Episode #102: Chop Suey 3! 100-second Challenge, Letting Go, Pandemic Learnings, Kid Misunderstandings, and Book Recs!
Welcome to the third Chop Suey! Book Friends Forever episode. On these special episodes, a random mix of topics are covered. This week, Grace and Alvina check in on their 100-second-a-day for 100 days challenge, talk more about when they had to let go of publishing related things, share three lessons they learned from the pandemic, laugh about things kids misunderstand, and welcome Alison Morris's book recommendations.
As usual, they begin each episode catching up and chatting about what’s going on in their lives. Grace talks about the daylight savings time, social media as an illustrator, and being in “the slog” part of the writing/creating process.
Alvina was recently invited into a school classroom via zoom to talk about, “A Year of the Dog”. The students were reading the book and had some fun and interesting questions about the characters!
1st topic: Checking in on “100 seconds for 100 days Challenge!” How is it going? Grace is working on push-ups while Alvina focuses on meditation and breathing exercises.
2nd topic: Back in Episode # 99, the book friends talked about “letting go” of thing personally speaking. In today’s episode, they re-visit the conversation to discuss “letting go” of things related to work.
3rd topic: On the one-year anniversary of the pandemic, Grace and Alvina share three personal lessons learned from the pandemic involving slowing down and finding love.
4th topic: The book friends share some funny stories about those times when kids misinterpret things.
5th topic: Book recommendations from Alison Morris! “What should we be reading?”
In honor of Women’s History Month, there are two picture books recommended:
Maryam’s Magic: The Story of Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani by Megan Reid and illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel
The Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee by Julie Leung and illustrated by Julie Kwon.
Other recommendations:
Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Jeff Gottesfeld and illustrated by Matt Tavares.
The Lost Package by Richard Ho and illustrated by Jessica Lanan
If you enjoyed They Didn’t Teach This in Worm School, you may like these books!:
Real Pigeons Fight Crime by Andrew McDonald and illustrated by Ben Wood.
The End of the Beginning by Avi and illustrated by Tricia Tusa
Thank you Alison!
Alison Morris is a nationally recognized children's book buyer with an infectious enthusiasm for reading and 20 years' experience matching books to readers. As the Senior Director of Title Selection for nonprofit First Book, she oversees the curation of children’s and young adult books on the First Book Marketplace, hand-selecting a diverse range of titles that speak to and address the needs of kids in underserved communities, with a keen eye to inclusion, authenticity, and kid-appeal. She previously served as Senior Editor at Scholastic Book Clubs, Children's Book Buyer for Wellesley Booksmith and The Dartmouth Bookstore, and was the founding blogger of the ShelfTalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly. She'll be joining us from her home near Washington, DC where she spends LOTS of time discussing books with her husband, illustrator and graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.
What are we grateful for this week?
Alvina is grateful for the Allen vs. Farrow documentary. She highly recommends this compelling story! Grace has been feeling grateful for the daughter’s school pod that is now coming to an end. As promised, the book friends share a BFF Patreon member’s grateful: Kathy Lynn says she is grateful for sunshine and good weather out in Southern California!
Thank you for tuning in! Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)
You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and @Alvinaling on Instagram
You can find Grace @Pacylin on Facebook and Instagram
Alison Morris is @AlisonLMorris on Twitter and @kidlitgirl on Instagram
*If you’re a patron, don’t forget to check out this week’s Random Questions feed! Grace Lin and Heidi EY Stemple answer, What part of a kid’s movie completely scarred you? Click here to listen! If you’re not a patron already, join today!
