On this bonus episode, host Betsy Bird chats with Bil Lepp (five-time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Competition and author of the 2014 PEN award-winning picture book, THE KING OF LITTLE THINGS) about his collaboration with 11 year old Keshav in last week’s episode, “Look Before You Eat.” They talk about the ins and outs of performing as a professional storyteller, his former life as a pastor, and Bil shares a handful of neat tips for telling a good story, both out loud and on paper.
Listen along as The Story Seeds Podcast host Betsy Bird chats with Bil Lepp (five-time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Competition and author of the 2014 PEN award-winning picture book, THE KING OF LITTLE THINGS.) They go behind the scenes and talk about what it was like working with 11 year old Keshav in Episode 9 “Look Before You Eat” to grow his fractured fairytale of a story seed about a cow with an ice cream house, a bunny with a chocolate abode, a fox with a chili pepper den, and a big bad wolf hungry to eat them all!
Bil also shares lots of valuable advice for young writers and our listeners. Among them is a quick way to get writing: reimagine a story you already know but from another character’s perspective, you'll find a new story born out of it.
Stories mentioned in this episode: The King of Little Things by Bil Lepp. Three Billy Goats Gruff. Humpty Dumpty. Little Red Riding Hood.
Cartoons and Movies: Looney Tunes and Lawrence of Arabia
Bil’s Podshow: Click here
Calls to Action
Kids: Call The Story Seeds Hotline at 646-389-5153, email us at storyseeds@literarysafari.com, or visit our website to submit your story ideas. You can also join The Story Seeds Society, our kids listeners club.
Grownups: Visit www.storyseedspodcast.com for subscription links, to sign up for our newsletter, and to download our printable activity e-zines for your kids (or the kid in you!) that offer opportunities to read, write, and get creative alongside listening to each episode . You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari.
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Show credits
Credit to Matt Boynton and Ania Grzesik of Ultraviolet Audio for the sound mixing, design, and score of our bonus episode. Our theme music is composed and performed by Andrew VanWyngarden.
The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com