The Story Seeds Podcast

Listen along as host Betsy Bird and Newbery Award-winning Katherine Applegate have a fun and heartwarming conversation about what it was like working with 9 year old Jocelyn in a special presentation of The Story Seeds Podcast which raises awareness of childhood cancer. In the interview, Betsy and Katherine:Talk about what it was like working with Jocelyn and learning about her cancer journey [04:19]Discuss how Jane Goodall and Greta Thunberg inspired Katherine’s new eco-fable Willodeen [12:37]Get witty and silly in a fun rapid fire q&a! [17:01]This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. Additional InformationBooks mentioned in this episode: the Animorphs series by Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant. Willodeen, the Endling series, and The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White.Calls to ActionVisit www.storyseedspodcast.com to download a companion printable activity kit for this episode. You can also order a copy of our NYTimes Wirecutter-approved Imagination Lab activity book! Follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari. Show creditsThe Story Seeds Podcast is Literary Safari production, created and executive produced by Sandhya Nankani. This episode was produced by her and Anjali Sakhrani. Scoring, mixing, and sound design by Ultraviolet Audio. Hosted by Betsy Bird. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT. This episode is sponsored by Macmillan Children's Publishing. Special thanks to Joseph Tisdall for post-production support.

Priyanka and Riya are best friends. Morgan and Mercedes are daughter and mother. They are just four of the voices you will hear in this montage of eight short interviews created by kids ages 8-15 during the inaugural Story Seeds On Air Summer 2021 Podcasting Camp where aspiring podcasters learned from expert guests and each other the art and technical skills they need to amplify their voices and broadcast their ideas into community conversations big and small. In these interviews, campers from around the United States ask intimate questions of people they know very well, and in the process capture moments of curiosity, lifelong passions, and new perspectives on the familiar while creating memorable oral histories. Queens, New York neighbors and best friends Riya, age 9, and Priyanka, age 12 ask each other questions about their favorite things.Seattle-based Anna, age 8, interviews her mother, Merideth, about her love of podcasts and the podcast platform, Storitopia, that she is brewing.New Jersey-based Ella, age 15, interviews her mother, Jennifer, about her memories of learning to cook and hairspray cooking mishaps!Philadelphia-based Ahan, age 13, interviews his mother Madhusmita, about her stories from her career as a dancer in the 500 year old Sattriya dance tradition from Assam (India).Harlem, New York-based Shalini, age 10, interviews her mother Swati, a writer, educator, and artist, about her interests and her passion for podcastingNew Jersey-based Amrita, age 12, interviews her mother, Sandhya (creator of The Story Seeds Podcast), about the music she loved to listen to when she was her age and the role music plays in her lifeAlaska-based Morgan, age 10, interviews her mother, Mercedes about the moment in her childhood that she realized her passion was writing and how she puts that passion into practice in her life and workLinks to Interview Mentions :Riya's favorite TV shows: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, and Miraculous Tales of Lady bug & Cat NoirPriyanka's favorite books: Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel series from Dark Horse Comics and the Harry Potter series by JK RowlingAnna's mom's podcast platform: StoritopiaAhan's mom's dance company: Sattriya Dance CompanyShalini's mom's art and writing: SwatiKhurana.comAmrita's mom's favorite radio station: 90.7 WFUV Two pieces of writing by Morgan's mom: A poem in Literary Mama and an essay in The Anchorage Daily NewsThis special episode of The Story Seeds Podcast is produced by Claudia Haines and Ella Rose Frankel. Editing and sound design is by Alyssa Baptiste. Story Seeds is a Literary Safari production and will be back on October 28 with a new episode presented by Macmillan Publishing, featuring Katherine Applegate, author of The One and Only Ivan and her new book Willodeen.Follow Story Seeds on Instagram @storyseedspod and on Twitter @litsafarimedia Learn more about our podcasting classes & camps at www.storyseedspodcast.com/classesOrder our Wirecutter/New York Times featured activity book Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity

Who says podcasts are just for listening? Our activity book is ideal for at home fun, distance learning, or the classroom, and brings together the best of a magazine, workbook, and journal. It features over 80 pages of episode inspired, screen-free prompts and projects. Scan the QR codes inside to blast off on your interactive listening adventures!Now available to order. Get your copy here. We also have single activity kits for each episode. Browse here.Show creditsThe Story Seeds Podcast is a Literary Safari production, created and executive produced by Sandhya Nankani. Music CreditsMusic by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT.

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:Irthan shows Jason his YouTube videos of him playing the drumsThey talk about Spongebob, Minecraft, and music that inspires themThey hash out some important details about Irthan's story seedThey connect over their common observations as young Black men in America todayJason chronicles his writing process and reflects on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy and Irthan's story seed as a metaphor for social justiceThe 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 InformationBooks 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 MarleyMedia mentioned in the episode: Write. Right. Rite. video series by Jason Reynolds for The Library of Congress. Minecraft. Spongebob Squarepants. Calls to ActionBonus 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 UsVisit 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 creditsThe 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

This week’s Story Seeds collaboration brings together 11 year old Keshav and Bil Lepp (professional storyteller, five-time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Competition and author of the 2014 PEN award-winning The King of Little Things.)Bil helps Keshav grow this story idea:Once there was a cow, a bunny and a fox. There was also a bad wolf who liked eating up people's houses. The cow made a house out of ice cream, the bunny made a chocolate egg house and the fox made his house out of red hot chilies. Now the wolf, being very greedy. Loved ice cream. So he went to the cows house and ate it all up and was now ready to eat the cow. The cow got away and ran to the bunny house. The wolf followed him there. And when he got to the bunny house, he said, mm hmm. Delicious chocolate. And so we went and ate at all. Now the bunny and the cow was scared half to death. So they ran to the fox’s house. The wolf was still hungry because he was a big bad wolf. So he, too, went to the foxes house. You took one bite out of the chilies, up out of the chili house and burned his mouth. He ran away, never to be seen again.Listen along to this Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as Keshav and Bil:Develop the backstories for their three main characters and discuss why they chose to build their houses out of ice cream, chocolates, and chilisGet inspired by their visit to Jacques Torres chocolate shop in NYC and sample a selection of their chocolate bon-bons for "research"Look at chilis of all shapes and sizes and ultimately decide there's no need to try any of those in order to grow this story seed!Cook up a quintessential fairytale but with a spicy kick, starring: a cow with a love for ice cream, a bunny with a sweet-tooth for chocolate, a fiery fox with a penchant for chilis, and a big bad wolf!The episode concludes with this week’s storytime (19:24) where Bil reads the story he grew from Keshav's story seed: Not By the Hare in My Chili Pepper Den . Stories mentioned in this episode: Three Little Pigs, Henny Penny, Chicken Little, Aesop’s Fables, Anansi Tales, Panchatantra, Grimm Brothers’ Fairy Tales, The King of Little Things by Bill Lepp Calls to ActionBonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Bil. You’ll get to hear what it’s like to be a 21st century storyteller and Bil also shares a few hilarious anecdotes, including one about his former life as a preacher. 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. 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!This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. Support UsVisit 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 creditsProduced and written by Sandhya Nankani and Anjali Sakhrani. Our Associate Producer is Kayla Fedeson. Scoring, mixing, and sound design by Ania Grzesik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Field audio recorded by Nathan Miller. Hosted by Betsy Bird. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT.The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com

This week’s Story Seeds collaboration brings together 12 year old Sulaf and Susan Muaddi Darraj (author of the new middle grade series Farah Rocks and a 2014 AWP Grace Paley Award, 2016 American Book Award, and 2016 Arab American Book Award winner) on a field trip to the Riverside Theater in New York City. Susan helps Sulaf grow this story idea:A young girl who lives in New York City and works in the theater district realizes there is a very dark secret hidden at the show she's working on. Follow Sulaf and Susan's thrill-filled Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as:Sulaf tells Susan her wish of seeing a story about an Arab-American girl who looks like her and represents not only her cultural background but her love of the theatre tooThey talk about the Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop's metaphor on how children's books should be be mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors for readersThey geek out over their mutual love of Agatha Christie mysteries and Edgar Allen Poe's The RavenThey grow a story inspired by their back stage tour of the Riverside TheaterThe episode concludes with this week’s storytime (17:40) where Susan reads the story she grew from Sulaf’s story seed: Mystery at the TheatreBooks and media mentioned in this episode: Farah Rocks series by Susan Muaddi Darraj, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. Musicals and Plays: The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe.Calls to ActionBonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Susan where you'll get to find out whodunnit!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. 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!This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. Support UsHey Listeners! Looking for ways to support our show? Well, now you can! 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 creditsProduced and written by Kayla Fedeson, Sandhya Nankani, and Anjali Sakhrani. 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 Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com

This week’s quarantine edition of Story Seeds brings together two super imaginative Jersey girls: Tracey Baptiste (New York Times bestselling author of MINECRAFT: THE CRASH, as well as the creepy Caribbean series THE JUMBIES) and Amalia Tsampalis (age 12). Tracey helps Amalia grow this story idea:An athletic 12 year old girl loves to climb trees. Maybe this tree she loves to climb is in her backyard. It's really tall and there's not a lot of branches left. The personality of the tree is old and wise, and it's purposely losing its branches because it wants to create a challenge for the girl. Follow this adventure as Story Seeds creator Sandhya Nankani sits in for Betsy Bird to host Tracey and Amalia’s virtual collaboration via video chat where:They explore the power of nonverbal communication and brainstorm ideas for a wise tree characterThey create an athletic, strong, girl characterThey discover they both have Trinidadian roots and share stories about celebrating carnivalAmalia requests Tracey to weave her experiences of breaking an arm into the storyTracey documents her writing process in a series of voice memo diariesThe episode concludes with this week’s story time (20:25) where Tracey reads the story she grew from Amalia’s story seed: Joy’s Challenge.Books and media mentioned in this episode: THE JUMBIES by Tracey Baptiste and THE MAGIC TREEHOUSE series by Mary Pope Osborne.Calls to ActionBonus Episode: Betsy Bird is back next week to interview Tracey so do tune in to hear them chat about writing and staying creative in quarantine.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. 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!Hey Listeners! Looking for ways to support our show? Well, now you can! 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. This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. Show creditsThis episode was produced and hosted by Sandhya Nankani. Co-producers are Anjali Sakhrani and Kayla Fedeson. Sound mixing, design, and score is by Ania Grezsik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT. The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com

This week’s Story Seeds collaboration matches Carlos Hernandez (winner of the 2020 Pura Belpré Author Award and author of the Sal and Gabi series from Rick Riordan Presents) with 10 year old twins Siri and Zarana.Carlos collaborates with Siri and Zarana to grow their story idea:A girl who really loves to paint get a magic paintbrush from her kooky aunt on her 10th birthday. She uses it to paint the animals she loves, but it turns out that her imagination is opening up doorways to a locked, magical world that’s letting the animals from her paintings out into the real world.Join an imagination-filled Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as Carlos and the twins take a field trip to the Children's Museum of the Arts NYC to: Create clay landscapes in CMA's art studios while talking about silhouette painting and creativityDiscuss their inspiration for the story idea: the power of imagination and screentimeGrow a story about a main character who discovers what happens when she unleashes her anger and lets it take control of her creativityThe episode concludes with this week’s storytime (17:00) where Carlos reads the story he grew from Siri and Zarana’s story seed: Citaria’s Paintbrush.Books and media mentioned in this episode: Sal and Gabi Break the Universe and Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe by Carlos Hernandez, A Wrinkle in Time by Margaret L'Engle, The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, and His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman.Calls to ActionBonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Carlos. You’ll get to hear more about his life as an author and a game designer.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. 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!This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. Show creditsProduced and written by Sandhya Nankani, Anjali Sakhrani, and 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 Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com

This week’s Story Seeds collaboration brings together 12 year old creative rockstar Liyana and Rajani LaRocca, author of the 2019 middle-grade hit Midsummer’s Mayhem (a Kirkus Best Book of 2019 and a Must Reads in the 2020 Massachusetts Book Awards) .Rajani helps Liyana grow this story seed:A girl who doesn’t fit in with her family of celebrities (her mom is a Bangladeshi supermodel and her dad is a Japanese soccer player) gets a magic mirror from a fairyFollow this magical Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as Rajani and Liyana: Go on a hunt at a New York City antique store to find an (almost) magic mirrorTalk about the 3 key ingredients for an excellent urban fairytale: fairies, fantasy, and foodCelebrate and represent biracial characters inspired by Liyana’s heritageThe episode concludes with this week’s storytime (15:49) where Rajani reads the story she grew from Liyana’s story seed: Aina and the Mirror.Books and media mentioned in this episode: Snow White by the Brothers Grimm, Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, Harry Potter by JK Rowling, Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca, Little Women by Louisa May AlcottFood mentioned in this episode: channachur, okra, hot dogs, pizza, and doughnutsCalls to ActionBonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Rajani. You’ll get to hear about not only her writing career, but wait ... guys ... she’s a doctor too!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!). 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!This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. Show creditsProduced and written by Sandhya Nankani, Anjali Sakhrani, and 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 Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com

This week’s Story Seeds collaboration brings together 7 year old creative rockstar Cici and Aram Kim, Elmhurst Queens-based Korean-American author and illustrator of Bank Street’s Best Children’s Book of 2018 "No Kimchi for Me." Aram Kim helps Cici grow this story seed about:Electric Kitty, a superhero who floats on blasts of light and fights evil electric things that try to take her superpowers.Follow along on an electrifying Story Seeds adventure with our host Betsy Bird as she introduces listeners to the genre of superhero stories, and as Aram Kim: Visits Cici’s home in Jackson Heights, Queens to meet her cat Nola, the inspiration behind Electric KittyHelps Cici develop Electric Kitty's character and superhero origin story using the 5Ws of storytellingInvites Cici to design and illustrate Electric Kitty’s boots-a-blazin' lookChronicles her own creative process and creates a tale about Electric Kitty’s face off with a menacing wind monster who wraps their Queens neighborhood in darknessThe episode concludes with a storytime segment (16:29) where Aram, reads the original story she grew from Cici’s story seed: "Adventures of Electric Kitty: The Blackout."Books and media mentioned in this episode: Cat on the Bus, No Kimchi for Me, and Let's Go to Taekwondo by Aram Kim. Songs: "There's a Platypus Controlling Me” - Phineas and Ferb. Comic Books: Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Black Panther.Calls to ActionBonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Aram. You'll get to go behind the scenes and hear how Aram got her start as a writer.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.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!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!). You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari. This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. Show creditsProduced and written by Sandhya Nankani and Anjali Sakhrani. Kayla Fedeson is our Associate Producer. 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 Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com

This week’s Story Seeds collaboration follows the one and only Chris Grabenstein, author of the NYTimes best-selling Mr. Lemoncello's Library series, and creative rockstar Jasper! Chris Grabenstein helps Jasper grow this idea:A story about a 74 foot tall mystery solver.Follow this special Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as: Chris invites Jasper over to his NYC apartment to chat about his giant story seed which is about a 12 year old boy detective named Zeta Zingone who is 74 feet tallThey talk about how to root even the wackiest and wildest storytelling ideas in logic and factsThey get a view from Chris' rooftop deck and imagine what it’s like to be 74 feet tallThe episode concludes with this week’s storytime segment (15:55) where Chris reads the story he grew from Jasper’s story seed: The World’s Biggest Detective.Last but not least, this episode was recorded when Jasper was 12 years old. He is now 13, a proud teenager. Books mentioned in this episode: Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein. Tall Tales: Jack and the Beanstalk, Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, John Henry, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind. Calls to ActionBonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Chris Grabenstein. He talks about getting his start by writing for the school newspaper and shares tips on how to write a great mystery.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!). 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!This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. Show creditsProduced and written by Sandhya Nankani and Anjali Sakhrani. Kayla Fedeson is our Associate Producer. Scoring, mixing, and sound design by Ania Grzesik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Field audio recorded by Nathan Miller. Hosted by Betsy Bird. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT. The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com

This week’s Story Seeds collaboration follows Veera Hiranandani, author of the Newbery Honor winning novel The Night Diary, and 10 year old creative rockstar Willa! Veera Hiranandani helps Willa grow this story seed about:A girl and her mom live in the middle of the woods in a small cottage. She's never gone to school but she's learned all her school subjects through her surroundings. Suddenly, they were beginning to lose money, so her mom decides that she needs to get a job, and her daughter needs to go to a real school. This is a huge change for her, and she has to find a way to fit in in her new school.Follow Veera and Willa's Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as they: Meet in person and go on a tour of Willa’s school, The Blue School, in downtown New York CityBrainstorm ideas for Willa’s story seed and compare notes about their school experiencesChat about the importance of names and what it feels like to be a fish out of waterHash out the inciting incidentThe episode concludes with this week’s storytime segment (13:00) where our featured author, Veera Hiranandani, reads the story she grew from Willa’s story seed: Under the Maple TreeBooks mentioned in this episode: The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani. Calls to ActionBonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Veera Hiranandani. You’ll get to hear about how she made her start as a writer and her secret connection to Dora the Explorer!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! 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!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!). You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari. This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. Show credits: Produced and written by Sandhya Nankani and Anjali Sakhrani. Kayla Fedeson is our Associate Producer. Scoring, mixing, and sound design is by Ania Grzesik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Field audio was recorded by Julia Botero. Our host is Betsy Bird. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMTThe Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com