And I don't remember what book had just come out. It doesn't really matter for the story, but they moved your bookstore event to the library because we needed a bigger space because so many people wanted to come. There was a pretty good crowd that came, and you gave a book talk and answered people's questions, and everybody just... It was so wonderful and life-giving. And at the end, you were signing books. And I think it was Louisiana, actually. I think it was that book coming out. Louisiana's Big Sky or...

Kate DiCamillo (25:57):

Way Home.

Sarah Mackenzie (25:58):

Way Home. Thank you. I'm like, "Wow, that's not the title." Louisiana's Way Home. Yes. Anyway, there's a signing line and we were at the very end of it. And I think my kids, because I talk to authors and illustrators all the time on the podcast, they will think that I just know all these authors and illustrators. And every once in a while they'll be like, "Next time you talk to C.S. Lewis, can you ask him..." And I'll be like, "Wow." So, C.S. Lewis is not alive anymore, but man, would I have loved to interview him.

Kate DiCamillo (26:31):

No kidding. Me too.

Sarah Mackenzie (26:33):

But I think the idea of meeting an author or illustrator, they're kind of like, "Yeah, of course there's authors and illustrators and we can meet them all the time. This is no big deal." I was beside myself with excitement to meet you. So, we are standing at the end of the line, we finally get up there, we get this picture taken, and I think I am staying very calm, cool, and collected. But in this picture, my three kids are all very calm, cool, and collected. And you can see my neck veins popping because I'm smiling so excitedly. It's just the funniest picture.

Kate DiCamillo (27:08):

I remember meeting you in person. I don't remember your neck veins popping. But I do remember you telling me that the last time we did... Yeah, it was just like-

Sarah Mackenzie (27:17):

Yeah.

Kate DiCamillo (27:17):

Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (27:18):

Yeah. Yep. It's quite the... And a friend of mine was like, "Don't you meet authors all the time?" I'm like, "You don't meet Kate DiCamillo all the time. Okay? I waited for a long time in that line to meet her. I was very excited." But I did think I looked cooler than I did. You [inaudible 00:27:36].

Kate DiCamillo (27:35):

[inaudible 00:27:36] something that I have never thought about myself that I looked cooler than I did. I always think, "Fine." All those pictures that get taken, it's like, "Man, I do not want to see one of them." Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (27:51):

Oh my goodness. Well, I know, so, you didn't know you wanted to be a writer, but you were a reader, and your mom read to you, I believe. Yeah?

Kate DiCamillo (27:58):

Yeah. Talk about Ribsy. That's one of my fondest memories, is my mom reading that aloud to my brother and me and the dog. And that was the first time... And this goes to students watching their teacher cry. That was the first time I'd seen an adult cry from laughing so hard.

Sarah Mackenzie (28:20):

[inaudible 00:28:23].

Kate DiCamillo (28:22):

And it was like, "Oh, wow, I didn't know that could happen." So it does that thing again where you see your mother as a person.

Sarah Mackenzie (28:30):

Yeah. Yeah. It's a gift.

Kate DiCamillo (28:32):

Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (28:33):

What books from your childhood do you feel like made the biggest impact on you or even just stick with you?

Kate DiCamillo (28:39):

Oh, and this is still the same way I am as an adult. I loved so many books for so many different reasons. And what sticks with me, and I could just rattle off 20 titles, but the visual image that comes to mind when somebody says, "You as a child reader," is always me in that public library in the small town in Florida where I grew up, it was the Cooper Memorial Public Library and was an old house that was filled with books. And I still dream about that library. It was the utter... I just felt so safe and seen there. And so when somebody says child reader, that's what I envision, is that wonderful library, the way the light came through the windows, how the head librarian came out from behind the desk one day when I was checking out my books, my four books, because that was the maximum that you were allowed. And she said to the librarian who was checking me out, "You may waive the four-book maximum for Kate. She can check out as many books as she likes at a time. She is a true reader." And so it was just like, that's-

Sarah Mackenzie (30:10):

Your identity was [inaudible 00:30:12].

Kate DiCamillo (30:11):

Yeah, that's when I knew who I was. Yeah.

Sarah Mackenzie (30:15):

I love it. Well, I am just absolutely delighted for people to get this collector's edition in their hands. I have a feeling a lot of families, even who have read it aloud before, are going to be rereading it. And the beautiful thing about a reread is that because... Like we were talking about earlier, you're a different person at the end of the book than you were at the beginning. You never read the same book twice. Somebody famous said that line. I can't remember who, but you never do. You never read the same book twice because you're a different person. And since the reader is that third part of the story you were talking about.

Kate DiCamillo (30:50):

What a gift this has been. Thank you.

Sarah Mackenzie (30:52):

Thank you so much, Kate. Oh my goodness. You know what? I have just absolutely loved this episode. I hope you have, too. If you're not subscribed to this podcast in your podcast player and on YouTube, do that so you don't miss any new episodes. It's also a great way to help us get this podcast out in front of more families who are wanting to make meaningful and lasting connections with their kids through books. Well, now let's go hear from the kids about the books that they're reading and loving right now.

Sophie (31:28):

Hi, my name is Sophie.

Sarah Mackenzie (31:32):

How old are you?

Sophie (31:34):

Five.

Sarah Mackenzie (31:35):

And where are you from?

Sophie (31:36):

Bogotá, Colombia.

Sarah Mackenzie (31:38):

What book do you recommend?

Sophie (31:39):

I recommend the book of Fancy Nancy.

Sarah Mackenzie (31:40):

Why?

Sophie (31:47):

Because she's fancy and she speaks French and she does ballet. Bye.

Sam (31:59):

Hi, my name is Sam. I'm seven years old. I'm from Bogotá, Colombia. My favorite series of books is called Magic Tree House. Jack and Annie goes on all sorts of adventures with each other and they go on, and Morgan le Fay puts notes in a book so that they know that and they read the note and they say, "Hey, I wish we could go there." Bye.

Isaac (32:36):

Hi, I'm Isaac. I'm nine years old. I live in Bogotá, Colombia, which is in South America. And well, my favorite books are Science Comics: Periodic Table and Science Comics: Electricity. I like Science Comics: Electricity because there's some engineering in it, and they do baseball cards, and there's a ton of them. And I like the Periodic Table because it's like a quest where all the elements are flash alive from your eyes, and one of the Elemancer, Hydrogen, and he's with that, and they go on a quest to stop elements from destroying it. Done.

Sarah Mackenzie (33:43):

Thank you so very much, kids. Thanks so much for joining me. I'll be back in another couple of weeks with another episode for you. In the meantime, you know what to do. Go make meaningful and lasting connections with your kids through books.