Episode #122: Why do you like books so much? with Minh Lê
Welcome back! Today on Kids Ask Authors, we are joined by author Minh Lê! Minh and Grace will answer a wonderful kid question, “Why do you like books so much?” Thanks for listening in!
TRANSCRIPTS:
Grace Lin: Hello, I'm Grace Lin, children's book author and illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel, When the Sea Turned to Silver, and the picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star. Today, I'm here with Minh Lê the author of The Green Lantern Legacy graphic novel with Andie Tong, as well as picture books, such as Lift and Drawn Together, both, illustrated by Dan Santat. The art from Drawn Together is actually featured in the picture book exhibit, Asians Everyday, which you can now see online. Hi, Minh.
Minh Le: Hi, how are you doing? Thanks so much for having me.
Grace Lin: Oh, thanks for being on. Are you ready for today's kid question?
Minh Le: I am ready. Hit me.
Grace Lin: Okay. Today's kid question is from a kid, named Sylvia, and Sylvia asks, "Why do you like books so much?"
Sylvia: Why do you like books so much?
Minh Le: Oh, that's a great question, because that's at the heart of why I'm an author. As a kid, I was a big reader, and I was very shy. So, I always had my nose in a book, and I thought of books as my escape from the world, and so what's interesting now is that while they were an escape from the world before, now, as an author, books have become my way back into the world, and they've been the way I engage with people, whether they're young readers or old readers, and it's been really wonderful to see that turn. I tell people a lot of times that I think of it as, as a reader, books were my way of connecting with myself, reading these stories and learning something about myself by how I read them and how I interpreted them. But now as a writer, books are my way of connecting with other people. So when I go to talk to kids in schools, it's such a wonderful way to get to connect through the magic of a story.
Grace Lin: Yeah. I love how you put that. That's so wonderful, and I related so much to what you were saying because when I was younger, as well, I felt very out of it, as a child or as a kid, and I felt like I didn't have a lot of friends, but I felt like books were my friends. I felt like the characters in those books were my friends, and that's why I loved books so much, and it's so funny how you talk about, now as an adult writing books, they're your way of going back in the world, and I kind of feel similarly, like, "Oh, wow. Yeah. The way that I make friends now, it's not just the friends, the characters in the books, but it's real life through my books." Because I write books, I can make friends. So, it is very interesting and such a great circle. I love how you put that.
Minh Le: Oh, thanks. Yeah, it's interesting because as a Vietnamese-American growing up in Connecticut, I often felt like I was caught between worlds, and so I always joked that I eventually found a world that felt comfortable to me and that was the world of books. But now as you get older, you develop and find a community of people who love books, too, and that becomes a way of engaging, a way of finding community again, which is a really wonderful thing.
Grace Lin: Yeah, definitely. Wow, what a great way of putting it. So, that's great. Thanks so much, Minh, for answering this question so beautifully, and thank you, Sylvia, for asking such a great question.
Minh Le: Yes. Thank you, Sylvia.
Grace Lin: Bye.
Minh Le: Bye.
Today’s KID BOOK REVIEW: Today’s kid book review comes from Viviana! Vivianna is reviewing Lift by Minh Lê and illustrated by Dan Santat.
Hello, my name is Vivianna. The book I would like to talk about is Lift by Minh Lê. Lift is a book about a girl named Iris who loves pushing the elevator buttons in her building. But on Thursday her brother gets to push the buttons. Same with Friday. Then...Iris pushes all the buttons and everyone yells at her. Ding ding ding. The elevator is broken. Then she sees an old elevator button in a trash can. At home when she pushes the button it takes her to another world. Eventually, she lets her brother join her in this imaginary world. I recommend this book for people with a lot of creativity.
Thank you so much Vivianna!
More about today’s authors:
Minh Lê is the author of the picture books Lift (Eisner Award nominee) and Drawn Together (winner of the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature) illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, Let Me Finish! (named an NPR Best Book of 2016) illustrated by Isabel Roxas, and The Perfect Seat illustrated by Gus Gordon (all published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). He also wrote Green Lantern: Legacy, a middle grade graphic novel (illustrated by Andie Tong) for DC Comics. In addition to writing books, he serves on the Board of We Need Diverse Books, is on the faculty of the Hamline MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults, and has written for a variety of publications, including the New York Times, The Horn Book, NPR, and HuffPost.
Grace Lin, a NY Times bestselling author/ illustrator, won the Newbery Honor for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and her picture book, A Big Mooncake for Little Star, was awarded the Caldecott Honor. Grace is an occasional commentator for New England Public Radio , a video essayist for PBS NewsHour (here & here), and the speaker of the popular TEDx talk, The Windows and Mirrors of Your Child’s Bookshelf. She is the co-host of the podcast Book Friends Forever, a kidlit podcast about friendship and publishing (geared for adults). Find her facebook, instagram , twitter ( @pacylin) or sign up for her author newsletter HERE.
Please visit the Asians, Everyday exhibit found online at the Carle Museum featuring Minh Lê!
“Award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Grace Lin curated this online exhibition, launched May 2021 in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Asians, Everyday showcases positive Asian American representation. The selected artworks and books, featuring contemporary characters and stories, celebrate our common humanity by depicting Asian Americans living their everyday lives.”
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