Speaker 1: My league books has all the knowledge you want.
Speaker 2: My league has all the knowledge you needle Yet.
Speaker 1: They have all the books that.
Speaker 2: The whole wild world one of read Malague Books.
Speaker 3: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's Bookshelf, bringing a world together
Speaker 3: with books, culture and community.
Speaker 2: Woo.
Speaker 4: The La Times Festival of Books was explosive, high energy, enlightening, informative.
Speaker 1: People came by the thousands.
Speaker 3: We curated Malie Books was the children's stage special seller.
Speaker 3: We also had a couple of booths out there that
Speaker 3: was a hit and we got so many compliments. I mean,
Speaker 3: Leak's Bookshelf was about community. This was a community event
Speaker 3: and book lovers came out by the thousand. It was
Speaker 3: extraordinary and I had a wonderful time. It was a
Speaker 3: lot of work, Don't get me wrong. I mean we worked,
Speaker 3: we worked, we worked. I had volunteers. They came through
Speaker 3: and we put on a very smooth, seamlessly business that day.
Speaker 3: The authors had a wonderful experience and we had a
Speaker 3: lot of authors. You know, last week, well two weeks ago,
Speaker 3: I did an intro to what was going on at the.
Speaker 1: La Times Festival Book. So this week.
Speaker 3: I'm going to feature all the interviews that I was
Speaker 3: able to get. Now, it's a lot of noise sometimes
Speaker 3: in the background, it is what it is. But I
Speaker 3: was I could not resist the opportunity to interview all
Speaker 3: these wonderful authors. And now at my own booth out there,
Speaker 3: I had around seventeen authors that were signing between my
Speaker 3: two booths. Now some of them are already had featured
Speaker 3: and some I didn't.
Speaker 1: But on the.
Speaker 3: Children's stage as a special seller, there were there were
Speaker 3: authors like Kwame Alexander that I was able to interview.
Speaker 1: There were other.
Speaker 3: And Marie and a very very gifted illustrator by the
Speaker 3: name Araza.
Speaker 1: I was able to out of Salazar. I was able
Speaker 1: to say, if you if.
Speaker 3: I was around there, I was bouncing between booths and booths,
Speaker 3: going back and forth because you know, we had a
Speaker 3: lot going on, and our volunteers stepped up and made
Speaker 3: it possible so that I could be free to go
Speaker 3: to each booth and handle you know, different situations. But
Speaker 3: primarily I need did to get these interviews, and I
Speaker 3: needed to be free and roll up, you know, because
Speaker 3: it ain't every day that I have these type of
Speaker 3: you know, best sellers, best selling authors right here right now,
Speaker 3: where I can just interview why they signing, And so
Speaker 3: I was able to interview Max Greenfield, and I interviewed
Speaker 3: Robin Alison, who's the vit VP of Poloton and you know,
Speaker 3: and you know, everybody was receptive. It was some hiccups,
Speaker 3: don't get me wrong, but hey, most for the most
Speaker 3: part took pictures. I interview and we had a wonderful time.
Speaker 3: And that's why I'm a feature on this episode. I
Speaker 3: think that, you know, this is a great opportunity to
Speaker 3: focus right on the books community and how the world
Speaker 3: is brought together, bringing a world together with books, culture.
Speaker 1: And community, and that was the type of event.
Speaker 3: This, I believe one of the biggest, if not the
Speaker 3: biggest book festival in America. I'm not sure, but I
Speaker 3: know one thing.
Speaker 1: It was huge. It was a success. It was.
Speaker 3: Quite well attended, in thousands, I will say, Man, over
Speaker 3: one hundred thousand people between Saturday and Sunny came out.
Speaker 1: And so I'm gonna.
Speaker 3: Go ahead and bring on, you know, my interviews at
Speaker 3: this point because I didn't said enough. Now I'm gonna
Speaker 3: let you hear from them. This is Malik Muhammad, your
Speaker 3: host of Malik's Bookshelf.
Speaker 5: Aaron Becker, the author of the Tree and the River
Speaker 5: and a whole host of other books.
Speaker 1: Can you tell me a little bit about your.
Speaker 5: Work, Aaron, Well, most of the books that I do
Speaker 5: are wordless book These ones are for younger, the younger crowd.
Speaker 1: And if you hold it up to the light, it glows,
Speaker 1: it glows.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and uh I saw that, yes, and so wordless
Speaker 6: and toddler books and lots of adventure and thought provoking discussions,
Speaker 6: all that.
Speaker 2: Stuff, Okay, And what inspired you to become a children author?
Speaker 6: I had wanted to be a kid's book author since
Speaker 6: I was a kid, and I made my own books
Speaker 6: and the rest was history. I just like put one
Speaker 6: foot in front of the other until I made my
Speaker 6: dream happen manifest.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, it all start with a dream, and
Speaker 2: it all start with belief, and it all start with desire.
Speaker 2: You had a combination all that. Now you got about
Speaker 2: how many books you.
Speaker 6: Probablish, Well, I don't know. I'm up to be like
Speaker 6: maybe seven, eight nine. I don't even know, because there's
Speaker 6: ones coming out, there's ones that just came out, and uh,
Speaker 6: I just keep working, keep working.
Speaker 1: So what's in the store for you?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: What what's coming out next spring.
Speaker 6: I have another wordless picture book called The Last Zookeeper,
Speaker 6: and that's like a Noah's Ark parable about the future
Speaker 6: and where we're headed with the climate, but also a
Speaker 6: total adventure story with a gigantic robot the size of
Speaker 6: Godzilla who saves the forgotten animals of a zoo.
Speaker 1: Wow. Wow.
Speaker 2: So what's your favorite out of all the books she read?
Speaker 2: What's your favorite?
Speaker 1: Oh? My gosh.
Speaker 6: My favorite book that I've done is called A Stone
Speaker 6: for Sasha, and that is a book about a rock
Speaker 6: that falls to the earth and like over thousands and
Speaker 6: thousands of years, changes form. People find it, they use
Speaker 6: it in their buildings, their civilizations, and it ends up
Speaker 6: washed up on a beach as a polished stone that
Speaker 6: a girl finds and puts on the top of a
Speaker 6: grave of her dog who's just passed. So she finds
Speaker 6: solace in like the grand nature of history and big ideas.
Speaker 1: Man, I do big ideas. I love it.
Speaker 2: I love you gotta be imaginative, you gotta be creative.
Speaker 1: And I'm just talking to you just a few minutes.
Speaker 1: I can tell you have all of that.
Speaker 2: And that's a good thing, because that's what makes children
Speaker 2: books so pop out and so lively. You know, you
Speaker 2: know how to connect, you know how to relate, and
Speaker 2: I just love that and you and I love the passion.
Speaker 2: I love you excitement. I love how you describe your books.
Speaker 2: That was outstanding, Aaron. This has been a pleasure.
Speaker 1: We out here at the.
Speaker 2: Lost Angy Toimes Festival Books and Aaron just spoke on
Speaker 2: the main children's stage.
Speaker 1: He did his thing.
Speaker 2: Now he's signing books for the public, and he's signing
Speaker 2: books for the bookstore, and so any last word thoughts
Speaker 2: for us? Aaron?
Speaker 6: Oh yes, get out there, read, find your imagination and
Speaker 6: remember hold on to wonder.
Speaker 7: Wow.
Speaker 1: There you heard it straight from Aaron Becker. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Okay, this is Malie's bookshelf, bringing the world together with books,
Speaker 2: culture and community. I'm with Aita sellers are that's right
Speaker 2: at the La Times Festival book She just wrote a
Speaker 2: new book, Jovita war Pants, the story of she Ca
Speaker 2: in Freedom Fighter. She also got a gang other books
Speaker 2: in the Spirit of a Dream, Thirteen Stories of Africa,
Speaker 2: Immigration of Color, that's Land of the Cranes, The Moon Within,
Speaker 2: Calling the Moon, sixteen Piers, sixteen Piers Stories from Bobbing authors.
Speaker 2: I got to stand right here. Tell me about your inspiration.
Speaker 1: What made you write?
Speaker 8: Ah?
Speaker 7: Well, actually, I've been a storyteller since I was a
Speaker 7: little girl. But the first person to ever give me
Speaker 7: a book to read was my fifth grade teacher, mister Clark,
Speaker 7: and he also gave me a pen, and I used
Speaker 7: that pen to write stories and bad poetry. And but
Speaker 7: when I was in it was eighteen, I went to
Speaker 7: college and it was the first time I saw myself reflected.
Speaker 6: In a book.
Speaker 1: That's amazed.
Speaker 7: I read Elena Maria Viramontez Sandrasis, Rodolfo Yo and all
Speaker 7: of these authors, and I said, wait a minute, you
Speaker 7: mean all things that I've been writing with my Parker
Speaker 7: pen all these years could be in a book. That's
Speaker 7: when I decided you said.
Speaker 1: Something very important. You said, I'm very important.
Speaker 2: And I repeated that twice, because representation matters. You have
Speaker 2: to see yourself in books to believe in yourself and
Speaker 2: love yourself. And so that was a major awakening for you.
Speaker 7: Oh absolutely, it transformed my life. It set me in
Speaker 7: the path that I am now. It took me a
Speaker 7: long time, took me about twenty five years to get
Speaker 7: to publish because it's not easy to publish with your
Speaker 7: Mexican immigrant, you know, and our stories are not valued
Speaker 7: in the same way. So now I kicked the door
Speaker 7: open here and I have you.
Speaker 2: Do you know how many kids, youth have been inspired
Speaker 2: because they pick up your book and they see themselves.
Speaker 2: That's why many books exist, because representation matters. Kids are
Speaker 2: one hundred percent of a few that we need to
Speaker 2: see ourselves. And I didn't grow up seeing myself, but
Speaker 2: I see myself now, and I'm helping trim to the
Speaker 2: cell of books with black and brown people because that's important.
Speaker 2: You know, there's gonna be more minorities in America. It's
Speaker 2: gonna be the majority, all right. So in a few
Speaker 2: more years, we gonna be the majority. So hey, this
Speaker 2: is wonderful. Tell me all about your next steps in life,
Speaker 2: what you got working on, and where we going from here?
Speaker 7: Okay, So I've got a few things coming down the pike.
Speaker 7: I got a board book series coming start in the fall,
Speaker 7: and then next year I got another novel in Verse
Speaker 7: called Ultra Violence, about a little boy who falls in
Speaker 7: love and gets his heart broken. And so but it's
Speaker 7: it's it's a story that's hopefully gonna teach children how
Speaker 7: to not be toxic. Right when you get, when you lose,
Speaker 7: or when you have your heartbroken.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been there. I've been there, but I brought
Speaker 2: it upon myself. I take the blame for my heartbreak.
Speaker 2: I can't put the blame on nobody else but myself.
Speaker 1: Put here.
Speaker 2: A lot of that happens, you know why, because really
Speaker 2: it takes years for us to know ourselves, discover ourselves.
Speaker 2: So then once we find out who we are, then
Speaker 2: we can make a better relationship. But until then, guess what,
Speaker 2: you know, we like a baby with a hammer. Everything
Speaker 2: is a nail.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. And that's the thing.
Speaker 7: I think black and brown boys in particular have not
Speaker 7: been given the space to love and to feel lost,
Speaker 7: and to grieve and to cry and to go through
Speaker 7: all the emotions.
Speaker 1: So we have.
Speaker 7: We have these really sad people in the world, and
Speaker 7: a lot of hurt happens because of that. So to
Speaker 7: themselves and.
Speaker 2: Others, keep up the good work. We appreciate you. This
Speaker 2: is amazing. Best of love. Thank you, thank you man.
Speaker 1: I missed my injoke. I gotta start it all over.
Speaker 2: From Leak's bookshelf, Bringing the world together with books, coach
Speaker 2: and community. Listen, I got this wonderful book, You Will
Speaker 2: Do Great Things just came out and I got both
Speaker 2: for the author and illustrator. Now, I don't want to
Speaker 2: get your names wrong, so hey, I'm gonna start with
Speaker 2: the author.
Speaker 1: Tell them your name.
Speaker 9: That's a really good one, mister, I'm gonna use that.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna get your name wrong.
Speaker 9: My name is Amory, and I am the Amory and
Speaker 9: I am the writer of You Will Do Great Things.
Speaker 10: And this is I am right as a figure out,
Speaker 10: and I am the illustrator, illustrator.
Speaker 1: And the author right here o Ma Lee's folks show.
Speaker 2: Now you got to tell him about the book, and
Speaker 2: then you're gonna tell me about the inspiration behind the illustrations.
Speaker 9: Well, you know, ultimately I created You Will Do Great
Speaker 9: Things because you know, my son River was born and
Speaker 9: I really wanted to, but she suggested it put into
Speaker 9: words everything that I feel for him, everything that I
Speaker 9: wanted to prepare him for. You know, I really wanted
Speaker 9: him to know that he is here to do something
Speaker 9: great and that the world is amazing and it's wonderful,
Speaker 9: but it doesn't mean it's everything's.
Speaker 1: Going to be easy.
Speaker 9: But even if it's not easy, I wanted him to
Speaker 9: know that he is equipped with everything that he needs
Speaker 9: and he may pick up supplies along the way, but
Speaker 9: his backpack does have the essentials. That's kind of like
Speaker 9: the thing I was thinking, and I want. I wanted
Speaker 9: him to have that message.
Speaker 1: But it was also important to me that when he.
Speaker 10: Was looking at a book, he saw someone who looked
Speaker 10: like himself.
Speaker 9: That was very important to me because I do believe
Speaker 9: that kids need to have all people featured on their bookshelves,
Speaker 9: and but there was I felt that this was something
Speaker 9: in particular, that there was space for that, this message,
Speaker 9: because I was like, I was looking for it on
Speaker 9: Amazon actually, and I couldn't find this. This is also
Speaker 9: three years ago. I couldn't find this message. Everything that
Speaker 9: I wanted to say number one and number two someone
Speaker 9: that featured him. You know, I wanted him to see him.
Speaker 9: Somebody didn't want her to bed it matters. I didn't,
Speaker 9: you know, I didn't didn't.
Speaker 1: Grow up with these books looking like me. I didn't,
Speaker 1: and I just me.
Speaker 9: I grew up in a very in a very diverse situation.
Speaker 9: So I honestly didn't really think about like the differences
Speaker 9: between races or ethnicities, even though I grew up around
Speaker 9: people who were Guamanian, Mexican, Mexican and white, Korean and white, Black,
Speaker 9: German and white everything. But I said, I didn't really
Speaker 9: think about difference as much I saw it. But I
Speaker 9: didn't think about it. But I didn't realize that even
Speaker 9: though I had a very diverse upbringing surrounding me, because
Speaker 9: so many of the books that when I was a
Speaker 9: kid did feature Caucasian children, I didn't realize until I
Speaker 9: was a teenager writing.
Speaker 1: I was like, why am I not writing.
Speaker 9: Anyone that looks like me? Because you internalized the message
Speaker 9: that yes, everything's mixed, everyone's represented, But when when we
Speaker 9: have stories, you don't.
Speaker 1: You don't have a place here, absolutely.
Speaker 9: And I didn't.
Speaker 1: And that was a sad realization.
Speaker 2: So it took you having a child to have an awakening,
Speaker 2: or you got it just before I.
Speaker 9: Got that awakening when I was a teenager, when I
Speaker 9: was looking at my own stories and realizing that I
Speaker 9: wasn't putting myself in my own stories because somehow it's
Speaker 9: just like, oh, that's they're never We're never in stories
Speaker 9: like not the stories I read about the magic and
Speaker 9: this and that we're just not really in them. I mean,
Speaker 9: I did read Rainbow Jordan, I hear ain't nothing about
Speaker 9: a sandwich. But when it's just a girl about writing
Speaker 9: a horror I don't. I don't really see that. A
Speaker 9: kid who has magic, I didn't see that. And so
Speaker 9: you know, sometimes we internalize those things without realizing, and
Speaker 9: I think the best way, just like that's subconscious. The
Speaker 9: best way to let kids know that the world is diverse,
Speaker 9: that they belong, that we all have a place is
Speaker 9: again on a subconscious level, where it's just them seeing
Speaker 9: themselves and seeing everyone and that that was important.
Speaker 1: That's why they mattered. That's why.
Speaker 9: It's a subconscious and so you don't want to be
Speaker 9: careful what you're feeding. So that's also why I think
Speaker 9: like You Will Do Great Things is great for graduates,
Speaker 9: but also for adults too, Like I think everybody needs
Speaker 9: to be reminded sometimes that whatever we're going through in life,
Speaker 9: we do have the answers in us, and we might
Speaker 9: call to ask for advice, but at the end of
Speaker 9: the day, we kind of know what we need to do.
Speaker 9: We just we are just waiting for someone to be like, girl,
Speaker 9: you're right that's what you need to do. And I
Speaker 9: think we just have to remember that we don't have
Speaker 9: to do that.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Listen, you gave up in shun motivation, you gave the
Speaker 2: front story to backstory.
Speaker 1: Oh why your book exists? That was outstanding. Wow.
Speaker 9: But that's only half of it. Because of course we
Speaker 9: have an amazing illustrator, rice A Figaroa, who was able
Speaker 9: to take all of that, everything that I just said,
Speaker 9: and put it into such beautiful.
Speaker 1: Imagery, and that matters.
Speaker 2: That matters because look, when I'm reading, I need to
Speaker 2: see the images, and here we go.
Speaker 1: I don't get the.
Speaker 10: Name wrong, it's right, it was right, and I did
Speaker 10: the images for you'll do great things. My inspiration, I guess,
Speaker 10: was just I had free range to kind of do
Speaker 10: whatever it was that came to mind, and I got
Speaker 10: honed and I'm just very blessed to be able to
Speaker 10: work on this project because it was really freeing.
Speaker 2: So you get the manuscript first, and then you brought
Speaker 2: a pictures from the manuscript.
Speaker 10: Yeah, yeah, okay, and then they look it and they're like, okay,
Speaker 10: this is what we want. This is maybe not along
Speaker 10: the lines, but we.
Speaker 6: Were thinking.
Speaker 10: It's like three times to get it right, I.
Speaker 2: Think, okay, okay, but it was, yeah, here it is.
Speaker 2: And you you also have illustrated so many other books,
Speaker 2: and you have another one that just is about to
Speaker 2: come out.
Speaker 1: And tell us about that.
Speaker 10: I have which you talk about what.
Speaker 1: My daddy loves.
Speaker 10: It's like an ode to black fathers and their kids.
Speaker 10: And that just came about just because on Instagram I
Speaker 10: was drying. I didn't know how to draw men really
Speaker 10: and I wanted to practice, and so an editor saw
Speaker 10: and They're like, this could make a good book.
Speaker 11: And I'm like, all right, wow, just doing something you
Speaker 11: already love and just trying to work on your craft
Speaker 11: and your perfection and another book just popped up out
Speaker 11: of you.
Speaker 1: I know, that's amazing. What's What's something else? Probably don't know,
Speaker 1: but you can share with my audience.
Speaker 7: That I can share.
Speaker 10: I don't know if I can share anything.
Speaker 1: I know y'all be doing all them secret things.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 1: I said, Oh, I can't talk about that right now,
Speaker 1: but you got to wait a year. It's gonna come
Speaker 1: out boom and there it is. Any tips, any ship
Speaker 1: give us a clue. I mean, we know my books is.
Speaker 10: Coming, Okay. The one I can tell you about the
Speaker 10: coming out of me. There's real to me that comes
Speaker 10: up May second, along with what my daddy loves. I'm sorry, sorry,
Speaker 10: it's her to do this.
Speaker 1: This is amazing. Listen, listen.
Speaker 2: I'm enjoying the conversation, you know, and I thank you
Speaker 2: for sharing with my audience on Malice Bookshelf bringing the
Speaker 2: World Together with.
Speaker 1: Books, Culture and Community. Thank you, Thank.
Speaker 2: You the author good Night Sister, Catherine Schwassernagger Pratt. She
Speaker 2: in the special selling booth and I got the interview
Speaker 2: for a Malice Bookshelf bringing the World Together, Books, Culture
Speaker 2: and Community.
Speaker 1: Tell us about your book, good Night Sister.
Speaker 12: Oh wow, such passion. It's a book about sisterhood called
Speaker 12: good Night's Sister. I wrote it based on the relationship
Speaker 12: I have with my sister Christina, and I'm really excited
Speaker 12: to be here today and talking about sisterhood.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Overwhelmed response, because that's all we got left because we
Speaker 2: ordered a lot of books.
Speaker 1: That is amazing. I know you probably on book number two.
Speaker 2: This is the first book you autographed. Oh hey, hello,
Speaker 2: learn something about Katherine. Listen, give me a shout out
Speaker 2: and let me my fans on Malice's Bookshelf give them
Speaker 2: something about what can inspire them, motivate them, become author.
Speaker 12: Just be excited and passionate about what you want to
Speaker 12: write about and put it out in the world. No
Speaker 12: one will be as excited as you are, So keep
Speaker 12: up that passion and keep up that excitement about it,
Speaker 12: and just work, work, work, hard, hard, heart to get
Speaker 12: it all done.
Speaker 1: She on her fit going on her six books.
Speaker 2: So hey, you heard it personally from Catherine Swalking to Pratt,
Speaker 2: Thank you, You're welcome. While you signed a quirer, I
Speaker 2: know you multitask. I'm going to ask a few questions from.
Speaker 1: A podcast release's.
Speaker 2: Bookshelf bringing the world together with books, culture and community.
Speaker 2: My brother, is a pleasure meeting you for the first time.
Speaker 2: I love your work. What's next for you?
Speaker 1: My brother? What's next?
Speaker 13: Writing book two of the Door of No Return trilogy,
Speaker 13: writing a picture book on the history of black music,
Speaker 13: and a memoir that's coming out on May twenty third,
Speaker 13: called Wife Father's Crest Night Man?
Speaker 2: How do you find the time to write all the
Speaker 2: book you just you just release? How to write a poem?
Speaker 2: That's what you spoke here today at the La Times
Speaker 2: Festival Books.
Speaker 13: I have no idea how I find the time. If
Speaker 13: I took the time to think about it, I'd probably
Speaker 13: go crazy because it's a bit much.
Speaker 1: So I don't think about it. Well, you know you
Speaker 1: probably put you do it. You just do it.
Speaker 2: Do you pray for success, You pray for all this work,
Speaker 2: You pray for this level of opportunity.
Speaker 1: So now that you have it, do you enjoy it?
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 13: I love my job, you know. I love being able
Speaker 13: to write books, tell my stories and come out and
Speaker 13: share stories like the ones I shared today at the
Speaker 13: La Times Book Festival. So I'm very passionate about it.
Speaker 1: Amazing.
Speaker 2: The energy was high, the passion was great, and I
Speaker 2: could eat love what you do. And you know, I'm
Speaker 2: going to feed on that energy because I love to
Speaker 2: bring that kind of passion to Malice bookshelf. You know,
Speaker 2: books are important, and I see that you have a
Speaker 2: passion to elevate our voice.
Speaker 13: Yeah, I mean, I believe the words matter, and I
Speaker 13: believe that we got our responsibility as children's assors, as teachers,
Speaker 13: as librarians to help young people imagine a better world.
Speaker 13: And what better way to do that than through books?
Speaker 2: When did you first dream of this glorious career you
Speaker 2: have now.
Speaker 13: I don't know if I dreamt about it. I tell
Speaker 13: people all the time, I didn't find poetry, I didn't
Speaker 13: find books.
Speaker 1: They found me.
Speaker 13: So wow, I was probably my parents probably I'm like
Speaker 13: the man train candidate of books.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: And what some of the challenges that you had to
Speaker 2: overcome to get, you know, to be successful? You know
Speaker 2: here you have a cumative amount of books that you read,
Speaker 2: but you started out with that first one. And how
Speaker 2: the challenges he came and proceeded after that?
Speaker 13: Yeah, I mean it's always you're writing books, so the
Speaker 13: idea is just a very subjective thing.
Speaker 1: Who's gonna like it?
Speaker 13: And so when publishers weren't really into my books, I
Speaker 13: published them myself. So there were definitely challenges, but I'll
Speaker 13: figure out how to overcome them because I really believed
Speaker 13: in this, in this thing that I was.
Speaker 1: Doing, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2: And I know that how to write a book? Now
Speaker 2: you got how to write a poem? I'm sure you're
Speaker 2: going to continue that title how to what.
Speaker 13: How to Sing a Song? Comes out in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: I knew it. I do how to sing a song? Now?
Speaker 1: Have you sang a song? My brother?
Speaker 12: No?
Speaker 1: I can't sing no me either. I leave that to song.
Speaker 2: What else what I'm singing may says keep you daytime job,
Speaker 2: But I would love to know how So what's your
Speaker 2: inspiration for writing that upcoming?
Speaker 13: I have a friend who is a singer and a
Speaker 13: guitarist and we wanted to work on a book together
Speaker 13: and it seemed like the right book for both of us,
Speaker 13: and it seemed like the right way to end this trilogy.
Speaker 2: So soon to come is you're working with Disney. I
Speaker 2: think what crossover.
Speaker 13: Crossover the TV series on Disney Plus and it's out
Speaker 13: now and it's you know, we've been working on it
Speaker 13: for three years, so it's good to see it on
Speaker 13: the spreads.
Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely, Well, you definitely have contributed to the magnification
Speaker 2: of our voice and we look you know, we want
Speaker 2: you to continue that journey and inspire along the way
Speaker 2: the next generation of great writers. And uh and I
Speaker 2: know you you were part of some campaign one time
Speaker 2: to write to write a writing campaign? How did that
Speaker 2: end up?
Speaker 1: Which campaign was a.
Speaker 2: Campaign where you on Instagram you was telling people about
Speaker 2: an opportunity.
Speaker 1: For the America's next great author. Yeah, it's a reality.
Speaker 13: Show and producing, Yeah, trying to trying to help other
Speaker 13: writers in America do this thing that took me twenty
Speaker 13: three years to do, and that is figure out how
Speaker 13: to make a living writing your books, telling your stories,
Speaker 13: and so hopefully other writers won't have to go through
Speaker 13: those twenty three years I went through.
Speaker 1: So that's what the reality show is about. That's amazing.
Speaker 2: And when do you think project it is going to
Speaker 2: come out?
Speaker 13: Probably twenty twenty four or twenty five.
Speaker 1: Okay, so you already finished, you just doing the editing.
Speaker 13: No, in the middle of shooting.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, okay, any last thoughts you'd like to share
Speaker 2: with Melie's Books show.
Speaker 13: I'm just, you know, really thankful that independent bookstores you know,
Speaker 13: are here to share the books that writers you know,
Speaker 13: spend their lives working on. That you all are here
Speaker 13: to support us, and we want to support you. So
Speaker 13: keep the good work.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you, kawan appreciate that was Kawmi Alexander,
Speaker 2: you heard it first hand interview for Malik's Bookshew bringing
Speaker 2: the world together with books, culture and community.
Speaker 1: Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Okay, Okay, I just want.
Speaker 2: To just ask them real quick question for the fans
Speaker 2: of Malik's Book show and the fans a Malik's bookstore.
Speaker 2: I got Leslie Odham Junior, Nikola Robinson right here. What
Speaker 2: do you have to say inspiration for the next generation?
Speaker 9: Keep reading period, absolutely and get your books from Aleik's bookstore.
Speaker 2: You heard it personally from two authors that just wrote
Speaker 2: a new book.
Speaker 1: Leslie Man, this is great.
Speaker 2: You know what I like to do is just tell
Speaker 2: me what was your inspiration for writing this wonderful children's book?
Speaker 1: Reading wonderful children's books. You know the fact that we
Speaker 1: read so many to our kids made us want to contribute.
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's an offering and we hope it's
Speaker 1: worthy to sit on the shelves. You know, a wonderful
Speaker 1: library we have at home and at your bookstore.
Speaker 2: At my bookstore, and I'm in you know the books
Speaker 2: that you've written before the children book we carried at
Speaker 2: the bookstore.
Speaker 1: Now you'd end up in what.
Speaker 2: I call children a one hundred percent of our future.
Speaker 2: Nico Let, what'd you think about that?
Speaker 10: That's amazing. I'm all for it.
Speaker 1: I support it.
Speaker 2: Max Max Max Malik from Elgue Books. I know you
Speaker 2: didn't bounce from one booth to another. The lines were long.
Speaker 2: I walk listen at the special selling Children's State booth
Speaker 2: Jumping booth Jump.
Speaker 1: It is funny because I.
Speaker 2: Walked sixty seconds over there at the Children's State and
Speaker 2: the line still was going.
Speaker 1: That's how long it was to get.
Speaker 2: Your autographed, your popular what's your secret?
Speaker 1: I wish I knew?
Speaker 6: I just show up.
Speaker 2: Well, hey, between this year last year, they come out
Speaker 2: by the numbers. I always try to get a chance
Speaker 2: out here to get some interviews from podcasts. Malice bookshell
Speaker 2: bring the world together through books, culture and community. I
Speaker 2: just want to get some you know, for you to
Speaker 2: give my audience something they can hold on too. In
Speaker 2: your miraculous career as a children booked author.
Speaker 14: This is write what you know now and have fun
Speaker 14: with that. These books are really fun and it feels
Speaker 14: like people have fun with them, have fun reading them.
Speaker 14: And uh, you know, it's it's a personal experience. It's
Speaker 14: based on a personal experience with that I've had it
Speaker 14: not only as a writer.
Speaker 1: But as a as a.
Speaker 14: As a parent, and as a reader myself. And uh,
Speaker 14: as long as you keep it honest and real, it
Speaker 14: feels like, you know, people seem to enjoy it.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mike appreciate much success.
Speaker 14: Which book you're working on, nixt I don't want to
Speaker 14: read this book aloud.
Speaker 2: Hello, you heard it, Louve from mix Greenfield, Thank you,
Speaker 2: thank you, thank you. Malik's bookshelf got Michael Sampei. I'm
Speaker 2: gonna let him talk to you about all the beautiful
Speaker 2: work he's doing trying to inspire youth, the children, and
Speaker 2: he even had Katherine Kate. I get you're creatian for Kathany, right,
Speaker 2: So they got a book I'll call you on Ukraine
Speaker 2: in what's the complete title.
Speaker 8: It's the Story of Ukraine, an Anthem of Glory and Freedom.
Speaker 8: It's a book that we wrote to be able to
Speaker 8: help the world understand what Ukraine is going through with
Speaker 8: the invasion of Russia and so much propaganda was coming out.
Speaker 8: So the books set in three parts. The first part,
Speaker 8: the first eight pages tell about the history and geography
Speaker 8: and the people of Ukraine. The second eight pages we
Speaker 8: go through the national anthem, where we go line by
Speaker 8: line what the language means. And then the third section
Speaker 8: we cover the symbols of Ukraine, things like the flag,
Speaker 8: the national flower which is sunflower, the tree zoop which
Speaker 8: is our symbol which you find on some of the
Speaker 8: old coins and flags, and then we wrap up talking
Speaker 8: about some of the great Ukrainians in history, the great writers,
Speaker 8: the great inventors, the great poets, and the great painters.
Speaker 1: So it's a really moving book.
Speaker 8: When people ask me what my favorite book is I've
Speaker 8: written out of the fifty, I have to say the
Speaker 8: Story of Ukraine because it's meaningful. It's impacting children's lives,
Speaker 8: because it gives which back for Ukrainian kids, refugees when
Speaker 8: their colleagues here about what a great country they are
Speaker 8: living in or we're living in. And also I think
Speaker 8: it just says something about democracy that we're helping support Ukraine.
Speaker 2: Wow wow, Wow, that was a great book. Description, amazing.
Speaker 2: In fact, you travel around and you even speak the
Speaker 2: book in Ukraine.
Speaker 3: Correct, right, Sometimes I'm speaking in the Ukrainian Why in.
Speaker 2: English is different? You were born in Ukraine and you
Speaker 2: came here as a result of the war.
Speaker 6: Yes, he came here after the war in my country.
Speaker 1: Wow wow wow wow. Well you just heard Michael Samby.
Speaker 2: He said he wrote fifty books and he got a
Speaker 2: new one called I.
Speaker 1: Believe What's Bing Bang chugg a beet? Hello, tell us
Speaker 1: about that book.
Speaker 8: So it's a fun book for prescooters and talking about
Speaker 8: their favorite toy. In this case, the little boy's name is
Speaker 8: Charlie and a car is this old car is his
Speaker 8: favorite toy. Rewrote it to the rhythm of this so man,
Speaker 8: but this called this little car, and we called it
Speaker 8: being banged chucking because that's the sound the truck of
Speaker 8: the car makes, is just bouncing around. And so we
Speaker 8: think it's going to be a great gift for children.
Speaker 8: And they talk about their favorite toys were.
Speaker 1: In the book.
Speaker 8: Actually the kids what their favorite toy is. And we
Speaker 8: have all kinds of things to choose from or they
Speaker 8: can make up through on you.
Speaker 1: Heard it live, Michael simp appreciate you.
Speaker 2: This is Malik's bookshelf, bringing a world together with books,
Speaker 2: culture and community. I'm at the La Times Festival Books.
Speaker 2: I'm getting wonderful authors who are representing the voice of
Speaker 2: blackness in America. Books that can be read Black kids,
Speaker 2: White clips, Asian clip, Mason kids. And guess who I
Speaker 2: got standing right here, Nick Stone, the author of Getaway
Speaker 2: and a Whole.
Speaker 1: And she could tell you all the other ones.
Speaker 15: I mean there's a few, only a few, a few. Yeah,
Speaker 15: dear Martin, Dear Justice, Been Get Away Fast, bitching on
Speaker 15: and on and on on and.
Speaker 1: On and on. So when I'm traveling to.
Speaker 2: Schools, I like to carry your books because you all
Speaker 2: your books kind of you know, they chapter books and
Speaker 2: it deals with all the grade levels. And so what
Speaker 2: inspired you to write and do the things that you're
Speaker 2: doing to make an impact and giving voice to.
Speaker 15: The voice not seeing the kind of things I'm making
Speaker 15: when I was a kid and needing them. So really
Speaker 15: just wanting to give my kids a different experience than
Speaker 15: the one I had. Ryan never saw myself in books.
Speaker 1: Wow, wow wow.
Speaker 2: And so when did this journey start and what was
Speaker 2: the first title you published?
Speaker 1: And what's the latest title you published.
Speaker 15: So the first title was Dear Martin that published in
Speaker 15: twenty seventeen, and Chaos Theory is the thirteenth and it
Speaker 15: published in February twenty twenty three, So February twenty eighth,
Speaker 15: twenty twenty three was the most recent one.
Speaker 2: Right, right, that's the venture sci fi Chaos Theory.
Speaker 15: No, actually, it's a book about mental health. But one
Speaker 15: of the protagonists is obsessed with astrophysics.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, wonderful, you know, deal Martin and Deal Justice.
Speaker 1: My daughter was fourteen. She read both of your books.
Speaker 2: She recommended her older brother read it. She Uh, I
Speaker 2: think she was touched by it. She reads a lot.
Speaker 2: And uh so what's new? What's upcoming? And uh talk
Speaker 2: about films that are being produced.
Speaker 1: From your books?
Speaker 15: I mean technically I'm not allowed to. And honestly, I
Speaker 15: don't know what's upcoming. I'm in a very interesting space
Speaker 15: where I haven't written anything new, and so I'm trying
Speaker 15: to figure out what we're doing next.
Speaker 1: Are you thinking about like a novel?
Speaker 15: Oh, probably a novel, I'm sure.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 15: I don't know what about though, So we'll see.
Speaker 1: Talking about a picture book, we'll see.
Speaker 15: All I know is I got to write something when
Speaker 15: you're young.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 1: We'll figure it out.
Speaker 2: You got time, you young, beautiful talent, did gifted, you know,
Speaker 2: giving voice to the voiceless, anything.
Speaker 1: That I left out raising the roof.
Speaker 15: You know, I showed you I'm not actually that young.
Speaker 1: I I'm raising the roof.
Speaker 2: Okay, she shown Look, Yeah, so she got them God.
Speaker 15: Jeans, STEP's melanin Melody.
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you, Nick Stone, Safe Travels. You know we
Speaker 2: at the Los Ange Times Books. She disappeared at the
Speaker 2: why stage. Okay, And what's some of the things you
Speaker 2: talked about.
Speaker 15: I mean, we talked a lot about mental health. We
Speaker 15: talked a lot about telling stories that aren't frequently told,
Speaker 15: and the power of making sure kids are able to
Speaker 15: see themselves reflected in what they're reading.
Speaker 2: Yes, yet, representation matter, always, absolutely matters, and our voice matter.
Speaker 1: We've been silent too long.
Speaker 15: Yes, that's why I'm not shutting up.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Nick.
Speaker 2: Keep the journey, keep the elevation, keep the prosperity, do
Speaker 2: your thing.
Speaker 1: Thank you Malik.
Speaker 15: You keep up what you're doing as well, because it
Speaker 15: is killer.
Speaker 1: Thanks.
Speaker 2: Robin Ella's on right here at the La Times Festival
Speaker 2: book she didn't autograph Strong Baby, Strong.
Speaker 1: Mama out here line was down.
Speaker 2: I took me fifty sixty seconds to.
Speaker 1: Walk right to the front to see what she was signing.
Speaker 2: That's how the outpoint of love and the purchase of
Speaker 2: books came across. So listen is for the Malik's Bookshelf,
Speaker 2: bringing the world together with books, culture and community. How
Speaker 2: you doing give me a shout out from my podcast
Speaker 2: Malak's Bookshelf? So what inspired I know you work with Palanthon.
Speaker 2: Tell me your position and roll there.
Speaker 10: I'm vice president of fitness programming and head instructor.
Speaker 2: Wow, wow, wow, you only got means and means of
Speaker 2: people to sign on peloton.
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 9: People moving.
Speaker 2: So you're off to both of these books? And what's
Speaker 2: your inspiration?
Speaker 10: That movement is medicine and that self care is not selfish.
Speaker 9: It's a really important thing to prioritize so we can be,
Speaker 9: you know, stronger for our communities.
Speaker 10: And our families.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And so how long you been in the fitness
Speaker 1: almost ten years?
Speaker 5: Okay?
Speaker 1: Was it through high school?
Speaker 8: No?
Speaker 15: It wasn't.
Speaker 6: No that adulthood, adulthood.
Speaker 2: You found fitness and its changed you mentally.
Speaker 1: Inspiracy, that's right?
Speaker 9: Yeah, yes?
Speaker 2: And and what what what's next for you?
Speaker 1: What's next?
Speaker 10: I'm I'm working on an empowerment journal that will be
Speaker 10: releasing this song.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, And I'm assuming that you're expecting Hello Hello?
Speaker 1: Was that dance person by a strong baby?
Speaker 6: Plan was already written before I was pregnant, but.
Speaker 10: Yeah, it certainly still applies.
Speaker 1: Right right, right? Right?
Speaker 2: So what what are some of the keys to uh
Speaker 2: to get a person motivated to want to work out?
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 6: I think start small and schedule your workouts. Make it
Speaker 6: part of your daily schedule.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and any last inspiration you can give to
Speaker 2: my Police Bookschef audience.
Speaker 6: Oh well, I.
Speaker 10: Think reading is jet fuel for a hustler, so keep
Speaker 10: opening books.
Speaker 1: You heard it live from Robin Alison.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Malik's Bookshelf, where topics on the
Speaker 2: shelf are books, culture, and community.
Speaker 1: Be sure to subscribe and leave me a review. Check
Speaker 1: out my Instagram at Malak Books. See you next time.