Bonus Q&A: Betsy Bird Interviews Rajani LaRocca
05/07/20 • 21 min
Listen along as The Story Seeds Podcast host Betsy Bird chats with Rajani LaRocca (author of "Midsummer’s Mayhem," a Kirkus Best Book of 2019 and long-listed for the 2020 Massachusetts Book Award as a must-read title in MG/YA Literature.) They go behind the scenes and talk about what it was like meeting Liyana and growing her story seed about a girl trying to fit in with her famous family with the help of a magic mirror on Episode 5 “The Hungry Mirror.”
In this author interview, Rajani also shares tips on writing and talks about how, by working hard, she balanced her love of science and writing to become both a doctor and an award-winning author!
Authors, books, and genres of writing mentioned in this episode: Shakespeare, Madeleine L'Engle, Richard Seltzer, William Carlos Williams
Genres of writing mentioned in this episode: science fiction, fantasy, fairy tale
Books mentioned in this episode: Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca
Snacks mentioned in this episode: carrot halva, chanachur
Calls to Action
Kids: Call The Story Seeds Hotline at 646-389-5153, email us at [email protected], or visit our website to submit your story ideas. You can also join The Story Seeds Society, our kids listeners club.
Grownups: Visit www.storyseedspodcast.com for subscription links, to sign up for our newsletter, and to download our printable activity e-zines for your kids (or the kid in you!) that offer opportunities to read, write, and get creative alongside listening to each episode . You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari.
Get our Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity activity book! It pairs perfectly with the podcast and features tons of episode-inspired prompts and projects! Order your copy here!
This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here.
Show credits
Matt Boynton and Ania Grzesik of Ultraviolet Audio for the sound mixing, design, and score of our bonus episode. Theme music is composed and performed by Andrew VanWyngarden. And, our host is Betsy Bird.
The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com
Listen along as The Story Seeds Podcast host Betsy Bird chats with Rajani LaRocca (author of "Midsummer’s Mayhem," a Kirkus Best Book of 2019 and long-listed for the 2020 Massachusetts Book Award as a must-read title in MG/YA Literature.) They go behind the scenes and talk about what it was like meeting Liyana and growing her story seed about a girl trying to fit in with her famous family with the help of a magic mirror on Episode 5 “The Hungry Mirror.”
In this author interview, Rajani also shares tips on writing and talks about how, by working hard, she balanced her love of science and writing to become both a doctor and an award-winning author!
Authors, books, and genres of writing mentioned in this episode: Shakespeare, Madeleine L'Engle, Richard Seltzer, William Carlos Williams
Genres of writing mentioned in this episode: science fiction, fantasy, fairy tale
Books mentioned in this episode: Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca
Snacks mentioned in this episode: carrot halva, chanachur
Calls to Action
Kids: Call The Story Seeds Hotline at 646-389-5153, email us at [email protected], or visit our website to submit your story ideas. You can also join The Story Seeds Society, our kids listeners club.
Grownups: Visit www.storyseedspodcast.com for subscription links, to sign up for our newsletter, and to download our printable activity e-zines for your kids (or the kid in you!) that offer opportunities to read, write, and get creative alongside listening to each episode . You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari.
Get our Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity activity book! It pairs perfectly with the podcast and features tons of episode-inspired prompts and projects! Order your copy here!
This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here.
Show credits
Matt Boynton and Ania Grzesik of Ultraviolet Audio for the sound mixing, design, and score of our bonus episode. Theme music is composed and performed by Andrew VanWyngarden. And, our host is Betsy Bird.
The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com
Previous Episode
The Hungry Mirror with Rajani LaRocca
This week’s Story Seeds collaboration brings together 12 year old creative rockstar Liyana and Rajani LaRocca, author of the 2019 middle-grade hit Midsummer’s Mayhem (a Kirkus Best Book of 2019 and a Must Reads in the 2020 Massachusetts Book Awards) .
Rajani helps Liyana grow this story seed:
A girl who doesn’t fit in with her family of celebrities (her mom is a Bangladeshi supermodel and her dad is a Japanese soccer player) gets a magic mirror from a fairy
Follow this magical Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as Rajani and Liyana:
- Go on a hunt at a New York City antique store to find an (almost) magic mirror
- Talk about the 3 key ingredients for an excellent urban fairytale: fairies, fantasy, and food
- Celebrate and represent biracial characters inspired by Liyana’s heritage
The episode concludes with this week’s storytime (15:49) where Rajani reads the story she grew from Liyana’s story seed: Aina and the Mirror.
Books and media mentioned in this episode: Snow White by the Brothers Grimm, Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, Harry Potter by JK Rowling, Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Food mentioned in this episode: channachur, okra, hot dogs, pizza, and doughnuts
Calls to Action
Bonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Rajani. You’ll get to hear about not only her writing career, but wait ... guys ... she’s a doctor too!
Kids: Call The Story Seeds Hotline at 646-389-5153, email us at [email protected], or visit our website to submit your story ideas. You can also join The Story Seeds Society, our kids listeners club.
Grownups: Visit www.storyseedspodcast.com for subscription links, to sign up for our newsletter, and to download our printable activity e-zines for your kids (or the kid in you!). You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari.
Get our Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity activity book! It pairs perfectly with the podcast and features tons of episode-inspired prompts and projects! Order your copy here!
This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here.
Show credits
Produced and written by Sandhya Nankani, Anjali Sakhrani, and Kayla Fedeson. Scoring, mixing, and sound design by Ania Grzesik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Field audio recorded by James Boo. Hosted by Betsy Bird. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT.
The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com
Next Episode
The Paintbrush of Doom with Carlos Hernandez
This week’s Story Seeds collaboration matches Carlos Hernandez (winner of the 2020 Pura Belpré Author Award and author of the Sal and Gabi series from Rick Riordan Presents) with 10 year old twins Siri and Zarana.
Carlos collaborates with Siri and Zarana to grow their story idea:
A girl who really loves to paint get a magic paintbrush from her kooky aunt on her 10th birthday. She uses it to paint the animals she loves, but it turns out that her imagination is opening up doorways to a locked, magical world that’s letting the animals from her paintings out into the real world.
Join an imagination-filled Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as Carlos and the twins take a field trip to the Children's Museum of the Arts NYC to:
- Create clay landscapes in CMA's art studios while talking about silhouette painting and creativity
- Discuss their inspiration for the story idea: the power of imagination and screentime
- Grow a story about a main character who discovers what happens when she unleashes her anger and lets it take control of her creativity
The episode concludes with this week’s storytime (17:00) where Carlos reads the story he grew from Siri and Zarana’s story seed: Citaria’s Paintbrush.
Books and media mentioned in this episode: Sal and Gabi Break the Universe and Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe by Carlos Hernandez, A Wrinkle in Time by Margaret L'Engle, The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis, and His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman.
Calls to Action
Bonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Carlos. You’ll get to hear more about his life as an author and a game designer.
Kids: Call The Story Seeds Hotline at 646-389-5153, email us at [email protected], or visit our website to submit your story ideas. You can also join The Story Seeds Society, our kids listeners club.
Grownups: Visit www.storyseedspodcast.com for subscription links, to sign up for our newsletter, and to download our printable activity e-zines for your kids (or the kid in you!) that offer opportunities to read, write, and get creative alongside listening to each episode . You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari.
Get our Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity activity book! It pairs perfectly with the podcast and features tons of episode-inspired prompts and projects! Order your copy here!
This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here.
Show credits
Produced and written by Sandhya Nankani, Anjali Sakhrani, and Kayla Fedeson. Scoring, mixing, and sound design by Ania Grzesik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Field audio recorded by James Boo. Hosted by Betsy Bird. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT.
The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com
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