On this week’s episode, 12 year old Brooklynite, Irthan joins forces with the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Jason Reynolds, to grow his story seed about an earthworm that turns into a human every 28 days, on the night of a full moon. Join Irthan and Jason as they meet up at the Youth Wing of the central branch of Brooklyn Public Library where they get to know each other and plant the seeds for their collaboration which explores music, social justice, and being seen. Then, sit back and listen to the lyrical and timely short story, "Hoo and Wut," that Jason grew out of Irthan’s idea. Before You Listen: You should know that Jason and Irthan talk about police violence during their meeting (15:10). If you haven't already talked to your child about this subject, they may have some questions for you after hearing this episode.
This week’s Story Seeds collaboration brings together 12 year old Irthan and the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Jason Reynolds (poet, storyteller, National Book Award finalist, Newbery Honoree, and New York Times best-selling author.) Jason's latest work is Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, a Remix of the National Book Award-winning book by Dr. Ibram X. Kendi. As National Ambassador, he recently started the Grab the Mic platform which empowers young people to share their own personal stories.
Jason sat down with 12 year old Irthan at Brooklyn Public Library to grow this story idea:
A worm becomes human at the stroke of midnight. Kind of like werewolves, but the opposite. Why a worm? Because worms are the least popular. Barely anybody talks about worms. A worm would be interesting and it would put them on an equal status with all the other bugs.
Join our host Betsy Bird as she introduces you to Jason and Irthan and sets the scene for an episode where:
The episode concludes with this week’s storytime (25:15) where Jason reads the story, "Hoo and Wut," that he grew from Irthan’s story seed.
This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here.
Additional Information
Books mentioned in this episode: Ghost by Jason Reynolds. Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds and Dr. Ibram X. Kendi.
Musicians mentioned in this episode: R David R, Jack White, Bob Marley
Media mentioned in the episode: Write. Right. Rite. video series by Jason Reynolds for The Library of Congress. Minecraft. Spongebob Squarepants.
Calls to Action
Bonus Episode: Check back next Thursday to hear Betsy's bonus interview with Jason. You’ll get to hear about his approach to writing and he also shares his tips.
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!) Our zines 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.
Get our Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity activity book! It pairs perfectly with the podcast and features tons of episode-inspired prompts and projects! Order your copy here!
Support Us
Visit our recently launched glow.fm page where you can support The Story Seeds Podcast on a recurring or one-time basis. Your donation - large or small - will help us create more episodes of the show and give us the ability to provide opportunities for more kids from around the world to participate in Story Seeds.
Show credits
The Story Seeds Podcast is Literary Safari production, created and executive produced by Sandhya Nankani. This episode was produced and written by Anjali Sakhrani with Kayla Fedeson. Scoring, mixing, and sound design by Ania Grzesik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Field audio recorded by James Boo. Hosted by Betsy Bird. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT.
The music at the start of Irthan and Jason's conversation is titled Brass Song and was composed by Irthan himself!
Visit us at www.storyseedspodcast.com