Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. I had this lit professor in college who

never stopped talking about a sense of place and how it impacted everything about a story, both fiction and otherwise.

It was kind of annoying, but today we've got two very different books that prove him right.

In a bit, we'll hear from writer Clint Smith,

whose book How the Word is Past,

uses different locations across the country,

plantations, cemeteries, museums, and more

to talk about the history of slavery in America.

But first, a kid's book.

Tricia Ellen Walker and Equal Holmes are cousins,

who wrote and illustrated a book together

called Dream Street, inspired by the street in Boston they both grew up on. The people, the architecture,

the beauty they saw around them. And Holmes tells M.P.R. Scott Simon, that there's something

wonderful about being eight or so, because that's when your imagination, your curiosity is at its freest.

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.

Many of the people we hear from for Picture This are a series of conversations between children's book authors and

illustrators are complete strangers before they're paired up by an editor, but author,

Trisha Eelm Walker, and illustrator, Equal Holmes, have known each other for years.

...