A Beginner's Guide to Being Human: Adventures in Learning with Matt Forrest Esenwine

10/12/22 • 43 min

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Matt Forrest Esenwine joins Dr. Diane to talk about A Beginner's Guide to Being Human. Matt is a radio host, voiceover artist, poet, and picture book author, whose works include Once Upon Another Time, Flashlight Night, and I Am Today, as well as anthologies like Lee Bennett Hopkins’ Night Wishes and Construction People. Along the way, we talk poetry, inspiration, and fun ways to connect poetry into the curriculum. Plus we discover what rainbow eucalyptus is. Follow the show notes for a chance to win a copy of Matt's latest book. Entries must be received by 10/26/22.

[00:50] A Beginner's Guide to Being Human. What makes this book so special? What is creative nonfiction? And how does the book introduce kids to emotions, feelings, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and opposable thumbs?

[04:48] An excerpt from A Beginner's Guide to Being Human and a conversation about the book's impact for kids and their adults (grown ups apologize!). Click to view the video excerpt and see the pages shared.

[11:30] Inspiration Calls! Coming soon, Everybody Counts and The Thing to Remember about Stargazing,

[13:13] How did Matt go from radio to children's books?

If you're given an opportunity, even if it's something that you're not sure that you've ever done before, you're not sure you're going to be able to do, say yes. Use the opportunity and figure out a way to do it.

[18:33] Poetry as the "Stepchild of Children's Literature" (thank you, J. Patrick Lewis) We discuss ways to inspire teachers and students to fall in love with poetry, to play with poetry, and to build connections with poetry across the curriculum.

[27:00] Ever heard of a rainbow eucalyptus? Me either, but you're about to know what it is as Matt shares the process and the short free verse poem he wrote for the National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry

[33:45] School Visit Questions -- How Long Does It Take To Write a Poem?

[37:10] More sources of inspiration!

[40:06] Hope for the future. It's the source

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[11:30] Inspiration Calls! Coming soon, Everybody Counts and The Thing to Remember about Stargazing,

[13:13] How did Matt go from radio to children's books?

[33:45] School Visit Questions -- How Long Does It Take To Write a Poem?

[37:10] More sources of inspiration!

[40:06] Hope for the future. It's the source

Support the show

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Back to School STEM with BA Grace

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This bonus episode takes us into the classroom of STEM teacher BA Grace, found on instagram as @solvers_problems_ or @ba.teaches.stem This exceptional teacher knows how to turn STEM learning into engaged, creative problem solving, whether it's building cardboard boats and testing them in the pool (with the students on board), creating engineering challenges that pit catapults against castles, designing and testing ping pong ball roller coasters, or setting up chain reactions. You can also follow him on YouTube at https://youtube.com/channel/UCy5FshQ1fEtRLKxn1tH05Wg

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Lights in the Darkness: Adventures with Legacy Award-Winning Author and Illustrator Grace Lin

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Children's picture books are one of our greatest treasures! Grace Lin won the American Library Association's Legacy Award this year and has been a persistent advocate for diversity and representation on children's book shelves, in libraries and classrooms, and even in museum exhibits. Her beautiful books draw on her Asian American heritage to reweave myths and folk literature, to share stories of families engaged in every day life, and to lift and inspire children and adults everywhere. Join us as we talk about the importance of diverse picture books, Grace's Legacy Award speech, fighting book banning, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, and the joy of creating and building connections.

Follow the show notes for a chance to win an autographed poster of Grace's One Hundred Years of the Newbery Award print. Entries must be received by 11/9/22.
[00:56] In Grace's 2016 TEDx Talk she recounted how it felt to grow up to never see yourself reflected in a book.
[02:41] How Grace's The Seven Chinese Sisters provided a window for one of my college students: “When I looked at this book, I started to cry.”
[6:58] Past Person, Present Person, Or Future Person? What Inspires Writing?
[08:16] A sneak peek at Chinese Menu (fall 2023).
[10:25] Where the Mountain Meets the Moon[12:54] The Wizard of Oz, Olive Lake, and how folk tales adapt and change.
[17:10] Winning the ALA Legacy Award "We are the lights that the world needs when everything has gone dark."
[24:02] Keeping the Lights On Amidst a Climate of Book Banning
[26:05] Pen America town hall strategies for combating book banning challenges [32:47] Taking Action Through Art -- the process behind the Newbery Centennial Horn Book Cover and its after-life as a print benefitting everylibrary.org[37:01] Beard licking, book signings, and curating special exhibits at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art[38:23] Asians, Everyday
[41:09] Once Upon a Book (co-written with Kate Messner)
[44:17] Book Friends Forever

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Dr. Diane's Adventures in Learning - A Beginner's Guide to Being Human: Adventures in Learning with Matt Forrest Esenwine

Transcript

[00:00] Dr. Diane: So welcome to the Adventures In Learning podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Diane, and today we are so lucky we get to talk to Matt Forrest Esenwine, who has put us as part of his brand new podcast book blog tour for A Beginner's Guide to Being Human. We're going to talk about his brand new book, which is coming out in October. We're going to talk about some of his past poetry,