Remember Reading Podcast

Written by: HarperCollins Publishers
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  • Summary

  • A family podcast about classic children’s books and the impact they have on us long into adulthood. In each episode, we talk about one popular children's book from the past, uncovering the unique story behind the story. While sitting down with famous, award-winning authors, we investigate the timeless themes in kids’ books.
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Episodes
  • A Long Walk to Water: When Books Become a Call to Action

    A Long Walk to Water: When Books Become a Call to Action
    Sep 27 2024
    Books have the power to inspire young people to take action and make a difference in the world. They open doors to understanding, creating awareness of real-world challenges while fostering a deep, personal connection to these struggles. In this episode, we explore stories that motivate and encourage action. Linda Sue Park and Salva Dut describe the journey that inspired A Long Walk to Water, Brian Pinkney returns to discuss the companion book, Nya's Long Walk: One Step at a Time, and Jasmine Warga emphasizes the connection between awareness and activism. To learn more about Linda Sue Park’s, Jasmine Warga’s or Brian Pinkney’s books, visit harpercollins.com/search?q=linda+sue+park harpercollins.com/search?q=jasmine+warga harpercollins.com/search?q=Brian+Pinkney Do you have a story about how a classic book changed your life? Tweet @readingpod or email us at readingpod@harpercollins.com. Learn more at rememberreading.com. And, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. [2:34] Believing young people should know Salva Dut’s journey, Linda Sue wrote A Long Walk to Water. [7:10] In Houston, Texas, Jasmine Warga’s sixth-grade students had an immediate connection to Salva’s story. [8:14] After eleven years of displacement, the chance to go to the U.S. presented Salva with new cultural challenges. [12:40] In her book, Other Words from Home, Jasmine reveals the stark contrast between life in Syria before and after the war. [17:30] Brian Pinkney discusses the challenge of depicting the emotional quality of caring for a younger sibling in his illustrations for the picture book, Nya’s Long Walk: One Step at a Time. [19:13] Salva’s Water for South Sudan project educates Sudanese people to maintain the more than 600 wells drilled by the non-profit. [24:10] In Gracie Under the Waves, Linda Sue raises awareness of an environmental issue and calls young people to action. Continue Your Journey: Linda Sue Park Jasmine Warga HarperCollins Remember Reading Podcast @ReadingPod on Twitter Shareables: “What meeting Salva did was turn The Lost Boys of Sudan from a news headline into something personal.” — Linda Sue Park, author of A Long Walk to Water “Salva's readers have literally raised millions of dollars. You know, they are responsible for hundreds and hundreds of wells that are now serving hundreds of thousands of people.” — Linda Sue Park, author and Newbery Medal winner “There is an activism component woven into Gracie's story because we only have one planet, and it's in big trouble.” — Linda Sue Park, author and Newbery Medal winner “What would it be like for me if my cousins from Jordan had come to live with me when I was in seventh grade? Would I have been welcoming to them?” — Jasmine Warga, author of Other Words from Home “A big part of the book is, do you see what I see? Have you found what I put there for you?” — Jasmine Warga, author of A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall “After you work that hard and come back the next year to see that the water has really changed life there, people are happy, and they are using it, and they are healthy.” — Salva Dut, Co-founder of Water for South Sudan
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    31 mins
  • Harold and the Purple Crayon: Exploration and Play are Just a Stroke Away

    Harold and the Purple Crayon: Exploration and Play are Just a Stroke Away
    Mar 20 2024
    Harold and the Purple Crayon: Exploration and Play are Just a Stroke Away (ft. Chris Van Allsburg & Brian Pinkney) - Do you remember reading Crockett Johnson's Harold and the Purple Crayon? To his friends and family Crockett was Dave Leisk. You might know him best for the bold purple line that gives shape to the spare illustrations of Harold and Purple Crayon, published in 1955. In this episode, Chris Van Allsburg and Brian Pinkney reflect on the influence Harold and the Purple Crayon had on them, their work, and the value they believe it offers young readers. To learn more about Chris Van Allsburg’s, or Brian Pinkney’s books, visit https://www.harpercollins.com/search?q=chris+van+allsburg https://www.harpercollins.com/search?q=brian+pinkney Do you have a story about how a classic book changed your life? Tweet @readingpod or email us at readingpod@harpercollins.com. Learn more at rememberreading.com. And, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. [1:55] Does loving Harold and the Purple Crayon as a child guarantee future artistic talent? [5:47] Bad Day at Riverbend follows the style of a coloring book with a twist. [10:44] Similar to Brandon's blanket in Brian's book Brandon and the Baby, Harold's purple crayon conjures magic at every turn [14:17] Brian and Chris embrace play and experimentation in their creative process, albeit with distinct approaches. [18:36] Artists like Crockett Johnson have a long tradition of mentoring, motivating, and celebrating younger generations’ work. [23:57] Filmmakers have cracked the story and are bringing Harold and the Purple Crayon to the big screen. [26:53] Maurice Sendak, Brian, and Chris believe Harold and the Purple Crayon offers value to young readers. Continue Your Journey: Brian Pinkney HarperCollins Remember Reading Podcast @ReadingPod on Twitter Shareables: “The concept behind Harold and the Purple Crayon was so simple. Something so easily grasped by a child and yet so fruitful in terms of the kind of narrative opportunities. The story you can tell having embraced this simple, magical idea of a crayon that could be used to create the world that Harold moved through.” — Chris Van Allsburg, author and illustrator of Bad Day at Riverbend “The conclusion I came to, and it might overlap slightly with Harold, but it was the idea that in our lives that fate can be as fickle as a 6-year-old with a yellow crayon.” — Chris Van Allsburg, author and illustrator of Bad Day at Riverbend “You can create magic in any moment even when things seem like it’s perilous. You can still, you know, use your imagination to come up with a solution.” — Brian Pinkney, author and illustrator of Hey Otter! Hey Beaver! “Sometimes I'll paint things before I know what they're going to be and I don’t see it until it’s already painted and then I can make, you know, changes and that’s when the play begins.” — Brian Pinkney, author and illustrator of Hey Otter! Hey Beaver! “It was fascinating to see that the young artists were not only interested in how I taught them art but in me as a person and that I valued what they were making.” — Brian Pinkney, author and illustrator of Hey Otter! Hey Beaver! “I love it when books become movies because I love seeing how a different format and a different eye and different creative process will envision something.” — Brian Pinkney, author and illustrator of Hey Otter! Hey Beaver!
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    30 mins
  • The Polar Express: A Magical Ride of Belief and Reality (ft. Chris Van Allsburg & Leo Landry)

    The Polar Express: A Magical Ride of Belief and Reality (ft. Chris Van Allsburg & Leo Landry)
    Dec 15 2023
    Do you remember reading The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg? As its 40th anniversary approaches, the book is nothing short of a Christmas classic. Before winning the Caldecott Medal in 1986, before the animated movie, and the Polar Express train rides Chris Van Allsburg had already garnered quite a reputation. He’s the author and illustrator behind The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, Jumanji, Zathura, and many others. In this episode, Chris Van Allsburg and Leo Landry discuss the moody illustrations and profound coming-of-age story that has fascinated holiday readers year after year since 1985. To learn more about Chris Van Allsburg’s, or Leo Landry’s books, visit https://www.harpercollins.com/search?q=chris+van+allsburg https://www.harpercollins.com/search?q=leo+landry Do you have a story about how a classic book changed your life? Tweet @readingpod or email us at readingpod@harpercollins.com. Learn more at rememberreading.com. And, leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. [1:59] The illustrations in The Polar Express were intentionally dark and moody to balance out the story’s Christmas cheer. [11:48] Chris says his books are about a rite of passage as much as they are about magic. [23:40] The Polar Express was Chris’ third book adapted into a feature film, but the first using motion-capture technology. [30:18] Reigniting Santa Claus’s Christmas spirit is a lesser-known backstory of The Polar Express. Continue Your Journey: Polar Express HarperCollins Remember Reading Podcast @ReadingPod on Twitter Shareables: “There are decisions that you make as an illustrator that are stylistic considerations that have to do with what you think the emotional tone of the book is. So there was some intention in using this deeper palette.” — Chris Van Allsburg, author and illustrator of The Polar Express “It's a coming-of-age story because there's a point in our lives where we must become rational human beings because it's very difficult to function as adults if you live in a world of make-believe.” — Chris Van Allsburg, author and illustrator of The Polar Express “This was the first, you know, ambitious use of motion capture and to see Tom Hanks climb out of a train and to see that this was not reality, but really close to it. I said this is great.” — Chris Van Allsburg, author and illustrator of The Polar Express “Like a lot of his [Chris Van Allburg] books, they have a little bit of tension in all of the artwork that is a little bit like you just don’t know what is going to happen when you turn the page. Even though it is seemingly like a nice Christmas story. ” — Leo Landry, author, illustrator, and bookseller “There was that annual anticipation of his [Chris Van Allburg] new book — and what would it be? His art just had a really different quality than a lot of illustration that was out there at that time. And that combined with a Christmas story, his unusual perspectives, his lighting in his artwork — the shadow and the light — every spread was just so beautifully composed.” — Leo Landry, author, illustrator, and bookseller “Sometimes I just wonder how can someone not already have this book, but then every year we sell another 25 +, 30‒40 copies. So that's really impressive to me because there are very few books where that happens, and this is definitely one of them.“ — Leo Landry, author, illustrator, and bookseller
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    36 mins

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