In new children's books from Trevor Noah and Travis Jonker, adventure is not far off

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Arts, Books

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 25 October 2024

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In two new children's books, characters discover worlds of adventure just outside their doorsteps. Trevor Noah's first picture book, Into the Uncut Grass, is about a young boy and his teddy bear who wander outside the boundaries of their home into unknown territory. The story, illustrated by Sabina Hahn, is about exploring the internal world of a child's imagination and bridging disagreements and differences. In today's episode, Noah speaks with NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about how children can begin to grasp the interior lives of their parents and how humor can be a way to process reality. Then, librarian and author Travis Jonker and illustrator Matthew Cordell join Rascoe for a conversation about their new book, The Ship in the Window. They said the book was inspired by a real-life model ship Jonker spotted at a neighbor's house. In the interview, Jonker and Cordell discuss other references for the book, including the work of author William Steig and the book's vintage-inspired color palette.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's I'm Pierre's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. All right, so today we've got two books
0:06.6	that are made for reading with your kids, and they cover similar territory. They're both about
0:11.8	the thirst for adventure. The feeling you have as a kid that there's just something bigger,
0:16.9	greater, grander out there for you to find. In a bit, we'll hear about a mouse who wants to be
0:23.1	a sea captain. But first, we've got an interview with comedian and former daily show host Trevor
0:28.5	Noah. His book, Into the Uncut Grass, is about a mother and a child who struggle to understand
0:34.6	each other. They have a hard time seeing the other's perspective.
0:38.6	And even though it's about a parent and a kid, in this interview with Emperor Zisha Rosco,
0:43.2	he presents it more as a fable of how we could all be better at understanding each other.
0:49.6	That's ahead.
0:51.1	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:56.0	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
1:00.5	On our new show, Sources and Methods.
1:02.5	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:06.3	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:09.8	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:15.5	The two friends held hands as they walked farther and farther away from the house.
1:21.6	They passed the lawn chairs where the boy and his mother would sometimes read together
1:26.2	and the fire pit where they toast marshmallows.
1:30.1	They passed the tire swing hanging from the short, thick-limbed tree.
1:35.0	They even wandered past the old shed with the heavy lock on it.
1:40.4	That's a passage from the new book into the uncut grass. Trevor Noah is its author and he joins us now.
	...

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