A Daddy Daughter Bookworms Conquering Stage Fright with 'Piper Chen'Sings'

Ever felt your heart pounding and palms sweating before stepping into the spotlight? Lucy and I, Alex, have sure had our bouts with stage fright, and in our latest Daddy Daughter Bookworms podcast, we unwrap the delightful children's book "Piper Chen's Things." Authors Phillpa Soo & Maris Pasquale Dorn, with the whimsical artistry of Qin Lang, spin a tale of overcoming fears that resonate with both the young and the young at heart. We unpack the rich metaphors, the symphony of musical vocabulary, and the cultural tapestry woven through Piper's story, leaving no page unturned in our endeavor to inspire imagination and spark creativity in our listeners.

Join us as we reflect on our own nerve-wracking experiences and revel in the insights gleaned from our encounter with the authors themselves. We're not just reviewing a book; we're celebrating our journey to becoming award-winning podcasters, recipients of the Communicator Award for Arts and Culture! Amidst the summer sizzle, we're already brewing up our next episode, promising more enchanting discussions and heartfelt reviews. So here's to the stories that make us brave, the cultures that enrich us, and to you, our cherished listeners, for embarking on this literary adventure with us.

Transcript

Children's Book Review

Speaker 1 0:00

You're listening to the Daddy Daughter Bookworm sponsored by CareFresh Training Group, where we talk about children's books. Hello, bookworms. My name is Lucy.

Speaker 2 0:16

And I'm Alex, and today we're going to learn about stage fright.

Speaker 1 0:23

Yep, that's right, stage fright.

Speaker 2 0:26

What are we reviewing this week?

Speaker 1 0:28

We're reviewing Piper Chen's things.

Speaker 2 0:31

Well, who wrote it?

Speaker 1 0:33

There are two authors, Philip Passew and Maris Pasquale Dorn. I think you're familiar with Philip Passew, right, Dad.

Speaker 2 0:41

I think I am too, wasn't she in a play that we both like? Yep.

Speaker 1 0:46

Hamilton.

Speaker 2 0:48

Really.

Speaker 1 0:49

Angelica, eliza and Peggy Fort the Skylar sisters.

Speaker 2 0:54

That's right. Philip Passew was one of the original cast members of Hamilton and her and her sister-in-law decided to have a book about stage fright. And for those of you who don't know, her character in Hamilton was Eliza. Exactly so why don't you tell me a little bit more about Mrs Dorn?

Speaker 1 1:21

She's Philippa's sister-in-law. She is a social worker and a professor at Columbia University. She lives in Maplewood, at a beautiful and creative town near where you grew up.

Speaker 2 1:35

It's true, and they have an awesome independent bookstore in Maplewood, new Jersey. So why don't you tell me a little bit about the illustrator?

Speaker 1 1:48

The illustrator is another talented woman. Her name is Kin Lang. She lives in Toronto and her illustrations are charming and bring the story to life.

Speaker 2 1:58

Absolutely. When you think of this book, it's so beautifully done, isn't that right, lucy?

Speaker 1 2:06

Yes, it is so.

Speaker 2 2:08

When you look at the front cover, what do you see? I see Piper.

Speaker 1 2:12

Chen and she is singing with a hairbrush, with her dog and what's around her Dad.

Speaker 2 2:19

It looks like butterflies and we're going to get into those butterflies a little bit later, aren't we? Yes, we are. Why don't you tell me what genre this book is?

Speaker 1 2:29

It's a children's picture book, Dad. That's great how engaging are the illustrations and do they complement the text? Very well, they do. For example, I really love the illustrations of Nana's flashback when she is graduating from music school. I also love it because it reminds me of my kindergarten graduation.

Speaker 2 2:50

That was fun, wasn't it?

Speaker 1 2:51

Yes, it was my life.

Speaker 2 2:58

All right, that was the song they all sang. Does the book use any literary device, such as rhyme or repetition or alterations?

Speaker 1 3:10

There are beautiful metaphors in this book. The musical vocabulary is compared to the elements of nature throughout the book. One example is when Nai Nai plays the piano. The author compares the sound to raindrops.

Speaker 2 3:26

Absolutely, and it's really kind of neat how Nai Nai compares her experience to Piper's right Mm-hmm. Does this book encourage imagination and creativity? Yes, it does. What is the overall pacing of the book? Is it too slow, is it too fast, or is it just right?

Speaker 1 3:47

It was just right for me.

Speaker 2 3:49

I'm not surprised that the pacing was just right, because the co-author, Philip Asou's sister-in-law, is a social worker. The book really uses techniques like reframing. Instead of thinking of the ideas as a negative, she uses the butterflies as something amazing. When you're nervous, you know. Nana really suggests to Piper think of it a different way. Why don't you tell us a little bit about the butterflies and what Nana said?

Speaker 1 4:25

Nana says to think of the butterflies as something that appears before something exciting happens. The first time I ever remember feeling butterflies was right before performing the song and dance with my kindergarten class at the graduation. I like the idea of thinking butterflies as a positive instead of negative.

Speaker 2 4:45

What I love about this book is the characters are from China, and this is an experience closely related to Philippa Su's life, and these Chinese words have a lot of meaning to her. And what she's done is she's put a glossary and punctuation guide in the beginning of the book. Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Speaker 1 5:07

Sure, 书里 is butterfly, 芝菜 is dumplings. 奶奶 is grandmother. 你好 is hello. 爷爷 is grandfather.

Speaker 2 5:20

And those are all still in the front of the book, to give you a great aspect of how to say everything the right way, as well as understand what it means. Right, lucy, yep. Okay Now, would you recommend this book to people?

Speaker 1 5:38

I think this book would be great for first through fourth graders, especially if they have a performance coming up or something that's giving them butterflies.

Speaker 2 5:48

Has anything given you butterflies lately. Well, yesterday, when we were going to the podcasting event, right a little bit you had a little butterflies, yeah, and what about when we got to meet the authors?

Speaker 1 6:09

I was very nervous.

Speaker 2 6:12

But wasn't that neat that when we got there they actually read the whole book? And was it a little bit less nervous because you were thinking about those butterflies? Yeah. So, lucy, how amazing was it to go into New York and meet Angelica. No, I'm sorry.

Speaker 1 6:32

Eliza.

Speaker 2 6:34

In person.

Speaker 1 6:35

It was so much fun.

Speaker 2 6:37

She was so nice, wasn't she? Wasn't it kind of neat that someone that is a Broadway star said that she still gets butterflies?

Speaker 1 6:48

Yeah.

Speaker 2 6:49

So whether you're playing, Lacrosse. Or.

Speaker 1 6:55

Field hockey.

Speaker 2 6:56

Or a test, or Anything. You know what to do, don't you?

Speaker 1 7:02

Yes.

Speaker 2 7:03

I think this is one of the best books that we've ever reviewed. What about you?

Speaker 1 7:07

I think that too.

Speaker 2 7:08

If we had to give it one to ten butterflies, what would you give it? Ten, but it's usually one to ten butterflies what would you give it Ten, but it's usually one to five. Okay, if you want to give it a one to five butterflies, what would you give it? Five? All right, lucy, why don't you tell the listeners how they can get the book?

Speaker 1 7:28

They can go to their local children's bookstore or they can go to our show notes, where we have a link.

Speaker 2 7:38

Also, you can help our podcast by giving it a five-star review. Before we tell the listeners how they can contact us, I wanted to also tell people that we do have a subscription to support the podcast. If you go on to one of the links, you can be a supporter of the podcast and you can do it as little as $5 a month to whatever you want. And what does that do? That helps us put money away for Lucy's college and to buy more books. To buy more books. That's all it's for. So why don't you tell listeners how they can get in touch with us?

Speaker 1 8:10

to submit your theories and feedback. You can email us at daddydaughterbookworms at gmailcom.

Speaker 2 8:15

And you can follow us on Instagram on Daddy Daughter Bookworms. We're also on Twitter on DD Bookworms, as well as TikTok on DD Bookworms.

Speaker 1 8:23

And don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Search Daddy Daughter Bookworms.

Speaker 2 8:28

So, lucy, we got to meet one of the people that we used to listen to a lot, right? Yep, it was so neat to see that, and it was so neat that her and her sister-in-law did a book, don't you think?

Speaker 1 8:42

Yeah.

Speaker 2 8:42

Are you ready for summer?

Speaker 1 8:45

Yes.

Speaker 2 8:46

Are we still going to be podcasting in the summer?

Speaker 1 8:48

Yes, we are, and I am going to be doing the summer reading challenge at my public library. The Metuchen Public Library is doing a summer reading challenge this summer, like they do every summer. But if I say this book is from the summer reading challenge that I'm doing, that is why.

Speaker 2 9:09

That's great, and hopefully the people that are listening will go to their local library and do their summer reading challenge, because don't they usually give out prizes and they do all sorts of good stuff at their local libraries? Isn't that right?

Speaker 1 9:22

Yes, it is.

Award-Winning Podcasters Thank Listeners

Speaker 2 9:23

All right. Well, I think we have another show in the can, so to speak, and I just want to thank all the listeners. Speak, and I just want to thank all the listeners and I also want to say congratulations to this lady right here because she is, at nine, still an award-winning podcaster, because we just won the communicator award for arts and culture and we're still waiting to get that. Have a wonderful hot day, because it's hot here when we're podcasting.

Speaker 1 9:57

My name is Alex and I'm Lucy, and see you soon. Bookworms.