The Imagine Neighborhood

Hello again, friends! It's me—Count Vacula, back with a brand-new episode of No Filter with Count Vacula!

This week, my guest is the very friendly, talented, and fun Tom Toro, who has one of the coolest jobs I’ve ever heard of. Tom is a cartoonist, which means his job is to draw! How great is that?

Your grown-ups may recognize Tom’s name because he draws a lot of cartoons for a magazine called The New Yorker, but he’s also put out two terrific books for kids. One is called How to Potty Train Your Porcupine, which Tom wrote and illustrated all by himself. The other one is called I’m Terrified of Bath Time, which was written by Tom’s friend Simon Rich—but Tom drew all of the pictures!

Tom and I have a lot of things in common. We both like cats—even though he mostly likes to play with them, and I mostly like to eat their hair off the floor (black cat hairs are the tastiest!)—and we both like to read cartoons. Something else we share is that we both live far away from our families. A lot of my family lives on the continent of Asia, and a lot of Tom’s family lives on the continent of Europe!

Tom talked to me about drawing, flying, hiding from imaginary monsters, and the “little library” he has at his house—and he also made up a great story about how cats use their whiskers to communicate with other planets! I had a great time learning about my new friend Tom, and I think you’ll have a great time, too.

We’ll be seeing each other around The Imagine NeighborhoodTM, but I also have more No Filter episodes coming up, with more new friends for you to meet. In the meantime, I hope you’re making some fun new friends of your own! You can write in and tell me all about it—or just let me know, how were you kind today?

See you soon!

Your pal,

Vac

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Frustration and disappointment are powerful feelings, and Scotty needs a little help talking about them while he’s stuck indoors. In this bonus episode, we call up Dr. Sherri for some tips on how grown-ups and kids can talk about frustration and disappointment, and how to tell the two feelings apart.

It’s important for grown-ups and kids who are stuck at home to talk about how they’re feeling… and it’s a great time to find new ways to show the people you love that you care about them! You might want to send a card to someone you miss, like Dr. Sherri did, or help out a family member you know is feeling frustrated.

Get more at: IMAGINENEIGHBORHOOD.org

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Hey there, everybody! It’s me, Count Vacula, bringing you a brand-new No Filter with Count Vacula and a brand-new friend to meet!

I’m so excited about today’s guest! Her name is Kari Byron and most people know her from the TV show MythBusters, where Kari and her friends conducted all kinds of crazy science experiments to learn the truth about things. They tested everything from whether elephants are actually scared of mice (they aren’t) to whether a person can really climb a building on a rope of human hair like Rapunzel’s prince did (they can)!

Kari loves learning so much that she even started a kids’ content platform called EXPLR—it’s full of amazing science videos that teachers and families can use to help 5th–10th graders learn more about the world.

Kari and I have a lot of things in common, including the fact that we both like to eat delicious bugs! I eat them when they fall under the couch, but Kari buys hers specially. She even brought a bag of chocolate-covered crickets to the show! She taught me that eating food made from insects is a great way to help the planet, because they’re full of protein and it’s really easy to make more of them. But you probably shouldn’t eat any bugs unless your grown-up gives them to you.

Kari and I talked about toilet monsters, and cardboard spaceships, and how you need to keep practicing at things if you want to get them right. That’s why I keep practicing my getting-to-know-you skills! Making new friends can be difficult, or even feel a little scary—but the more I keep doing it, the better I get at it and the more confident I feel, even when I meet a TV star like Kari!

It was super fun getting to know Kari, and I think you’re going to have a great time too!

I’ll be back after awhile with another new person for you to meet, but until then, I hope you’re practicing making friends and meeting new people. Is there someone you made friends with who you really like? Write me and tell me about them! I want to know what you have in common with them, and what you don’t have in common with them, but most importantly, I’d love to know—how were you kind today?

See you soon, pal!

Vac

Get more at: IMAGINENEIGHBORHOOD.org

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Count Vacula here, bringing you a new No Filter with Count Vacula! Today’s guest is Dr. Marion Nestle, PhD! Her favorite thing (and one of my favorite things, and probably one of your favorite things, too) is food! She has spent her whole life studying food, and her main job is teaching people about the best foods to help keep your body—and even your pets’ bodies—healthy and strong.

Sometimes we choose our food based just on how it tastes on our tongue, but Dr. Marion taught me the word “nutrition,” which is how we describe the ways the other parts of our body react to food. Our muscles and our bones and our hair and even our mood can be affected by what we eat! I think that’s so cool to know about!

Dr. Marion gives lectures about food and nutrition all over the world, and she teaches at colleges, and she also writes books. They’re mostly for grown-ups, but she has one called Eat Drink Vote that’s filled with cartoons we think you and your family might like.

Dr. Marion talked to me about greenhouses, and about how some “junk” food (like her favorite—ice cream!) is ok to eat if you don’t overdo it. She also explained to me that she is uncomfortable making up answers to questions, so instead of giving a silly wrong answer to our science question, she explained the real reason why humans sweat, and that was really awesome! I liked learning the answer, but I also liked that she told me how she was feeling.

It was really fun to meet Dr. Marion, and I think you’ll have fun meeting her too!

I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with another new friend for you to meet. Have you met anyone new and interesting? Tell me about it! Or just let me know—how were you kind today?

Your friend,

Vac

Get more at: IMAGINENEIGHBORHOOD.org

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This summer, thanks to a generous grant from The Allstate Foundation, the team at The Imagine Neighborhood launched Teen Force!, a virtual summer fellowship that brought together high school students from across the country. Together with expert consultants and a team of our mentors, 15 teens with interests in storytelling, podcasting, and social-emotional learning crafted these five Teen Force! segments for listeners of The Imagine Neighborhood. These stories show that no matter how old you are, whether you're an alien in a spaceship, a curious panda, or a princess-in-training, you can practice seeing the world from others’ perspectives and make your neighborhood a kinder place.

https://www.imagineneighborhood.org/teenforce