Episode 16: What was your dream job when you were younger? -with Andrea Davis Pinkney
Welcome to episode 16! What was your dream job when you were younger? Author Andrea Davis Pinkney joins us!
TRANSCRIPT:
Grace Lin: Hello. I'm Grace Lin, children's book author illustrator of many books, including the middle grade novel, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, and the picture book, A Big Moon Cake for Little Star. Today I am here with Andrea Davis Pinkney, the author of A Poem for Peter, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Luke Venture, and Sit In, a picture book illustrated by Brian Pinkney, as well as the middle grade novel, The Red Pencil, with illustrations by Shane Evans, and the upcoming book, Loretta Little Looks Back, which will be available in September, 2020.
Hi, Andrea. How are you doing?
Andrew Davis Pinkney: Hello, Grace. I'm doing great. I'm doing great.
Grace Lin: So happy to have you on today.
Andrew Davis Pinkney: Thank you.
Grace Lin: Are you ready for today's question?
Andrew Davis Pinkney: I'm ready.
Grace Lin: Okay. Today's question is from a person named Cole, and they ask:
Cole: What was your dream job when you were younger?
Grace Lin: What were your dream jobs when you were younger?
Andrew Davis Pinkney: Cole, that is a marvelous question. When I was a kid, more than anything, I wanted to be on the Broadway stage. And you know what? In a way, writing books is like that, because I can put lines into the mouths of characters and I can bring them out onto the page and they can tell you their stories in the same way the actors do on Broadway. So, I kind of have my dream job now. I just do it in the form of writing.
Grace Lin: Wow, that's really fun. When I was younger, one of my dream job, what I really wanted to be, was I wanted to be an Olympic gold medalist in ice skating. It wasn't just any kind of medalist, it had to be the gold medalist.
Andrew Davis Pinkney: The gold medalist with ice skating. Well, you are a gold medalist in many ways, Grace, so I guess it all comes around in the end.
Grace Lin: I think, for me, I remember I used to draw pictures of myself on the ice during the summertime and wearing that gold medal, and then when the winter came, I remember finally getting on the ice and trying to ice skate and then falling flat on my face and then realizing, "Hey, I kind of don't like ice skating so much after all." And then going home and seeing my pictures and realizing that, "Hey, I think I like drawing myself ice skating better than actually ice skating myself." So, I think that's where I turned to illustration as a career focus from there.
Andrew Davis Pinkney: Well, it's much safer, actually, to draw yourself on the ice than to slip around and slide and risk falling.
Grace Lin: Yeah, and it's also a lot easier to make yourself do amazing things when you're drawing versus when you're actually having to do it.
Andrew Davis Pinkney: Really true. Really true.
Grace Lin: Did you ever sing in musicals and things?
Andrew Davis Pinkney: Well, when I was little, my parents brought me to New York City, and I remember my first Broadway show was a show called Hello Dolly, and a woman in a beautiful dress comes down a grand stairway and a chorus is singing, "Hello Dolly." I remember sitting in that audience thinking, "My life has changed after seeing this performance," so that every time I came down a staircase I was singing, "Hello Dolly." Right? It was just fun to dream that and imagine it. And again, it's what we do in our books. We kind of put our characters in settings and let them talk to readers. In fact, the new book that you mentioned, Loretta Little Looks Back is a series of monologues. So, it's characters coming onto, again, a "stage" and talking to the reader. So, again, I guess it all came around in the end.
Grace Lin: Oh, it did. That's so neat. So, it kind of shows that your love of a theater and wanting to be on Broadway has come out in your books now too. That's so fun.
Andrew Davis Pinkney: Right, yeah.
Grace Lin: Well, that's great. Well, thank you so much Cole for your question, and thank you so much, Andrea, for answering it.
Andrew Davis Pinkney: Thank you, Cole, and thanks for the great question.
Grace Lin: Wasn't that great? If you would like to learn more about today's author, please go to our website, kidsaskauthors.com for more information. Special thanks to the High Five Books and Art Always bookstore, and Ms. Carlton's second grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews. Grownups, remember, if you know a kid that has a question, a book review, a short story, a poem, or even a joke they would like to share on this podcast, please submit it to kidsaskauthors.com, and if you would like to reach me, you can sign up for my authors newsletter by clicking on the little link icon at the top of the kidsaskauthors.com page, or follow me on Twitter and Instagram where I use the handle @paceylin. Also, if you enjoy this podcast, please spread the word. Tell your friends and colleagues to listen, and of course, please leave a review on iTunes. That really helps me know that you like what we're doing so we can keep doing it. Now we'll close this episode with a kid book review.
Today’s Book Review:
Today’s book review comes from Elaine!
The Book I want to talk about is Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen by Debbi Michiko Florence. This book is about Jasmine getting ready for the new year with her family. Jasmine wants to help pound the mochi, but she's not old enough to help make the mochi, and pounding mochi is usually a boy's job. Will Jasmine be able to break the rule and pound mochi? Read it and see.
Thanks Elaine!
More about today’s author:
Andrea Davis Pinkney is the New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of numerous books for children and young adults, including picture books, novels, works of historical fiction and nonfiction. Her books have been awarded multiple Coretta Scott King Book Awards, Jane Addams Children’s Literature Honor citations, four NAACP Image Award nominations, the Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor medal, as well as several Parenting Publication Gold Medals, and American Library Association Notable Book citations. Andrea was named one of the “25 Most Influential Black Women in Business” by The Network Journal, and is among “The 25 Most Influential People in Our Children’s Lives” cited by Children’s Health Magazine. She is the recipient of the Medgar Evers College Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to her work as an author, Andrea has had an illustrious career as a children’s book publisher and editor. Andrea is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. She lives in New York City with her husband, award-winning illustrator Brian Pinkney, and their two children.
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.
Special thanks to the High Five Books & Art Always Bookstore, Ms. Carleton’s 2nd grade class at Jackson Street School for their help with our kid questions and reviews.
