Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. Today we've got two poetry books for you,

and they both take a sort of populist approach to poetry. In a bit, the writer Reginald Dwayne Betts talks about his collection titled Dogroll,

a term he defines as mediocre poetry, but it's a term he wears with pride. But first, John Himmellman's poetry collection, the boy who lived in a shell, snippets for

wandering minds, is technically written for kids, but I think anybody can enjoy them.

They're all from the perspective of, well, you know, a boy who lives in a shell.

And in this interview with MPR Scott Simon, Himmellman talks about his techniques

for connecting with kids, which is just writing to make himself laugh. That's ahead. In the U.S.,

national security news can feel far away from daily life. Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy

behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

The new collection of illustrated story poems is told from the perspective of a boy who lived

in a shell.

His name is Evo, and he lived in an empty moon snail shell on a beach of sand until a wave

carried him away.

He now lives in an empty moon snail shell on the sea. He was scared at first, but he grew

to love at so as the stories he wrote will show. Evu's adventures are the work of John Himmelman.

The author and illustrator now joins us from the studios of WNPR in Hartford, Connecticut. His book, The Boy Who

Lived in a Shell, Snippets for Wandering Minds. Thank you so much for being with us.

Oh, thank you for having me. I guess children are the intended audience, but I sure liked it.

How did Evo come to you? I wanted to tell some stories in as few words as possible for people with

wandering minds, and I needed a way to connect them, and Evo was the way to do that. He's the one

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