Episode #77: Why don’t you make your story as a movie? -with Padma Venkatraman

Welcome back to another episode of Kids Ask Authors! Today, we hear authors Grace Lin and Padma Venkatraman answer the kid question; “why don’t you make your story as a movie?” Excellent question!

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 am here with Padma Venkatraman, the author of the middle grade novels, The Bridge Home, A Time to Dance, and Climbing the Stairs. Hi Padma.

Padma Venkatraman: Hello Grace. Thank you so much for having me.

Grace Lin: Oh, thanks for joining me. Are you ready for today's question?

Padma Venkatraman: I am.

Grace Lin: All right. Today's question is from a person named Omar and they ask,

Omar: Why don't you make your story as a movie?

Grace Lin: Why don't you make your story as a movie?

Padma Venkatraman: So, Omar, I would love to make my story into a movie but that is something that I don't have the talent for. If I were a fantastic illustrator, like Grace Lin then maybe I would do it in animation, but I can't. And the second reason that I haven't made it into a movie is because I hope that one day people with talent like yours will actually take it and make it into a movie and I would be so glad if that happened. But the third reason that I always think of my stories as books rather than as movies is because I think even though I love movies, books have something magical that happens, which is that let's say you have a copy of The Bridge Home, and five of your friends have a copy of The Bridge Home and each of you reads it.

Padma Venkatraman: When you read that book, each one of you has a movie going on in your mind, hopefully, and that movie is completely your own. And so I feel like each time a book is read, a new movie is made and what is so cool is that the movie that's being made is in the mind and in the heart of the reader. And you then bring to me so together, we sort of create this thing that is half mine and half yours. And the coolest thing is, even though I wrote the book, that movie that's going on in your own mind is one I will never be able to fully watch. Even if you become a director and turn it into a movie one day.

Grace Lin: Oh, that's a really nice way of putting it, like the movie, the movie in their minds. I have to say, when you said, if I was an illustrator like Grace Lin, I had to stop myself from interrupting you.

Padma Venkatraman: You're everything, great storyteller, and you're a writer, and you're an illustrator too.

Grace Lin: Yes, but I can't make my things into a movie either and I think that's something that perhaps our listeners don't understand. A movie is something that takes many, many, many people. Even if it's an animation, you still need voice actors. You need people who can do the animation you need. And it's not just one person who does the animation, it's hundreds of people who do the animation and people who write the script, and people who... A movie is a huge, huge production with lots and lots of people that have to make it. It's very different from a book, which is very personal, I guess. It's just me alone with my computer or with my paintbrush and I'm sure it's the same thing for you. It's just you alone with your words, right?

Padma Venkatraman: That is so true.

Grace Lin: It's so much easier. Well, not that it's easy, but you don't need other people to write our book. So we don't need other people to write our book.

Padma Venkatraman: That is true.

Grace Lin: But to make a movie, you need many, many other people and a lot more money.

Padma Venkatraman: And a lot more money. Yeah, that is so true. It's such a huge production. Absolutely.

Grace Lin: And so that is why I cannot make or that is why I have not made any of my stories into a movie. It just seems like a lot of work and a lot of skills that I don't have, and I would need to have a lot more people. Though I'm sure both of us would be happy for somebody else to make our stories into movies.

Padma Venkatraman: Oh, absolutely. I would love that and I would love to watch a movie of one of your books too.

Grace Lin: And maybe the listeners right now, maybe they'll grow up and become big Hollywood directors and they will take our books and make them into movies for us. I just hope that we're still around to see them.

Padma Venkatraman: I hope so too.

Grace Lin: So the reason why I haven't made my story into movies is because I'm waiting for you, my listeners to make it for me.

Padma Venkatraman: That answer is great. It works for me too.

Grace Lin: All right. Well, thank you so much Padma.

Padma Venkatraman: You are so welcome.

Grace Lin: Thank you, Omar for your great question.

Padma Venkatraman: Thank you so much, Omar and thank you, Grace.

.Today’s BOOK REVIEW comes from Mila! She’s reviewing Rickshaw Girl written by Mitali Perkins and illustrated by Jamie Hogan.

The book I would like to talk about is, The Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins and illustrated by Jamie Hogan. This book is about a charismatic, artistic and motivated girl who wants to help her father earn money. This is more challenging then it seems because in her village in Bangladesh, girls don’t have much or any freedom to work out of the house so Naima (the main character) tries original ideas that are courageous. To find out what they are read this thrilling book. I like this book because Naima is very determined throughout the story. I also love this book because it shows what you or a girl can accomplish.

Thank you so much Mila!

More about today’s authors:

Padma Venkatraman was born in Chennai, India, and became an American citizen after living in five countries and working as an oceanographer. She is the author of the beautiful novel, The Bridge Home. She is also the author of A Time to Dance (IBBY selection, ALA Notable, Notable Books for a Global Society, and New York Public Library Best Book), Island's End (ALA Best Book for Young Adults, CCBC Choice, and South Asia Book Award winner), and Climbing the Stairs (Bank Street Best Book, ALA/Amelia Bloomer List, YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, and Julia Ward Howe Award winner).

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.