← Stories Podcast: A Bedtime Show for Kids of All Ages
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- [00:01]
A
Hello.
- [00:02]
B
Welcome to Stories Pod Chats.
- [00:04]
C
I'm your host, Amanda Weldon.
- [00:07]
A
Oh, and I'm your other host, Daniel Hines. How you doing today, Amanda?
- [00:11]
B
Oh, I'm okay.
- [00:12]
C
It's a little bit rainy and like glum outside. So I've been moving kind of slow.
- [00:17]
A
But today I was writing, I was typing away and all of a sudden I, you know, I have a little office. I have windows and everything. But I was sitting there typing away and all of a sudden I looked up and I was just sitting in a pitch black room alone.
- [00:30]
C
It was only 4:30, but just over.
- [00:32]
A
The last couple hours, all the natural light disappeared. I got up and I'm like, oh, I'm just alone in the dark. Like 4:30 in the evening. It was the worst.
- [00:40]
C
Yep, it's that time of year. Not my favorite, but holiday season coming up.
- [00:48]
A
Excited. I know we haven't done a Pod Chats in a while, everybody. So we're glad to have you back.
- [00:52]
C
Yeah.
- [00:53]
A
Today. And we might pick him up again just because we had a big announcement, which is we're finally launching on YouTube.
- [01:01]
C
Yes. We've had a YouTube channel for a little while where we post, you know, episodes of the show sometimes with the words up on the screen so you can follow along and read along with the stories. But we have not. But we haven't made a bunch of content that's really specific for YouTube in the past and now we are going to start doing that.
- [01:21]
A
Yeah. So we actually, we did a few to try out and we hope you guys go check them out. So if you're hearing this episode, it means they're available and you know, by all means pause this and go watch that. We'll understand. It's YouTube.com stories podcast or search stories podcast on YouTube. And it's Amanda, we got her sitting on a little throne. Would you call it a throne?
- [01:41]
C
I don't actually recall what I sat on. Was it a throne?
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A
It was beautiful. And you were dressed beautifully.
- [01:47]
C
Yep. And I had a big floral crown on and I did make it and it did get taller than I thought it was going to. So, you know, it's pretty big.
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A
Okay. So, so to explain it better, what we want to keep with, we're sort of, we don't. We're not pivoting to screen time. That's the important thing. We just still. Amanda. Amanda, how old's your daughter now?
- [02:06]
C
She just turned two.
- [02:07]
A
Just turned two. Like, yeah, she's got the baby. My daughter is older now. My daughter was around when I, when we started the show. And now Amanda's daughter is here now, but we're still trying to avoid the. The screen time. So what it is, it's just Amanda sitting. She has a little costume on. There's some, like, little floaty graphics. And she. She just reads the book to you, same as the show. But you can see her. You can see her, you know, smiling and reading and doing the character voices. And we worked with artists, so it's not like a video or a cartoon, but it's just little illustrations like you'd see if you were turning a page. And it's all very kind of screen time friendly, I'd say. And again, it's just more of Amanda reading stories. But now you get to see her, which has been requested for a long time.
- [02:49]
C
Yeah, it'll be my face. You'll see me.
- [02:53]
A
Yeah. So hop over there. We get three stories ready to go, and if you like them, we'll do a bunch more. And yeah, so that's the YouTube announcement. We also have the Sleep series, which you can find on StarglowMedia.com you know, our network. And the thing. That's what the Sleep series is. You know, my sister, our friend Kelsey Lee did it for a long time, but now she has moved on to her. She just. She started a floral business a few years back. I don't think she'd mind me saying it's called Floralune. Check out Kelsey on Instagram. And she is just a beautiful florist. And she blew up and she loves doing florals and that's what she's at. Yeah.
- [03:28]
C
Beautiful, beautiful work. Yeah. Really, really lovely. She does flowers for weddings and they're. They're absolutely stunning.
- [03:34]
A
Yeah. She has, like, a very unique palette I hadn't seen before. It's really cool. I don't know how to describe it.
- [03:38]
B
But lots of great colors.
- [03:40]
C
I mean, I think she. She really doesn't shy away from. From using colors, which I think at weddings, a, there's a lot of white flowers and things like that, which is also beautiful. But I really like that Kelsey uses a lot of really saturated colors and it's really exciting to look at. I really like her work.
- [03:59]
A
Yeah. Check her out on Floralune. L U N E Lune on Instagram. She's doing great work over there. But the upshot of that for all of you is that Amanda is taking over Sleep series.
- [04:10]
C
Yay. It's the same stories that we always do that we have done, but instead of me shouting hello at the very beginning and then using all kinds of Weird voices and then also playing ads which are usually kind of loud and have lots of things going on in them. This is just kind of. It's a softer version of the same stories, but it's something that's supposed to lull you to sleep and be something that you can fall asleep to without any kind of big sounds that will wake you up.
- [04:40]
A
Yeah. So it's all of the Amanda with none of the hello.
- [04:44]
C
Yeah.
- [04:46]
A
And that should be up by the time this episode is out. And if it's not, it should be up one day soon. So check out story Sleep series. Subscribe over there@starglowmedia.com and it's just. It's a really cool show. Great way to fall asleep. And it's actually popular with kids and adults because, you know, they're the stories podcast, kind of simple fairy tales, low stress stories told, you know, really Amanda's best low stress put you to sleep voice, which I think has only gotten better now that you have your own daughter to put to sleep every night.
- [05:15]
C
You know, actually, I do read her the stories really loud, actually. So I think about that sometimes when I'm like, doing a, you know, witch's cackle or like a really. There's a lot of horses and I do like a really, like, you know, neigh. Like a very big neigh. And then I'm like, maybe I should to take it down a notch. Maybe she needs to just actually go to sleep. But we're having fun. It's fine.
- [05:39]
A
Yeah, that's the good stuff. That's all right. But she is good. She will keep it down for the.
- [05:44]
C
Sleep series, I promise. Yes, I promise.
- [05:47]
A
So those are the two big announcements, and then we just kind of wanted to pivot into sort of what else we're doing here at Stories, which is, as you can see, we're making stories, we're doing throwbacks, we're doing the YouTube stuff. I'm working on a couple longer books to release probably as, like, audible companions. Amanda is reading more than ever. And we just wanted to kind of put this out here, what you guys, the fans, want to see, because I'm sure you've seen across the podcast everywhere kind of podcasting is changing and everybody's moving everywhere. So we just want to know, like, what's best for you guys, our audience. Like, do you like the stuff? Obviously, the classic stories aren't going anywhere. We'll always have stories. But do you like the pod chats? Do you want more, like, brackets and stuff? Do you like the classic novels? Just, you know, by all means, if you have any opinions at all, any thoughts, just hit us up@danstoriespodcast.com, amanda sees them all too. And we'll take a look. And just any feedback you have, we're happy to take right now.
- [06:43]
C
Yeah, we're always excited to hear from you guys and we want to make things that you really like to listen to. So we're excited to hear what you have to say and want to know what you're into right now.
- [06:54]
A
Yeah, we've got some. Some great emails this past couple weeks, actually, a couple great illustrations. And we did get a couple holiday bracket ideas, so we should maybe do another couple holiday brackets. People did like those. Yeah. And the big complaint was on our Christmas movie bracket, Home Alone didn't win. And that. That did get a lot of heat.
- [07:12]
C
Oh, I'm so sorry. I actually, I don't remember what did win. Do you remember what won?
- [07:17]
A
It doesn't matter. Home Alone didn't win. That's the problem.
- [07:19]
C
I'm sorry. Home Alone is updated. It's excellent.
- [07:23]
A
I love Home Alone. Would you opinionate it? Honestly, Amanda and Kelsey, they really. They just lead a certain direction and they're kind of similar, actually. I don't know.
- [07:33]
C
I feel like we disagree fundamentally about. I mean, I don't know, I feel like we've had very lively conversations where we often do not agree on some of the things. But I can't remember the Christmas bracket specifically, I think, because really my favorite Christmas movie is A Christmas Story, the one with like the leg lamp and the bunny suit and all the things. But I'm pretty sure I think it got, like, knocked out pretty early.
- [07:57]
A
Never like that. Yeah, I. That might be the movie I've seen more than any other movie when growing up. My father would just put that on. You would put on the Christmas Day marathon of it. But then you would also put it on around Christmas. Yeah, just like leave it on and walk away. But also, I wasn't allowed to change it. Cause he was watching it the way dads do, you know?
- [08:18]
C
Yeah. You know? Yep.
- [08:19]
A
So I've seen that movie so many times that I'm tired of it. But I cannot deny it is a great movie.
- [08:24]
C
I love it. It was something. It was a movie that my brother and I both really liked. And there was. And one year I went to the. There's a museum. Did I. I might have said this in the bracket, but there's a museum in Cincinnati, which is where the movie was filmed. And so there's a museum for the movie, which is in the house that they filmed it in. And a lot of it's been, like, restored to the way that it looked in the mo and it was just really cool and. And I just really love that movie very much. But I'm pretty sure it didn't win, and I'm pretty sure it got knocked out pretty soon. So whatever did win was also a consolation prize for me. Young girl who didn't like Home or didn't like that we didn't pick Home Alone. We are on the same page. Whatever. One shouldn't have won, in my opinion and in yours. So it's okay. Win some, lose some.
- [09:08]
A
Did you watch the Christmas Story sequel? I never got to it. I kind of. These legacy sequels I'm nervous about.
- [09:13]
C
Yeah, I did watch it. I watched it with my. With also my brother the year that it came out, and I think we liked it fine. I mean, I haven't rewatched it, which is. I mean, says something. Yeah. But I think it was fine. I also get nervous for the legacy sequels, and I want it to be a good movie, and I want there to be enough references to the original without feeling like they're just trying to stick in every reference to the original thing, you know, for, like, fan service. Like, I don't. I don't love that necessarily, so I'm always kind of worried about it. But I did. I did enjoy it. Although, again, I cannot recall the plot. I did. I haven't watched it again, but I liked it. I also liked Freakier Friday, which is another movie that is a similar legacy sequel. And I saw that this year on my birthday, and it was great. It was.
- [10:05]
A
Now, if you don't know the answer to this, it's okay. At what age could a person watch Freaky Friday? Could a kid watch Freaky Friday, you think?
- [10:11]
C
The original one, it's pretty.
- [10:12]
A
It's pretty kid friendly, right?
- [10:14]
C
Yeah, I watched it recently.
- [10:16]
A
Kid friendly?
- [10:16]
C
Yeah, I watched it recently in preparation for the sequel, of course. And I would say. I mean, I think it came out. I want to say it came out in, like, 2004, so I was already probably like a younger teenager at the time. What does it say? Is it 2004?
- [10:36]
A
I was checking the rating, and it's PG, so I think that's a safe recommendation.
- [10:39]
C
No, it's fine, I think. And it's PG 2003, so I was already kind of like a younger teenager. I'm. I'm close in age to Lindsay Lohan, and we also had Babies, like around the same time. So we're basically twins. But she. So I, I was, I was already that age when I watched the movie, but I. There's really nothing that objectionable in it, but it is just a story about like a young teenager. So there's like some, you know, light romance kind of stuff and. But nothing like graphic or weird. It's. It's appropriate for probably, I would say like, I don't know, fifth grade and up. Something like that.
- [11:08]
A
Oh, interesting. Now, I want to tell one more story before we move on from this Christmas thing. And I might have told it on the show before, but it's my favorite, which is I have. I have a dear friend from college who is in a writing groups with me, beautiful poet and her daughter. Her like, special, special, special interest is Home Alone and specifically Marv.
- [11:30]
C
Oh, I don't think I have heard this before. No.
- [11:34]
A
So Marv is one of the Sticky Bandits. Yeah, he's one of the Wet Bandits.
- [11:38]
C
Yeah. Okay, maybe there's sticky ones in the second one. Remember, because he like has his. He has like a sticky glove and he like sticks it in like somebody's change bucket and like pulls up and it's all coins attached to it. But they're the wet bandits in the first one. You're wet bandits. I recall. Yeah.
- [11:54]
A
Yes, yes, yes. But anyway, her daughter loved Marv so much that when everybody else was making like, hand turkeys at Thanksgiving. No, not interested. What she would do is trace her hand and then make every finger a different Marv. So, like, Marv. Marv with the iron on his head. Marv stepping on an ornament. Marv with a spider on him. Marv getting electrocuted.
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C
Weird. What a weird kid. I love that so much. That's very funny and strange.
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A
She had the vest and she. Yeah, she would say, I'm gonna make some finger Marvs. And she would go, she was such a sweet girl. Yeah.
- [12:32]
C
Yeah. Wow. That's funny.
- [12:35]
B
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- [13:29]
C
Never heard it before.
- [13:31]
B
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- [14:46]
C
Favorite Kid Podcasts Add 4 Free subscribe.
- [14:48]
B
To Wondery Kids on Apple Podcasts.
- [14:52]
A
Yeah, so. So what have you and Birdie been up to? Any, any books or movies you can recommend? You finally have a young kid like our audience. You know, it's nice.
- [15:01]
C
Yeah, I do. Yes. Yeah. So she's 2 years old. A long standing favorite book of hers is Brown Bear. Brown Bear by Eric Carle. I can at this point recite it from memory and all of the animals do have distinct voices that are consistent each time.
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A
Can you give us one?
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C
I like to do the, the duck like quack quack. Like I see a, I see a blue horse looking at me like that. Yeah, yeah. I don't know. It's fun. And then so there's Brownberry. Brown Bear is a classic. She likes a lot of books actually, which is really fun for me and makes me really proud that we've like instilled the love of like literature for her. But she really likes books in general so she'll pick up. She kind of goes through phases with, with different ones. She really. Brown Bear. Brown Bear is a kind of a classic like one that's come up and been a favorite a lot. But she also likes, she likes this one called like the Scruffy Puppy.
- [16:01]
A
Oh Those are good.
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C
Yeah, yeah. She likes that one. She likes. She really likes this one. Like Frozen Book right now. She likes Frozen. She likes Elsa. She heard the song Let It Go and then was like, yes, this is for me. And then we watched Frozen and now she wants Elsa all the time.
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A
There's something. I mean, all Disney movies have this effect, but something about that song and Elsa specifically really catches little girls in my.
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C
It's really. Yeah. I mean, I think it's a great song. And in the second one, into the Unknown, which is like. Functions in a similar way. Like, it hits in the movie in the same spot and it's kind of like the call to, you know, call to action, almost song. It's also really, really great. It's just like a spectacular. I mean, it's. It's. Idina. Menzel can sing really well and. And have, like, big soaring vocals. So I think you have the opportunity to make really, really incredible songs with really, you know, that are really powerful and catchy.
- [16:57]
A
She would have made a great. She would have been a great star of Wicked, that movie they did.
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B
She was.
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C
I'm just teasing. I know. I also did read an article where she was, like, very sad that she didn't get to do it, but also was like. And I am.
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A
I guess she's a little older now.
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C
Yeah. She was like, I am too old now. But also, I would have loved to do it, which I respect. But, yeah, so she, like. I mean, she likes Frozen. I think also that Elsa wears a really sparkly dress and that scene is really cool where she's, like, building the palace when she sings Let It Go. But she likes Anna, which I'm really excited about, because Anna is the true star of that movie. If you have watched, like, done a close watch, like, she really. I'm sure she has more lines. And Sven the reindeer. Sven the reindeer is fine. Olaf is really funny. Like, actually genuinely funny.
- [17:46]
A
That's a great Gad performance. Early Gad. Best Gad.
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C
Yeah, yeah. She also. A really big favorite of hers right now is Britney Spears and the song Lucky, which is a song that I used to sing to her when. When she was. Would just cry when she was a baby. Like, you know, because babies cry sometimes for no reason. And you'd have to, like, figure out how to help them calm down. And so I would just sing her any song that I knew all the words to. And Lucky was a favorite of mine because it has this one part that's like, she's so Lucky. She's a star. But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart. And I thought that was really funny to sing to like a crying baby. So I did. Yeah, so I did sing that to her a lot. And then it's been like, you know, in rotation as one of like the lullabies. And one time when I was singing it to her a couple months ago, yeah, probably just a couple months ago, I knocked, like, because there's a. In the. In the beginning, it's early morning, she wakes up, knock, knock, knock on the door. And I like, knocked on the wall or something, whatever was next to me. And then she started requesting it by knocking on things. And that was like her, like, she. And so she just. Yeah, it was. So then we started singing it all the time to the point where even I, a person who loves that song and loves Britney Spears did get quite sick of it and then needed to diversify our, you know, song list. And so. But then we were just listening to like, more Britney. Britney Spears songs. For example, baby One More Time, which is called Baby. And then oops, I Did it Again, which is called Red. Because we also were showing her the music videos of these performances. Just the, like a handful of them. Not later on when they get like, kind of racy, but just her earlier work. And. And then sometimes is another one that we'll listen to and sing and watch the video of. And she calls it this one for some reason, I don't know. And she's just like, this one. And then it sometimes is the one that she wants. I don't know, it's funny. But anyway. But she really likes Britney Spears. And also whenever we see like, blonde girls, she used to call all the blonde girls Mommy because they do have blonde hair. But now she calls them Lucky because that's what Britney Spears name is.
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A
She doesn't even call them Britney.
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C
She's called them Lucky. No, it's Lucky. Yeah, she is too. So, you know, we'll get there. She'll. She'll learn. But anyway, but that's like a. That's a fun thing. And it was also a, you know, an example of like, oh, yeah, I do, like, kind of. I will contribute to her taste. Like, I will, like, show her things and then she will like them. And then that's me, like, influencing her. And it's kind of a weird. It was weird to me to be like, oh, I have this, like, power that I can be like, here's Britney Spears and now you're going to love Britney Spears. Like, that's. That's nuts. But but it's fun. It's fun for me. I'm trying to get her into more, you know, early 2000s pop stars, like, songs that sound kind of similar but aren't, like, the same. Seven songs on repeat. That's a weird thing with that little.
- [20:37]
A
Kid because, like, you put stuff in rotation and to them it's all equal because they don't know the history behind it. So, like, like, my daughter, for instance, will listen to, like, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles and, like, this indie folk punk band, Apes of State, that we like. And she like to though her. To her, those are, like, three equal bands.
- [20:55]
C
No, I know.
- [20:57]
A
That's what I'm saying. Because it's like. Yeah, growing up, she's like, these are three bands I heard a lot, and they're.
- [21:03]
C
Yeah, whatever.
- [21:04]
A
I like them all, you know, and it's crazy.
- [21:06]
C
Like, yeah, it's. It's. It's. It's funny. And then I think about the music that, like. Yeah, like, that I listen to, like, with my dad and how that has, like, shaped my taste for music moving forward as well as, like. Because he listened to a lot of, like, the Beatles and then, like, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Yacht and like, all of these, you know, great, like, rock bands. And then. And then also I loved Britney Spears because I was, like, the target demographic for Britney Spears. So it'll. It's just gonna be. I'm interested to see what her, like, all of the things that will impact what she loves. And. And I wonder if now Britney Spears will have the same kind of, like, nostalgic, like, warmth to it that, like, the Beatles does for me. Because that's what my dad, like, loved. And so, I don't know. We'll see.
- [21:50]
A
Depressingly for us, I bet if you look at the timelines, it's probably not that far off, like, how far that last Beatles CD was from your dad to the last Britney CD to you, you know?
- [22:02]
C
Yep. The Beatles broke up in 1970. I was born in 1989, so. So, yeah, pretty close together. Britney was like, yeah, yeah, 96 was like, her. I think that first album was, like, 1986.ish. Or 7. 97. I don't know. So, yeah, I guess actually there's a. There's a larger gap then. But isn't that. Oh, that's weird.
- [22:29]
A
So that's what Amanda and Birdie have been up to. For my part, like I said, I've been working on some longer books for you guys, and I kind of do. We're shooting for Middle Grade, because. And if I'm wrong, please email me and tell me so. It seems like some of the stuff everybody likes more, the longer stuff, is stuff like what be classified as, like, middle grade. So we're talking software. The first dog, Firefly, some of the early Max Goodname stuff like that kind of level is what I'm going for in and in writing about that, by the way. I'm writing about a fantasy inn populated by fantasy creatures who all come together and make a little family at this abandoned fantasy inn. And it's going to be really cozy and great. I'm very excited for it. But what I've been reading to kind of gear me up for this is some of Brandon Sanderson's kid stuff, which is really great for, I'd say, like 12 and up. I would say I read once more the Rifle by Gary Paulsen, and don't be fooled by Gary Paulsen, who was, you know, a famous outdoorsman. And the name, the Rifle, it is actually a very kind of beautiful and, like, measured take on guns and the history of guns and kind of woven into this really cool story. So I'd really recommend the Rifle by Gary Paulsen. It's. You could probably read it in a couple days. It's a nice short one, but that's a really cool book. On the science fiction side, I've been reading a little Andy Weir, which he did the Martian and Project Hail Mary, which are both fine for kids. A couple. Couple swear words here or there. But really good books and really great audiobooks if you can get them. Obviously, like listening to stories if you're here. So those are a couple great audio ones. The other sci fi we're reading is the Brandon Sanderson Skyward, which is cool. I found an old book from when I was a kid called Locke, where two teenage siblings who were like, it's the classic, oh, no, we have to stay at this lake for the summer, but they discover a Loch Ness monster living in the lake. And the boy's name is Zane, which is a kid. I thought Z names were the coolest, like Zach. Of course.
- [24:33]
C
Of course you did. Yep.
- [24:35]
A
What do you mean, of course? Just like.
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C
Or not even just of course you did. But that was like. That is.
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B
Of course they were the coolest.
- [24:41]
C
Like, of course you did. Because of the. You were a boy of that time. Like, yeah, like, those were cool names. Zach was like.
- [24:47]
A
After that, it was like, Jack. And Jack's kind of still sticking around as, like, a cool guy name. Yeah.
- [24:53]
C
Or like, yeah, people like Jack. Jack Is kind of. Jack is a favorite that for all time, I think.
- [25:02]
A
Another great fantasy one. It's by Stephen King. But don't be fooled. It is. It is pretty kid friendly older kids, you know, middle grade. But the Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King, which is another thing. It's. It's two brothers who are inheriting this kingdom. And there's like this evil wizard and. And there's this like husky dog that helps. Is a big character, is really cool and just. So it's the in and outs of this kingdom and this like dark wizard who's really cool. He like feeds a spike. One scene. He like feeds a spider only poison for like a year and then like crushes the spider over like an evil pepper and puts the poisoned spider pepper into the King. It's like really like weird, like arcane like fun wizard stuff. You know what I mean?
- [25:43]
C
Yeah.
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A
I love that kind of thing.
- [25:46]
C
Sure.
- [25:48]
A
So. Yeah, I think that's.
- [25:50]
C
I have. Wait. I have some. I have a. I have something. A project I was going to tell you about or that I realizing I should tell you about. So something that I've been trying to do is I thought about this after I saw. I saw the movie that they did a couple years ago of. Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret. Which was great. I really liked the movie.
- [26:08]
A
Was that good? Yeah. I know that people love that book.
- [26:10]
C
Yeah. The book is really.
- [26:11]
A
Read it as a young boy. It was. It never was on my radar, but.
- [26:14]
C
I should go back and read it as young girl. It was very much on my radar. And I did read it like. And I probably reread it several times and all of like the Judy Blume like classic works and. And as among other things. But. But after I saw that movie and I really liked the movie, I was looking up. I went to go. I looked online to see if I could buy a copy of. Of the book. Just like to that because I. I was thinking like, oh, I should start a collection of all like my favorite books so I can give them to Birdie one day and then she can read them and. And then the. Yeah. And then. But the covers were like. It was like. It was not a movie cover, but the one that I was looking at had like text bubbles on it. Like. Like text like on your phone. And it was like, are you there, God? It's me, Margaret. And it was like. But it was like as though she were texting God. And I was like, this book is from the 70s. Like, what are you doing? Or maybe even Earlier, I don't actually. I think it was the 70s. But, like, I was like, what are you.
- [27:11]
A
It's a diary in the book.
- [27:13]
C
No, it's. It's just. It's about this young girl who is. She moves from the city to the suburbs for the first time, and her parents are. One of them, I believe, is, like, Christian, and the other one's Jewish. And then they. As a result, they don't have a relationship with one set of the grandparents because they did not like that. The mom married a Jewish man. Yeah. And then. And also she's, like, in middle school, so she's starting school with all, you know, and trying to, like, navigate the social landscape of all of these girls. Everyone's talking about, are they going to get their period soon? That's kind of why it's famous, is because it's addresses puberty for girls. But also another part of this is that she kind of embarks on this. I think it's. I think it's framed as, like, a project for school, but, like, embarks upon, like, kind of a spiritual quest to sort of be like, what do I believe? Because here I have two parents that don't believe in the same things or, like, weren't raised to believe in the same things. And I haven't really been given any kind of framework for spirituality. And so she kind of is like, just. That's why it's. Are you there, God? It's me. Margaret is. Because she's kind of, like, trying out church and then trying out synagogue and, like, just doing a bunch of different stuff. But really, the book matters to me, or did matter to me a lot because it was about, like, puberty and about growing up and navigating, like, peer friendships and things like that. The movie actually made me think a lot about it from the parents perspective, which I hadn't done before. But it's a really good performance by Rachel McAdams, who plays the mom in the movie. But anyway, I was so dismayed to find that this book had, like, the COVID that just was, like, anachronistic, like, didn't match. And I was like, this is horrifying. So then I had been. I was on a quest to find a used copy of the book that had a cover that I, like, recognized as one that I may have read. And I don't. I think that was a library book for me. So I don't remember, like, the specific edition that I had or that I read, but I. But, like, there are several covers that would be fine. And so I've been like looking to find like the right cover for the book and then. And then I've started doing that for a bunch of books. So I've been like buying like whenever I see them come up on like thriftbooks.com like, like a book that I really loved in a cover that I recognize and I'm like, that's the one and I will get it. And then I am trying to build a library for Birdie of all of the books that I loved in the editions that I remember reading, which is.
- [29:30]
A
I think that's awesome. And I did something similar when Grace was young. And I've updated it as she gets older with more and, you know, more and more adult. She's a. My daughter's a teenager now. She's in high school. I know she was a kid and we started this.
- [29:43]
B
She is.
- [29:44]
C
Yeah. And she is. It's wild to me that I've known her for so long. And also she is now taller than me. I knew her when she was like four, I think is when I met her. And she was a four year old. So she was little. And now she is just like fully taller than I am.
- [30:00]
A
You wouldn't know it from listening, but I'm like 6 foot 4 and my daughter's probably 5 10, easy. Yeah, but grass. So I. And I think if you're listening to the show, probably you already are doing that, but if you're not, maybe something to consider, you know, just having, you know, I think, I think there's been studies done that I'm pretty sure I've read this. And I think, you know, it's just if you have books there, kids are more likely to read.
- [30:22]
C
And if you look at different books.
- [30:23]
A
That have like different interests and they're just on the shelf like, it's just, you know, they can't read them if you don't have them. You know what I mean?
- [30:31]
C
Yeah. Yeah.
- [30:34]
A
I've had to cull my library over the years lest I end up like your dear father. Amanda's father, he was the best guy and he had a personal library as big as some actual libraries I've been to.
- [30:46]
C
Yeah. I was lucky enough to grow up in a home that had, I counted one time, 13 floor to ceiling bookcases, like just interspersed in different rooms. And then some, like his office for example, had bookcases around all of them, the walls. And then also a thing that my dad did was he would stack them like three deep. So there was just like there were so many books in our House. Here's actually another thing I don't know if I told you yet that is relevant, but I, over the summer, I think early in the summer, installed a little free library at my home in honor of my dad. It was gifted to our family, like, a long. Like, my dad passed away in 2018, and somebody had family friends had gotten my mom this, like, a little free library for, you know, in memory of my dad. And then.
- [31:34]
A
Then she just shortly.
- [31:35]
C
Yeah, she moved and just was kind of like, it didn't. And then the house that she lives in now does not have good, like, foot traffic. And so she just. It was kind of sitting there, and then it occurred to me, like, oh, it's just. It's just sitting there. And, like, I live somewhere that has great foot traffic. So I. So I installed it outside of my home. And now it is a robust little free library that people stop at. I, like, watch them. They, like, are walking, and then they'll stop, and then they put things in and take things out, and it's, like, very exciting. And anyway, I was just thinking, if you do not have books in your home, but would like to, there are books available for you in little free libraries to just take home with you.
- [32:11]
A
And specifically mine as well.
- [32:14]
C
Yeah. I think I keep seeing more of them. And you can also find them. They map them on a website, like a little free library, like the official website. You can find them on maps and stuff and.
- [32:24]
A
And get.
- [32:24]
C
Marvelous.
- [32:24]
A
Yeah. If you haven't seen them, it's just like a weatherproof box, or if you're in an apartment, just a nice box. And it's just little free library. Kind of take a book, leave a book, or, you know, however. Yeah, you don't have to leave a book to take a book. That's right. You can just take a book and read it. And the idea is that you'll put it back when you're done or give a different book if you want to keep that one. It's just a community bookshelf kind of. They're great.
- [32:43]
C
Yes, they are great. And something that I have been doing for mine is like, you know, books that I finish that I don't need to keep, I will. I have them ready to, like, replenish. And then some people, like, now know that I have them, so they've been giving me, like, books that I can put in the little free library. And. But then also I. And I thought I was gonna have to, like, stock it and keep it really stocked and, like, do a lot of work. But it's just like people are. They put books in there, they take books out, and it. Sometimes it was some books that I had put in there. Somebody took them, and then a couple weeks later, they showed back up again and, like, you know, and then are gone again. So it's just. It's cool. All the books kind of.
- [33:17]
A
Yeah, it's working like a real library.
- [33:18]
C
Yeah, it's fun.
- [33:20]
A
All right, well, we've been going long. We won't keep you, everybody. Thank you so much for listening. Let me just hit the highlights one more time. Go to YouTube, YouTube.com stories podcast. We have cool videos. Amanda reading. We got lyrics videos and stuff. But definitely go back to YouTube.com stories podcast and. Or go to YouTube and search stories Podcast and, you know, take a look at Amanda Reading. Watch those videos. They're great. We did the Golden Screw, which is a funny one, I know, and a couple others that you love. So go check those out. Sleep series on StarglowMedia.com you can also search around for Stories Sleep series. You'll find it. Amanda's taking over that I think we're going to start. She's going to do a very kind of gentle bedtime reading of the first Winnie the Pooh book, which is just really pleasant. So that'll be nice. And then after that, the other thing we want to ask is that, you know, if you like the show, just pick your favorite episode and send the link to a couple people. You know, podcast reach is kind of way down across the board. It's hard to get the word out there anymore. So if you have an episode you like, just send it to a couple friends with kids and, you know, it goes a long way. Appreciate it.
- [34:24]
C
Yeah, thank you so much for listening. And also, don't forget to send us your ideas and things that you want us to cover in future stories, because we love knowing and future brackets as well. We're excited.
- [34:35]
A
Yeah, we'd have to do brackets or review movies or whatever you guys like. Or if you want just stories and less talk, that's fine, too. I know this one was kind of meandering because it was sort of an announcement in Catch up, but we're happy to do the format of stuff. Yeah, we just, you know, we like making the show and we want to keep making it for you guys. So, you know, thanks for listening.
- [34:53]
C
Yeah, thanks for listening.