September 19, 2023 • 37 mins
It's fascinating how one small act of kindness has a big ripple effect. Stacy's book, A Small Kindness, illustrates this concept so beautifully! You're definitely going to want a copy!
Listen in as we dive into a few of her 35 published books!
You can learn more about Stacy and all she has to offer:
Website: www.stacymcanulty.com
Instagram: @stacymcanulty
Ready to join the Team Kind Humans Membership and learn from nonprofits and authors with your kids? Try it out for just $1! www.teamkindhumans.com/membership
Start your KindSchooling journey today. Head to www.teamkindhumans.com or follow me on Instagram @teamkindhumans!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Katie Doughty (00:04):
Hello, my friends welcome back to another episode
of raising kind humans. I amflying high, I have to tell you
how full My heart is right now.
Because last week, we had ourvery first team kind of humans
membership meeting. And this hasbeen in the works for a while.
(00:25):
And I've kind of been all overthe place about exactly what I
wanted to do and how I wanted tospend my time and how do I help
families with community servicefor kids and getting them
involved. And it finally allcame together over the summer,
it was almost like this bolt oflightning, that just felt like
oh, okay, this is exactly what Ineed to be focusing on. And so
(00:49):
to have our very first meeting,last week was so thrilling, and
people are coming in andparticipating. And getting a lot
out of this membership. And it'sjust thrilling, I can't believe
it's actually happening. And I'dlove for you to join us. So if
you would like to hop on intothe membership, I would be so
(01:11):
thrilled. And right now you canjoin for just $1 If you want to
check it out and just see whatit's all about. We met with
Alex's Lemonade Stand, which wasreally fun to get a an up close
and personal view of what theyare up to who Alex was and what
her mission was. And still isbeing seen today. Because they
(01:31):
are fulfilling those, that dreamthat she had of funding research
for childhood cancer. And thensoon we get to meet with Dr.
Aria and learn from her aboutcancer research and what that
looks like and where your moneygoes when you donate for cancer
research. And we're going to doa science experiment with her
(01:54):
too, which is so exciting. Ijust this brings me so much joy.
So if you want to come join us,and then of course, the replays
are available all the time. Soafter our initial meeting, if
you can't make it live, you canalways watch the replay. And
then yeah, do the serviceprojects with us. My favorite
part and I've talked about thisbefore, but my favorite part is
(02:16):
the community. And that you canactually join the community kind
of like a Facebook group, butnot on Facebook, on my website
in the membership, and kids cantalk to each other families can
talk to each other, we can cheereach other on, there will be
challenges and prizes, and shoutouts and information and more
resources. And yes, I am justover the moon that this is
(02:40):
happening and that we aregrowing. And so many cool things
lined up. I've talked to manynonprofits, lots of children's
book authors who are so excitedto come in and talk with the
kids and do projects with them.
So it's going to be a really,really fun year. And I'd love to
(03:00):
have you there. So team kindhumans.com/membership Head on
over there, you can try it forjust $1 Come in, join us be part
of the team. I would love, love,love to see you there. Um,
today's episode is super cool. Igot to interview Stacy McAnulty.
She is a children's book author.
And she has over 35 bookspublished, which is such an
(03:22):
accomplishment. And she doespicture books and chapter books
and novels and nonfiction. Shehas a background in STEM. And so
a lot of them are science based,which is really cool. We have
been reading Earth my first 5.4billion years. That one is so
cute. And then she has an entireseries on different planets and
(03:42):
places in the solar system, sunand Mars and moon and Pluto. And
I think she's continuing thatpattern and adding to that
collection as well. But thenshe's got some really fun
chapter books that I'm excitedto get into the hands of my own
chapter book reading kids,because they look super fun. So
(04:03):
it was really fun to chat withher and dive into her process
and learn more about her. Wefocus more on her book a small
kindness. And I think you'regonna love it. It's great. And
if you don't have a copy, go buyone, you need it on your
bookshelf. It's beautiful. Andit's a great way to have
conversations with your kidsabout how just one simple little
(04:24):
kindness makes all thedifference. And then it travels
and it keeps going. It's reallyjust a gorgeous book. So the
last thing I wanted to do wasask you if you feel so inclined,
I would absolutely love it. Ifyou would please, please leave a
review for this podcast so thatother people can find us and
(04:45):
join in this Kindness Movement.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank youfor listening. Thank you for
being here. Thank you forletting me do this. Because it
seriously fills me with so muchjoy and I can't believe that
this is what I get to do. Sothank you again for being here.
And without further ado, pleasewelcome Stacey. Hello, Stacy,
(05:08):
welcome to the reading kindhumans Podcast. I'm so excited
that you're here today. Thankyou for having me. Because it's
going to be so fun. I've beenreading your books for a while
now I have used them with mypreschoolers and my own kids. So
I'm excited to dive into yourprocess. So if you want to start
out just introducing yourself alittle bit, and then kind of
tell us how did you get here tobe an author for kids.
Stacy McAnulty (05:34):
So I have a slightly unusual path to
publication. Right now, I amvery fortunate I'm in my 10th
year as a published author, anauthor of 35 I think it'll be 35
by the end of this year, booksfor young readers, I do picture
(05:54):
books, I do chapter books, I donovels, I also do a non fiction,
longer works and for and picturebooks as well. But before
becoming a writer, I was amechanical engineer. So I that's
what I went to school for.
That's what I did for a livingfor nearly a decade. And so a
lot of my books do have a stemelement to them. If so, if you
(06:19):
if anyone's go take a look at mywebsite, Stacy mcanulty.com.
You'll see I do have that stemlove continues to be in those
books.
Katie Doughty (06:31):
Definitely. Oh my gosh, I love that. So how did
you go from being a mechanicalengineer to being an author?
What was that tipping point orthat pivot moment that happened
to you? Well, I think
Unknown (06:42):
I always liked the idea of being a writer. But
unfortunately, in school, I waskind of thought of as a kid that
wasn't good at writing, or a kidthat wasn't strong in reading, I
was naturally gifted if, ifthat's even a thing towards the
math, and towards science, I wasencouraged to do those things,
(07:04):
which I do like, but I struggledto learn to read, I was always a
bad speller, when it came towriting and made a lot of
mistakes. So educators and myparents encouraged me to do the
things I was good at. But Ialways loved stories. Even if I
couldn't read them myself, Ihave an older sister, who would
read them or educators who wouldread them to me parents who
(07:26):
would read to me, so I lovedstory. So once I was an adult
and had my degree in engineeringand had some free time, I kind
of explored the idea of writing.
And it didn't go well. At firstI didn't know enough, it was all
trial by fire at then, you know,as the years go on, I became a
mom. And then I started readingto my kids. And that's when the
(07:46):
love really flourished. Again, Istruggled as myself as a kid
reading. So but as an adult, Icould read and when I was
reading to my kids every night,and I have three kids, I'd go to
each bedroom and read to them. Ijust I fell in love. And I'm
like I want to be part of thisworld. It took me years I
estimate. My first daughter wasborn in 2001. I was first
(08:07):
published in 2013. So 12 years,it took me to become a published
author, it was not overnight byany means. But I think just
reading to children, my childrenreally cemented that that love
of kidlit though I always lovedstories.
Katie Doughty (08:28):
Yeah, I think there's this bond that happens
when you have a child on yourlap or a child in front of you.
And you're sharing those storieswith them. And those connections
are made or those aha moments orwhen they just fall in love with
a character or you just havesomething in common. I love that
I taught elementary school and Ijust love the read aloud time.
(08:50):
And sharing that time
Unknown (08:51):
juggle. And also doing that, you know, you you do fall
in love with those characters inthose stories in those books
that you read over and overagain. But you also find what
doesn't work, right? You findlike when the kids are like, you
know, I don't I'm picking theirnose and sitting upside down, or
you've lost them. So there'ssomething that this kind of eye
(09:11):
opening about reading to twoyoungsters that that was I felt
very instrumental in my own ownwork.
Katie Doughty (09:20):
I love that so much. And I think there's
something so valuable about apicture book with a kid because,
you know, you go back to some ofthe reading programs in
classrooms and they're verysegmented like you read a
passage or you read a page orbut you don't get the full story
or they're not interested in itbecause it's not their you know,
their level. Maybe their readinglevel doesn't match what they're
(09:41):
interested in and then sharingthose stories with them. That's
when they come alive. And that'swhen they really do fall in love
with reading. So reading aloudto kids is just so incredibly
powerful and yet so simple.
Unknown (09:54):
Yes. And you hit on some of the things that I love
talking about when I when Ivisit schools is I think picture
books are meant logical, I thinkthat's when we can get kids to
fall in love with literature.
And also I tell kids, thatclosing about picture books is
like if I read you have apicture book and I put a
bookmark it and said, Come backtomorrow, like the kids would
attack me, they're expecting thewhole thing at once they get the
(10:14):
beginning, middle and end. Wedon't get that with chapter
books, usually, certainly notwith novels, we can't do that
all in one sitting. But with apicture book, we get that
satisfactory, satisfactoryending with every reading. So
it's part of part of theirmagic, which I have a special
place in my heart for picturebooks, and always will, even
though my kids are well add apicture book ages,
Katie Doughty (10:37):
right, I already am fearful of when they're not
really interested in picturebooks anymore, but my library
will be filled with them. And itwill continue to grow even as
they're old. So I'll just savethem for grandkids someday.
It'll be in the library. So whatwas your very first book that
you had published?
Unknown (10:54):
Way back when again, in 2013. The first one was called
Dear Santa Saurus. And it is apicture book. And it's about a
dinosaur that writes letters toSanta soars every month
explaining all his misdeeds andwhile he and why he should still
be on the nice list. That wasout of print. So if you happen
(11:16):
to find it at a used bookstoreor something know that it's,
it's rare. But it's yeah, itwas, it was my first one, it was
my first experience intopublishing. And it was, it was,
it was awesome. I joke with thatfirst book that you publish,
everybody, you know, buys it. Myparents, of course, all bought
(11:36):
it. And I get, you know, my kidshad copies and I signed them
bring kids that they can keepforever and stuff. But I think
that my prom date bought one andposted it. Like everybody, the
first book is magical. Everybodybuys that when everybody comes
to that first book launch andstuff. So there's several, even
though it's out of out of print,and if I had to go back now, I
(11:57):
would revise it, it is a verylong picture book over 1000
words, but it will always bespecial because it was the first
Katie Doughty (12:03):
Yeah, it was the first Those are always the best.
Well, then. So do you feel likethe process for you has changed
since that very first picturebook to what you're writing now?
Or do you feel like you kind offollow the same path each time.
Unknown (12:21):
I would like to say it's gotten easier, but that
would be lying. Okay. Every bookhas its own struggles. And even
though I'm very fortunate again,and by the end of the year, all
35 books published. That doesn'tmean everything I write is
worthy of being published asrecently working on something
(12:42):
and I it'll probably go nowhere.
And I don't know, again, but Igo to schools, and I talk to
kids about this. And I like topoint that out. Like, I've got
35 books published, I promise, Itell them, I promise you, I've
written over 100 Wow, you know,it's and I tell I tell them, I'm
like a baseball player, I get upto bat and I look at an idea
coming pitched at me. And Idon't know if that idea is going
(13:03):
to be a home run or a strikeoutI don't know if I'm going to
swing and miss. But all I can dois try my best. So a new idea
comes to me, and I'll have toplay with it. And I'll have to
write it and then I'll rewriteit. And I'll go through critique
groups and and stuff. So thatprocess is kind of the same
still many revisions, manymonths going over over things.
(13:24):
I'm a little bit wiser, maybe.
And I can let go of things alittle bit easier. Like yeah,
this one's never gonna work.
Other ideas are gonna come ifI'm receptive to them. So I
would gotten more mature thatway where I'm willing to let
things go, and maybe not hang onto them. But again, it's not
necessarily easier or faster, tojust maybe have a little bit
(13:47):
more clarity in evaluating amanuscript.
Katie Doughty (13:53):
Yeah, that makes sense. Well, then I'm curious,
because so the one I want totalk about is a small kindness.
But let's talk about EarthFirst, because that's the one
that I have been reading topreschoolers for several years
now. And I love it. And it'sjust so cute and witty. And what
(14:13):
I love about it is that you'vepersonified Earth and I think
that gives kids a way to connectto Earth in a different in a
different meaning like adifferent way that they are more
able to understand Oh, Earthmight have feelings and I need
to protect Earth because now Igot it I got a peek into inside
Earth's personality and Earth'smind and what are has been
(14:35):
through? Was that your first oneabout planets? Yes,
Unknown (14:41):
so that was Earth my first 4.5 4 billion years was my
first and in we call it the ouruniverse theory. So we have
planets and stars and satelliteslike the moon and that that
collection so yeah, that was thefirst one. It was new and
strange because I do call thatnonfiction but like you point
out Earth talks to So is ittruly nonfiction, I have found
(15:02):
that most bookstores andlibraries do shelve it in non
fiction, but there certainly canbe an argument to be made that
it's not the true nonfiction weperhaps grew up with. But that
book I had not intended tonecessarily write nonfiction or
a book about her, they actuallywritten a story originally about
a pet rock. And the pet rock hadbeen a pet to like all these
(15:26):
different characters like adinosaur and a woolly mammoth,
and then a cable and on and on,until it was a pet to like a
little girl now who would ratherplay with an iPad. And that was
one of the stories where Istruck out where it did not
become did not get published.
And but I realized, yeah, Ireally want to talk about a
rock, I really want to talkabout how long that rock had
been here, and how we're kind ofnew to this planet. And I
(15:49):
realized, you know, Earth couldtell that story about being here
and all that Earth has seen andexperienced and changes and, and
eventually we go on into ourplanet, which talks about the
impact that us humans have, aswell. So that kind of, again, a
strikeout led to that Earthstory. I was very fortunate that
(16:10):
Earth connected with educatorsand parents, but most
importantly, with kids, becauseI do think she has a funny
voice. She is meant, again, thetitle is Earth my first 4.54
billionaires, she's meant tosound like a four and a half
year old, like, That's the voiceI'm trying to capture there. So
I think it's relatable tokiddos. So with kids liking it,
(16:33):
the publisher wanted to do more.
And that's what I was able to goon and, and do Moon who's like
Earth best friend and son wantsto be a star. And we have Pluto.
Now we have others, with Mars,and others coming out as well.
So I'm very proud of thatseries. I love bringing my stem
(16:54):
and my science to them. But Ilove bringing at the kids level
and respecting their humor andtheir, what they're interested
in.
Katie Doughty (17:05):
Yes, well, I think there's so much here
because a story like thiscaptures their attention. I
mean, the illustrations arephenomenal as well. They're so
impressive and so cute. And theyjust support the story. You
know, when Earth is talkingabout being a baby, and there's
a picture of Earth with apacifier. And she used to be a
hot bath, and just so many cutelittle quips in there. But I
(17:29):
think for kids and nonfiction,this is my favorite way to teach
information because it's soengaging and they have something
to connect to. And it's not drynonfiction like this is how
nonfiction for kids should be.
And you can talk with your childabout okay, this Earth really
talk no, not with a voice,right. But we can look for her
(17:50):
cues or whatever it is. Yeah.
And so that can give the kidsrealize
Unknown (17:55):
that, you know, we're not on a planet with a mouth.
They understand that. So I thinkthat's why we get away with it
calling it nonfiction because itis to inform and it is accurate.
Katie Doughty (18:05):
Yes. Yeah. What's your research process like to
make sure that you have all ofyour facts correct, because I
think that's something I shyaway from in my writing is like,
Oh, I don't want to get itwrong.
Unknown (18:17):
No, I get that in the first time doing that
nonfiction, I did make somemistakes. It wasn't super great
with some of my sourcesunnecessarily keeping track and
double checking them. Now a lotof times for these books, I'm
able to use NASA andEncyclopedia Britannica. And
(18:39):
then if I have to go a littlebit deeper Scientific American,
and those those, I have my setsources. I also write older
nonfiction I have saved thepeople halting human extinction,
which has a lot of talk abouthuman caused climate change in
it, but also other things likeyou know, asteroid hitting us or
(19:01):
super volcanoes. And that onewas a lot of research. And I had
to go a lot deeper with withthat kind of book and talk to
experts. And I think we have 35pages 36 pages of sources for
that one. That one we tried toand there might be mistakes in
that book might be mistakes ineven though our universe picture
(19:23):
books because science islearning more all the time. So
it's not necessarily orhopefully that I'm being
inaccurate or the publishersbeing inaccurate. It's that
we're learning more all thetime. So if you pick up a book
that was published in 2018, Ithink in son we say son has
another if you get one of theearly editions as his son has
another 6 billion years left offuel, and now new research is
(19:46):
saying 5 billion. So if youthink about the newer ones,
we've corrected it and it says 5billion so there are things like
that, that that happen, but I domostly internet research though
I'm always picking up on booksas well, I read a lot of
nonfiction for fun.
Katie Doughty (20:03):
Yeah, yeah, I could see that in you. That
would be interesting and fun foryou. What are your older kids
books? Like? Are they? Do theytell a story? Are they similar
to you picture books wherethere's kind of like that gray
area of nonfiction versusfiction? Or is it straight?
nonfiction.
Unknown (20:21):
So the the older nonfiction, the save the people,
and then we have one coming outSeptember 5, where are the
aliens? They are truenonfiction. I would say there's
not a voice. However, what I do,which I think is a little
different than a lot of thenonfiction intended for kids is
I talk directly to the audienceto talk directly to the reader,
(20:43):
which I found happens a lot. Andthe Adult Nonfiction I read if
you read a Mary Roach was inPhiladelphia, she's talking
directly to me. And I do a tonof school visits. I think just
in between last January, and mayI think I've visited 31 schools.
So I get to talk to kids a lot.
And I love talking, like talkingto kids. And I try to use that
(21:03):
same kind of voice when I'm infront of them that I use in the
book. So for example, and whereare the aliens? We start by
asking the reader a question weask, Are you a life beyond
Earther? Or an only Earther? Youknow, nobody's wrong? We don't
know yet. So you directly askthe reader that Do you believe
that there's life intelligentlife out there? Or do you not
(21:24):
and you're not wrong, whateveryou think, but we talk directly
to the reader, which is, whichis fun. The art and this is done
by Nicole miles. And it isfunny. So she has a lot of
little funny sketches. And thenalso great sketches when we have
to kind of illustrate ascientific idea that might be
more complicated. So there's alot of art in there, too, that
that breaks it up that I thinkit makes it really digestible
(21:46):
for it's a fourth, fifth sixthseventh graders is probably the
ideal audience for those.
Katie Doughty (21:53):
Oh, perfect. I was just going to ask that
question my daughter's 10 and ahalf. And I think she would eat
that up. So I'm going to need toget my hands on some copies of
those. Those sound reallyentertaining. I think I would
enjoy that too. I love bookslike those two that or people
say they're geared towardfourth, fifth sixth, but then I
really liked them. So I thinkparents can enjoy those as well.
(22:13):
Yes, for sure. So let's diveinto a Small Kindness because
this podcast is called RaisingCain humans. And this title just
caught my attention. It'sadorable. First of all, I
absolutely fell in love with theway that the illustrator brought
the color into the pictures. Socould you speak a little bit
(22:36):
about how where did this ideacome from, and maybe a little
bit about the process of gettingit out into the world.
Unknown (22:43):
So this book, The Small Kindness is published by Running
Press kids. And I had threeother books with them. So I call
those the other books, mydefinition books, so we have
beautiful, and we have brave,and we have love. And in each of
those books, I kind of give youmy definition of the word so
(23:07):
Stacy's definition of beautifuland so in beautiful. It's, it
shows what I think it means forgirls to be beautiful, but the
words don't necessarily workwith the art. So it'll say, a
beautiful girl knows a has asmart style. And when we hear
words like that beautiful girlsa smart style, we might think of
(23:28):
like a woman going into theoffice or something, you know
that like this is how you dressto be professional, or this is
the suit you need. But what thepicture shows is girls doing
science experiments, and anothertime it says you know, beautiful
girls know all about makeup.
Again, we're taking lipstick,eyeliner, that kind of thing.
But the art and that one showsgirls dressing up like pirates.
Awesome. So it's kind of takingsociety's terms are beautiful,
(23:54):
and it twists it. So the pictureshow girls being beautiful in
their own right. And brave weuse superhero like go so brave
kid leads the team. And thatmight put an image in our head
of like the Avengers and CaptainAmerica and Iron Man leading
leading a team but in the book,they're leaving like a group of
(24:14):
ducks to safety like across thewoods bringing them back home. A
beautiful Agnes very brave kidanswers the call. You kind of
think of Batman and the batsignal, you know, he's gotta go
answer that call. But in thebook, it's a picture of a
neighbor with a cat and the treeand the kids come help out with
that. So there's three again,there's beautiful, brave and
(24:35):
love. And so I'm trying todefine those words. By twisting
what our society things loveuses a lot of the Valentine's
Day lingo you know, you need afancy dinner or expensive gifts
and it shows handmade gifts, andit shows a kid feeding their dog
for the fancy dinner. So I'mkind of twisting all those
things. The publisher and I weretalking about what else can we
(24:58):
do we really wanted to do a bookabout kindness. We know how
that's talked about a lot in inpreschool and kindergarten how
important it is. And I startedthinking about it. And I'm like,
there is just no way to twistkindness, like the way I
twisted, beautiful and brave andlove. Kindness is always good.
Like, it is always the rightthing it is, there's no way to
(25:19):
twist kindness around. So we hadcome up with a new way of
talking about kindness. And whatit came down to was when my
daughter was in sixth grade Along time ago now, because she's
in college, when she was insixth grade, she was very
nervous about going to middleschool, and my husband would
drop her off. And he would say,Just say hello to one kid today,
one new kid, somebody you don'tknow. That's all you have to do,
(25:43):
just make that step. And thatwas his advice. And I thought it
was really good advice for asixth grader. For four year
olds, for adults, you know, justpush, make that one little kind
gesture, and see what happens.
So that was kind of the idea. Weknew we want to do a kindness
book, we knew we can't twistkindness. And then this idea
(26:05):
that kindness doesn't have to behuge, it can be small. And from
there, it goes on. So that'swhat happened to the book, as
you mentioned, with the art, itstarts kind of in the sepia
tones. And there's one child whoyou know, says hello, and that
Hello, turns into high fives andhelping and sharing until the
(26:28):
end of the book, which is theend of the day. And everyone has
been an hour drawn in color todemonstrate how the kindness
spread throughout this class andthroughout this school. So
that's a long story. But I thinkit's a process of that, because
sometimes we see a picture bookand they're like, Wow, that's 60
(26:49):
words that How hard could thathave been? Oh, it was years of
thought and consideration thatwent into that. And I'm very,
very proud of it. And I loveWendy's Wendy's art, she nailed
it. She nailed it.
Katie Doughty (27:02):
100% 100%? Well, I like what you said about
people pick up a picture budget,like I was 60 words, I could be
a children's book author. Butthat's I love interviewing
authors, because there's alwaysa unique story behind the story.
And so it's really cool to seebehind the scenes, and I love
that your other books kind ofled up to this. And then it
didn't fit the pattern becausekindness doesn't fit the mold,
(27:24):
right? It's not the normal. Andso I just I think this story is
a great way for kids to visuallysee the passing of kindness
because you can tell them right,like, well, if you're kind to
someone else, and they're kindto somebody, and they're kind of
somebody, you know, the it couldbe endless, but to see it, I
think makes all the difference.
And I love the way like you'dsaid it started CPS. But I also
(27:46):
noticed, like the facialexpressions on each child. So
once the child turned colorful,they had a more happy
expression. They were
Unknown (27:57):
touched by the kindness and you could see it is yeah,
absolutely. They're on theirface as well because some look
sad or nervous. And and it's notjust the kids that happens in
the book that we have theteacher and we have a janitor
also get get involved. It's awhole community. I love
Katie Doughty (28:15):
that too. Because for kids, sometimes they think
they just need to be kind toother kids. But it is adults
too. And adults will pass itback to the kids and I just love
from beginning to end it touchesevery person and every character
until it gets to the end of theday and everyone had a great day
and everyone wins. It's one ofthose just heartwarming,
(28:35):
adorable stories but what a wayto illustrate the passing of
kindness that there really is noend because now you can chat
with your kids about what do youthink happened when they went
home? You know, what could theyhave done for their mom or their
neighbor or their friend or youknow a death stop at the end of
(28:56):
the story?
Unknown (28:57):
I think it's it's great when I visit schools and stuff
I'm like how are you kind or howwill you be kind today and they
they think of some you knowlittle things I'm just gonna
give my mom a hug and again, itdoesn't have to be huge doesn't
take a lot of time or moneyanything like that. So just
having these little things thatcan have an impact and kids get
(29:18):
it they are they're so smartthey're so good right away and
they see it so it's it's a funbook to discuss discuss what
they're not always gives mechills when they when they come
up with these ideas and thediscussion afterwards it It's
heartwarming
Katie Doughty (29:35):
and so powerful and kids I think we don't give
them enough credit but theirhearts are so huge and so open
to this idea that I think bookslike this just need to be in
their hands and be read to thembecause it makes all the
difference. For sure. I love it.
I love it so much. So what's inthe works for you? You're
(29:56):
continuing your Universe seriesis that what was called
university or University of ouruniverse? That's right, which I
just I want all of the books ondisplay in order. I think
they're so cute. And I just lovethe idea of all this learning
that happens in those books. Soare you working on that series?
Or do you have something else Iknow you said Mars is coming out
(30:16):
soon,
Unknown (30:18):
Mars is out, and Pluto just came out. Okay, in May, the
next one in that series is goingto be our solar system. So in
that one, each planet will kindof get its own spread. So it'll
get a two page layout. So nobodywill be left out anymore. What
we hope to do all of them inindividual books this way,
(30:38):
everybody will get a spotlightfor the moment. And then after
that, it's going to be Venus.
And then we're going to dostars, like a general star when
we've done sun. But we'll do ageneral star one because what
the James Webb Telescope isdiscovering and seeing is just
amazing and beautiful. And weneed to get, we need to
highlight that. So that'll becoming up as well. So I'm very
(30:58):
excited because I follow thatlike, on social media and I love
seeing all the pictures all thetime. I also have a new sexual
picture book coming out inOctober called I Want 100 dogs,
which I joke is my mostautobiographical book yet, I am
the mom of three Furry Babies,we were up to four during the
(31:19):
pandemic, but we lost one and werealize four is a lot of Furry
Babies. I'm actually there's onein this office with me right
now. So you never know anymoment there could be barking in
this house. So that one I'm veryexcited about it's, you know,
it's also a good book arecounting because we go from 100
to 90 to 80. She keeps justchanging her mind about how many
(31:39):
dogs she wants. So it's fun.
It's got this little countyelement and the dogs and that
are adorable. So excited aboutthat. And then doing some older
stuff as well, some novels, I'vegot forever 12 coming out this
fall, which I've ended novelssince 2020. So that's, that's
exciting as well. So yeah, lotslots in the works. I'm very
(32:02):
fortunate. I've got the careerof my dreams. And I get to do it
all the time. So I feel very,very lucky.
Katie Doughty (32:11):
I'm so impressed.
Because I know how much workwriting is really working on all
these different projects. Andyou know, having things going on
at the same time is superimpressive. So well done. That's
amazing.
Unknown (32:26):
It keeps me away from writer's block. Because if I'm
like stuck on this picture book,I can go work on this novel or
if I'm stuck on the novel, I cando nonfiction research. So it by
having different things goingon, I feel like I can fill my
data easily with with workwithout necessarily just staring
out the window, though we allknow staring out the window time
(32:48):
two can be valuable because weneed time for our imaginations
to kind of percolate.
Katie Doughty (32:53):
You're right. It really can. Do you ever feel
like having so many things goingon? Do you ever feel like you
can't quite turn it off? Are youable to walk away and kind of
just be for a while? Or is itkind of something that's
constantly in your mind?
Unknown (33:08):
I'm not good at walking away, I'll admit. And, like I
love to have a notebook with me.
So even when we go on vacation,and if I don't bring my
computer, I still have anotebook. And I genuinely love
what I do. So one of those timeswhere I say that when I'm trying
to walk away, it's usuallyworking on something that's
maybe not necessarily ondeadline. So there's some idea
that I'm playing with, or I justwant to make a list or I want to
(33:29):
play with a title you know, so Ido have kind of downtime. But
creativity is is a gift and Idon't want to waste it. So I
feel like it's it's with me alot. I do enjoy my walks, I do
morning walks and things likethat, where it's I don't have a
notebook. That isn't maybe mybrain gets a little bit more of
a break. But you will find metalking to myself, my kids make
(33:51):
fun of me because I'm always
Katie Doughty (33:55):
that's how you get into coming up with words. I
love that. I love though whenyou're, you're kind of in the
zone and then something sparksand you're like, oh, obviously
that's the direction I need togo now. And it's such a
universal Yes. I love it somuch. It's such a thrilling
moment where like, this is mynew path. Awesome. Thank you.
Unknown (34:16):
Absolutely. And that does happen often on the walk or
in the shower.
Katie Doughty (34:20):
Right when you don't have a notebook. Oh my
gosh, this has been so fun. It'sso exciting. Tell us where we
can find everything. So I haveso many teacher friends that
would dive into all of your workand possibly, hopefully maybe
someday come to Seattle and dosome school visits. That would
be amazing. And
Unknown (34:40):
I was in Vancouver last year so I was
Katie Doughty (34:44):
very close. Yeah, so where can we find all your
information?
Unknown (34:47):
So if you can spell my name right, you can usually find
me which is not the easiest nameto spell. But Stacy mcanulty.com
is my website and on there yougot all my socials. My daughter
jokes that my there's too muchstuff on my website, but I just
keep throwing it all on there.
But I've got educator guides,there's there's an empathy guide
for the miscalculations oflightning rod that I know a lot
(35:11):
of educators have liked. There'ssheets, you can coloring sheets,
all that stuff is on there. Andagain, links to my socials, you
know whether with Twitter stillaround, you know, I do make some
videos I have. So you can get tomy YouTube from there as well.
So you can see, I don't thinkI've actually read a Small
(35:31):
Kindness on the YouTube channel,I have read Earth, I think
ocean, there's different ones onthere. So you can have me read
to your to your youngster, andlove that as well. So again, if
you just spell my name, right,people always mix up the sea and
a MC a ulty, you will find meand the website is a good launch
page to find anything you couldpossibly be looking for, such as
(35:56):
my daughter's,
Katie Doughty (36:00):
I don't think you can ever have too much right?
You can sift through and findwhat works for you. So that's
really neat that you have allthat available, especially for
educators I know is a formerteacher, I was always looking
for these kinds of gems to bringinto the classroom. And I really
appreciate that you offer yourbooks on YouTube, too, because I
know sometimes it's it'sdifficult with the rights of
(36:21):
your book and all of that. Butyeah,
Unknown (36:23):
technically, I don't know if I'm supposed to. Often,
oftentimes, the publisher hasactually asked me to do it for
like world read aloud day, EarthDay and stuff. And I just leave
them up there. If they asked meto take them down. I would, but
nobody seems to be yet at thispoint. So I like being able to
share that,
Katie Doughty (36:45):
though. It's your gift, right? Like you've put
your heart and soul into this.
So being able to share it withas many people as possible
Unknown (36:50):
is the goal. Yes.
Katie Doughty (36:53):
I love it. Oh my gosh, this has been so fun and
so enjoyable to get a littlebehind the scenes peek into your
world and I cannot wait to getmy hands on all of your books.
I'm gonna have to go find all ofthem. Thank you. Thank you for
being here.
Unknown (37:09):
Oh, thanks for having me. This was fun.
Hello, my friends welcome back to another episode
of raising kind humans. I amflying high, I have to tell you
how full My heart is right now.
Because last week, we had ourvery first team kind of humans
membership meeting. And this hasbeen in the works for a while.
(00:25):
And I've kind of been all overthe place about exactly what I
wanted to do and how I wanted tospend my time and how do I help
families with community servicefor kids and getting them
involved. And it finally allcame together over the summer,
it was almost like this bolt oflightning, that just felt like
oh, okay, this is exactly what Ineed to be focusing on. And so
(00:49):
to have our very first meeting,last week was so thrilling, and
people are coming in andparticipating. And getting a lot
out of this membership. And it'sjust thrilling, I can't believe
it's actually happening. And I'dlove for you to join us. So if
you would like to hop on intothe membership, I would be so
(01:11):
thrilled. And right now you canjoin for just $1 If you want to
check it out and just see whatit's all about. We met with
Alex's Lemonade Stand, which wasreally fun to get a an up close
and personal view of what theyare up to who Alex was and what
her mission was. And still isbeing seen today. Because they
(01:31):
are fulfilling those, that dreamthat she had of funding research
for childhood cancer. And thensoon we get to meet with Dr.
Aria and learn from her aboutcancer research and what that
looks like and where your moneygoes when you donate for cancer
research. And we're going to doa science experiment with her
(01:54):
too, which is so exciting. Ijust this brings me so much joy.
So if you want to come join us,and then of course, the replays
are available all the time. Soafter our initial meeting, if
you can't make it live, you canalways watch the replay. And
then yeah, do the serviceprojects with us. My favorite
part and I've talked about thisbefore, but my favorite part is
(02:16):
the community. And that you canactually join the community kind
of like a Facebook group, butnot on Facebook, on my website
in the membership, and kids cantalk to each other families can
talk to each other, we can cheereach other on, there will be
challenges and prizes, and shoutouts and information and more
resources. And yes, I am justover the moon that this is
(02:40):
happening and that we aregrowing. And so many cool things
lined up. I've talked to manynonprofits, lots of children's
book authors who are so excitedto come in and talk with the
kids and do projects with them.
So it's going to be a really,really fun year. And I'd love to
(03:00):
have you there. So team kindhumans.com/membership Head on
over there, you can try it forjust $1 Come in, join us be part
of the team. I would love, love,love to see you there. Um,
today's episode is super cool. Igot to interview Stacy McAnulty.
She is a children's book author.
And she has over 35 bookspublished, which is such an
(03:22):
accomplishment. And she doespicture books and chapter books
and novels and nonfiction. Shehas a background in STEM. And so
a lot of them are science based,which is really cool. We have
been reading Earth my first 5.4billion years. That one is so
cute. And then she has an entireseries on different planets and
(03:42):
places in the solar system, sunand Mars and moon and Pluto. And
I think she's continuing thatpattern and adding to that
collection as well. But thenshe's got some really fun
chapter books that I'm excitedto get into the hands of my own
chapter book reading kids,because they look super fun. So
(04:03):
it was really fun to chat withher and dive into her process
and learn more about her. Wefocus more on her book a small
kindness. And I think you'regonna love it. It's great. And
if you don't have a copy, go buyone, you need it on your
bookshelf. It's beautiful. Andit's a great way to have
conversations with your kidsabout how just one simple little
(04:24):
kindness makes all thedifference. And then it travels
and it keeps going. It's reallyjust a gorgeous book. So the
last thing I wanted to do wasask you if you feel so inclined,
I would absolutely love it. Ifyou would please, please leave a
review for this podcast so thatother people can find us and
(04:45):
join in this Kindness Movement.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank youfor listening. Thank you for
being here. Thank you forletting me do this. Because it
seriously fills me with so muchjoy and I can't believe that
this is what I get to do. Sothank you again for being here.
And without further ado, pleasewelcome Stacey. Hello, Stacy,
(05:08):
welcome to the reading kindhumans Podcast. I'm so excited
that you're here today. Thankyou for having me. Because it's
going to be so fun. I've beenreading your books for a while
now I have used them with mypreschoolers and my own kids. So
I'm excited to dive into yourprocess. So if you want to start
out just introducing yourself alittle bit, and then kind of
tell us how did you get here tobe an author for kids.
Stacy McAnulty (05:34):
So I have a slightly unusual path to
publication. Right now, I amvery fortunate I'm in my 10th
year as a published author, anauthor of 35 I think it'll be 35
by the end of this year, booksfor young readers, I do picture
(05:54):
books, I do chapter books, I donovels, I also do a non fiction,
longer works and for and picturebooks as well. But before
becoming a writer, I was amechanical engineer. So I that's
what I went to school for.
That's what I did for a livingfor nearly a decade. And so a
lot of my books do have a stemelement to them. If so, if you
(06:19):
if anyone's go take a look at mywebsite, Stacy mcanulty.com.
You'll see I do have that stemlove continues to be in those
books.
Katie Doughty (06:31):
Definitely. Oh my gosh, I love that. So how did
you go from being a mechanicalengineer to being an author?
What was that tipping point orthat pivot moment that happened
to you? Well, I think
Unknown (06:42):
I always liked the idea of being a writer. But
unfortunately, in school, I waskind of thought of as a kid that
wasn't good at writing, or a kidthat wasn't strong in reading, I
was naturally gifted if, ifthat's even a thing towards the
math, and towards science, I wasencouraged to do those things,
(07:04):
which I do like, but I struggledto learn to read, I was always a
bad speller, when it came towriting and made a lot of
mistakes. So educators and myparents encouraged me to do the
things I was good at. But Ialways loved stories. Even if I
couldn't read them myself, Ihave an older sister, who would
read them or educators who wouldread them to me parents who
(07:26):
would read to me, so I lovedstory. So once I was an adult
and had my degree in engineeringand had some free time, I kind
of explored the idea of writing.
And it didn't go well. At firstI didn't know enough, it was all
trial by fire at then, you know,as the years go on, I became a
mom. And then I started readingto my kids. And that's when the
(07:46):
love really flourished. Again, Istruggled as myself as a kid
reading. So but as an adult, Icould read and when I was
reading to my kids every night,and I have three kids, I'd go to
each bedroom and read to them. Ijust I fell in love. And I'm
like I want to be part of thisworld. It took me years I
estimate. My first daughter wasborn in 2001. I was first
(08:07):
published in 2013. So 12 years,it took me to become a published
author, it was not overnight byany means. But I think just
reading to children, my childrenreally cemented that that love
of kidlit though I always lovedstories.
Katie Doughty (08:28):
Yeah, I think there's this bond that happens
when you have a child on yourlap or a child in front of you.
And you're sharing those storieswith them. And those connections
are made or those aha moments orwhen they just fall in love with
a character or you just havesomething in common. I love that
I taught elementary school and Ijust love the read aloud time.
(08:50):
And sharing that time
Unknown (08:51):
juggle. And also doing that, you know, you you do fall
in love with those characters inthose stories in those books
that you read over and overagain. But you also find what
doesn't work, right? You findlike when the kids are like, you
know, I don't I'm picking theirnose and sitting upside down, or
you've lost them. So there'ssomething that this kind of eye
(09:11):
opening about reading to twoyoungsters that that was I felt
very instrumental in my own ownwork.
Katie Doughty (09:20):
I love that so much. And I think there's
something so valuable about apicture book with a kid because,
you know, you go back to some ofthe reading programs in
classrooms and they're verysegmented like you read a
passage or you read a page orbut you don't get the full story
or they're not interested in itbecause it's not their you know,
their level. Maybe their readinglevel doesn't match what they're
(09:41):
interested in and then sharingthose stories with them. That's
when they come alive. And that'swhen they really do fall in love
with reading. So reading aloudto kids is just so incredibly
powerful and yet so simple.
Unknown (09:54):
Yes. And you hit on some of the things that I love
talking about when I when Ivisit schools is I think picture
books are meant logical, I thinkthat's when we can get kids to
fall in love with literature.
And also I tell kids, thatclosing about picture books is
like if I read you have apicture book and I put a
bookmark it and said, Come backtomorrow, like the kids would
attack me, they're expecting thewhole thing at once they get the
(10:14):
beginning, middle and end. Wedon't get that with chapter
books, usually, certainly notwith novels, we can't do that
all in one sitting. But with apicture book, we get that
satisfactory, satisfactoryending with every reading. So
it's part of part of theirmagic, which I have a special
place in my heart for picturebooks, and always will, even
though my kids are well add apicture book ages,
Katie Doughty (10:37):
right, I already am fearful of when they're not
really interested in picturebooks anymore, but my library
will be filled with them. And itwill continue to grow even as
they're old. So I'll just savethem for grandkids someday.
It'll be in the library. So whatwas your very first book that
you had published?
Unknown (10:54):
Way back when again, in 2013. The first one was called
Dear Santa Saurus. And it is apicture book. And it's about a
dinosaur that writes letters toSanta soars every month
explaining all his misdeeds andwhile he and why he should still
be on the nice list. That wasout of print. So if you happen
(11:16):
to find it at a used bookstoreor something know that it's,
it's rare. But it's yeah, itwas, it was my first one, it was
my first experience intopublishing. And it was, it was,
it was awesome. I joke with thatfirst book that you publish,
everybody, you know, buys it. Myparents, of course, all bought
(11:36):
it. And I get, you know, my kidshad copies and I signed them
bring kids that they can keepforever and stuff. But I think
that my prom date bought one andposted it. Like everybody, the
first book is magical. Everybodybuys that when everybody comes
to that first book launch andstuff. So there's several, even
though it's out of out of print,and if I had to go back now, I
(11:57):
would revise it, it is a verylong picture book over 1000
words, but it will always bespecial because it was the first
Katie Doughty (12:03):
Yeah, it was the first Those are always the best.
Well, then. So do you feel likethe process for you has changed
since that very first picturebook to what you're writing now?
Or do you feel like you kind offollow the same path each time.
Unknown (12:21):
I would like to say it's gotten easier, but that
would be lying. Okay. Every bookhas its own struggles. And even
though I'm very fortunate again,and by the end of the year, all
35 books published. That doesn'tmean everything I write is
worthy of being published asrecently working on something
(12:42):
and I it'll probably go nowhere.
And I don't know, again, but Igo to schools, and I talk to
kids about this. And I like topoint that out. Like, I've got
35 books published, I promise, Itell them, I promise you, I've
written over 100 Wow, you know,it's and I tell I tell them, I'm
like a baseball player, I get upto bat and I look at an idea
coming pitched at me. And Idon't know if that idea is going
(13:03):
to be a home run or a strikeoutI don't know if I'm going to
swing and miss. But all I can dois try my best. So a new idea
comes to me, and I'll have toplay with it. And I'll have to
write it and then I'll rewriteit. And I'll go through critique
groups and and stuff. So thatprocess is kind of the same
still many revisions, manymonths going over over things.
(13:24):
I'm a little bit wiser, maybe.
And I can let go of things alittle bit easier. Like yeah,
this one's never gonna work.
Other ideas are gonna come ifI'm receptive to them. So I
would gotten more mature thatway where I'm willing to let
things go, and maybe not hang onto them. But again, it's not
necessarily easier or faster, tojust maybe have a little bit
(13:47):
more clarity in evaluating amanuscript.
Katie Doughty (13:53):
Yeah, that makes sense. Well, then I'm curious,
because so the one I want totalk about is a small kindness.
But let's talk about EarthFirst, because that's the one
that I have been reading topreschoolers for several years
now. And I love it. And it'sjust so cute and witty. And what
(14:13):
I love about it is that you'vepersonified Earth and I think
that gives kids a way to connectto Earth in a different in a
different meaning like adifferent way that they are more
able to understand Oh, Earthmight have feelings and I need
to protect Earth because now Igot it I got a peek into inside
Earth's personality and Earth'smind and what are has been
(14:35):
through? Was that your first oneabout planets? Yes,
Unknown (14:41):
so that was Earth my first 4.5 4 billion years was my
first and in we call it the ouruniverse theory. So we have
planets and stars and satelliteslike the moon and that that
collection so yeah, that was thefirst one. It was new and
strange because I do call thatnonfiction but like you point
out Earth talks to So is ittruly nonfiction, I have found
(15:02):
that most bookstores andlibraries do shelve it in non
fiction, but there certainly canbe an argument to be made that
it's not the true nonfiction weperhaps grew up with. But that
book I had not intended tonecessarily write nonfiction or
a book about her, they actuallywritten a story originally about
a pet rock. And the pet rock hadbeen a pet to like all these
(15:26):
different characters like adinosaur and a woolly mammoth,
and then a cable and on and on,until it was a pet to like a
little girl now who would ratherplay with an iPad. And that was
one of the stories where Istruck out where it did not
become did not get published.
And but I realized, yeah, Ireally want to talk about a
rock, I really want to talkabout how long that rock had
been here, and how we're kind ofnew to this planet. And I
(15:49):
realized, you know, Earth couldtell that story about being here
and all that Earth has seen andexperienced and changes and, and
eventually we go on into ourplanet, which talks about the
impact that us humans have, aswell. So that kind of, again, a
strikeout led to that Earthstory. I was very fortunate that
(16:10):
Earth connected with educatorsand parents, but most
importantly, with kids, becauseI do think she has a funny
voice. She is meant, again, thetitle is Earth my first 4.54
billionaires, she's meant tosound like a four and a half
year old, like, That's the voiceI'm trying to capture there. So
I think it's relatable tokiddos. So with kids liking it,
(16:33):
the publisher wanted to do more.
And that's what I was able to goon and, and do Moon who's like
Earth best friend and son wantsto be a star. And we have Pluto.
Now we have others, with Mars,and others coming out as well.
So I'm very proud of thatseries. I love bringing my stem
(16:54):
and my science to them. But Ilove bringing at the kids level
and respecting their humor andtheir, what they're interested
in.
Katie Doughty (17:05):
Yes, well, I think there's so much here
because a story like thiscaptures their attention. I
mean, the illustrations arephenomenal as well. They're so
impressive and so cute. And theyjust support the story. You
know, when Earth is talkingabout being a baby, and there's
a picture of Earth with apacifier. And she used to be a
hot bath, and just so many cutelittle quips in there. But I
(17:29):
think for kids and nonfiction,this is my favorite way to teach
information because it's soengaging and they have something
to connect to. And it's not drynonfiction like this is how
nonfiction for kids should be.
And you can talk with your childabout okay, this Earth really
talk no, not with a voice,right. But we can look for her
(17:50):
cues or whatever it is. Yeah.
And so that can give the kidsrealize
Unknown (17:55):
that, you know, we're not on a planet with a mouth.
They understand that. So I thinkthat's why we get away with it
calling it nonfiction because itis to inform and it is accurate.
Katie Doughty (18:05):
Yes. Yeah. What's your research process like to
make sure that you have all ofyour facts correct, because I
think that's something I shyaway from in my writing is like,
Oh, I don't want to get itwrong.
Unknown (18:17):
No, I get that in the first time doing that
nonfiction, I did make somemistakes. It wasn't super great
with some of my sourcesunnecessarily keeping track and
double checking them. Now a lotof times for these books, I'm
able to use NASA andEncyclopedia Britannica. And
(18:39):
then if I have to go a littlebit deeper Scientific American,
and those those, I have my setsources. I also write older
nonfiction I have saved thepeople halting human extinction,
which has a lot of talk abouthuman caused climate change in
it, but also other things likeyou know, asteroid hitting us or
(19:01):
super volcanoes. And that onewas a lot of research. And I had
to go a lot deeper with withthat kind of book and talk to
experts. And I think we have 35pages 36 pages of sources for
that one. That one we tried toand there might be mistakes in
that book might be mistakes ineven though our universe picture
(19:23):
books because science islearning more all the time. So
it's not necessarily orhopefully that I'm being
inaccurate or the publishersbeing inaccurate. It's that
we're learning more all thetime. So if you pick up a book
that was published in 2018, Ithink in son we say son has
another if you get one of theearly editions as his son has
another 6 billion years left offuel, and now new research is
(19:46):
saying 5 billion. So if youthink about the newer ones,
we've corrected it and it says 5billion so there are things like
that, that that happen, but I domostly internet research though
I'm always picking up on booksas well, I read a lot of
nonfiction for fun.
Katie Doughty (20:03):
Yeah, yeah, I could see that in you. That
would be interesting and fun foryou. What are your older kids
books? Like? Are they? Do theytell a story? Are they similar
to you picture books wherethere's kind of like that gray
area of nonfiction versusfiction? Or is it straight?
nonfiction.
Unknown (20:21):
So the the older nonfiction, the save the people,
and then we have one coming outSeptember 5, where are the
aliens? They are truenonfiction. I would say there's
not a voice. However, what I do,which I think is a little
different than a lot of thenonfiction intended for kids is
I talk directly to the audienceto talk directly to the reader,
(20:43):
which I found happens a lot. Andthe Adult Nonfiction I read if
you read a Mary Roach was inPhiladelphia, she's talking
directly to me. And I do a tonof school visits. I think just
in between last January, and mayI think I've visited 31 schools.
So I get to talk to kids a lot.
And I love talking, like talkingto kids. And I try to use that
(21:03):
same kind of voice when I'm infront of them that I use in the
book. So for example, and whereare the aliens? We start by
asking the reader a question weask, Are you a life beyond
Earther? Or an only Earther? Youknow, nobody's wrong? We don't
know yet. So you directly askthe reader that Do you believe
that there's life intelligentlife out there? Or do you not
(21:24):
and you're not wrong, whateveryou think, but we talk directly
to the reader, which is, whichis fun. The art and this is done
by Nicole miles. And it isfunny. So she has a lot of
little funny sketches. And thenalso great sketches when we have
to kind of illustrate ascientific idea that might be
more complicated. So there's alot of art in there, too, that
that breaks it up that I thinkit makes it really digestible
(21:46):
for it's a fourth, fifth sixthseventh graders is probably the
ideal audience for those.
Katie Doughty (21:53):
Oh, perfect. I was just going to ask that
question my daughter's 10 and ahalf. And I think she would eat
that up. So I'm going to need toget my hands on some copies of
those. Those sound reallyentertaining. I think I would
enjoy that too. I love bookslike those two that or people
say they're geared towardfourth, fifth sixth, but then I
really liked them. So I thinkparents can enjoy those as well.
(22:13):
Yes, for sure. So let's diveinto a Small Kindness because
this podcast is called RaisingCain humans. And this title just
caught my attention. It'sadorable. First of all, I
absolutely fell in love with theway that the illustrator brought
the color into the pictures. Socould you speak a little bit
(22:36):
about how where did this ideacome from, and maybe a little
bit about the process of gettingit out into the world.
Unknown (22:43):
So this book, The Small Kindness is published by Running
Press kids. And I had threeother books with them. So I call
those the other books, mydefinition books, so we have
beautiful, and we have brave,and we have love. And in each of
those books, I kind of give youmy definition of the word so
(23:07):
Stacy's definition of beautifuland so in beautiful. It's, it
shows what I think it means forgirls to be beautiful, but the
words don't necessarily workwith the art. So it'll say, a
beautiful girl knows a has asmart style. And when we hear
words like that beautiful girlsa smart style, we might think of
(23:28):
like a woman going into theoffice or something, you know
that like this is how you dressto be professional, or this is
the suit you need. But what thepicture shows is girls doing
science experiments, and anothertime it says you know, beautiful
girls know all about makeup.
Again, we're taking lipstick,eyeliner, that kind of thing.
But the art and that one showsgirls dressing up like pirates.
Awesome. So it's kind of takingsociety's terms are beautiful,
(23:54):
and it twists it. So the pictureshow girls being beautiful in
their own right. And brave weuse superhero like go so brave
kid leads the team. And thatmight put an image in our head
of like the Avengers and CaptainAmerica and Iron Man leading
leading a team but in the book,they're leaving like a group of
(24:14):
ducks to safety like across thewoods bringing them back home. A
beautiful Agnes very brave kidanswers the call. You kind of
think of Batman and the batsignal, you know, he's gotta go
answer that call. But in thebook, it's a picture of a
neighbor with a cat and the treeand the kids come help out with
that. So there's three again,there's beautiful, brave and
(24:35):
love. And so I'm trying todefine those words. By twisting
what our society things loveuses a lot of the Valentine's
Day lingo you know, you need afancy dinner or expensive gifts
and it shows handmade gifts, andit shows a kid feeding their dog
for the fancy dinner. So I'mkind of twisting all those
things. The publisher and I weretalking about what else can we
(24:58):
do we really wanted to do a bookabout kindness. We know how
that's talked about a lot in inpreschool and kindergarten how
important it is. And I startedthinking about it. And I'm like,
there is just no way to twistkindness, like the way I
twisted, beautiful and brave andlove. Kindness is always good.
Like, it is always the rightthing it is, there's no way to
(25:19):
twist kindness around. So we hadcome up with a new way of
talking about kindness. And whatit came down to was when my
daughter was in sixth grade Along time ago now, because she's
in college, when she was insixth grade, she was very
nervous about going to middleschool, and my husband would
drop her off. And he would say,Just say hello to one kid today,
one new kid, somebody you don'tknow. That's all you have to do,
(25:43):
just make that step. And thatwas his advice. And I thought it
was really good advice for asixth grader. For four year
olds, for adults, you know, justpush, make that one little kind
gesture, and see what happens.
So that was kind of the idea. Weknew we want to do a kindness
book, we knew we can't twistkindness. And then this idea
(26:05):
that kindness doesn't have to behuge, it can be small. And from
there, it goes on. So that'swhat happened to the book, as
you mentioned, with the art, itstarts kind of in the sepia
tones. And there's one child whoyou know, says hello, and that
Hello, turns into high fives andhelping and sharing until the
(26:28):
end of the book, which is theend of the day. And everyone has
been an hour drawn in color todemonstrate how the kindness
spread throughout this class andthroughout this school. So
that's a long story. But I thinkit's a process of that, because
sometimes we see a picture bookand they're like, Wow, that's 60
(26:49):
words that How hard could thathave been? Oh, it was years of
thought and consideration thatwent into that. And I'm very,
very proud of it. And I loveWendy's Wendy's art, she nailed
it. She nailed it.
Katie Doughty (27:02):
100% 100%? Well, I like what you said about
people pick up a picture budget,like I was 60 words, I could be
a children's book author. Butthat's I love interviewing
authors, because there's alwaysa unique story behind the story.
And so it's really cool to seebehind the scenes, and I love
that your other books kind ofled up to this. And then it
didn't fit the pattern becausekindness doesn't fit the mold,
(27:24):
right? It's not the normal. Andso I just I think this story is
a great way for kids to visuallysee the passing of kindness
because you can tell them right,like, well, if you're kind to
someone else, and they're kindto somebody, and they're kind of
somebody, you know, the it couldbe endless, but to see it, I
think makes all the difference.
And I love the way like you'dsaid it started CPS. But I also
(27:46):
noticed, like the facialexpressions on each child. So
once the child turned colorful,they had a more happy
expression. They were
Unknown (27:57):
touched by the kindness and you could see it is yeah,
absolutely. They're on theirface as well because some look
sad or nervous. And and it's notjust the kids that happens in
the book that we have theteacher and we have a janitor
also get get involved. It's awhole community. I love
Katie Doughty (28:15):
that too. Because for kids, sometimes they think
they just need to be kind toother kids. But it is adults
too. And adults will pass itback to the kids and I just love
from beginning to end it touchesevery person and every character
until it gets to the end of theday and everyone had a great day
and everyone wins. It's one ofthose just heartwarming,
(28:35):
adorable stories but what a wayto illustrate the passing of
kindness that there really is noend because now you can chat
with your kids about what do youthink happened when they went
home? You know, what could theyhave done for their mom or their
neighbor or their friend or youknow a death stop at the end of
(28:56):
the story?
Unknown (28:57):
I think it's it's great when I visit schools and stuff
I'm like how are you kind or howwill you be kind today and they
they think of some you knowlittle things I'm just gonna
give my mom a hug and again, itdoesn't have to be huge doesn't
take a lot of time or moneyanything like that. So just
having these little things thatcan have an impact and kids get
(29:18):
it they are they're so smartthey're so good right away and
they see it so it's it's a funbook to discuss discuss what
they're not always gives mechills when they when they come
up with these ideas and thediscussion afterwards it It's
heartwarming
Katie Doughty (29:35):
and so powerful and kids I think we don't give
them enough credit but theirhearts are so huge and so open
to this idea that I think bookslike this just need to be in
their hands and be read to thembecause it makes all the
difference. For sure. I love it.
I love it so much. So what's inthe works for you? You're
(29:56):
continuing your Universe seriesis that what was called
university or University of ouruniverse? That's right, which I
just I want all of the books ondisplay in order. I think
they're so cute. And I just lovethe idea of all this learning
that happens in those books. Soare you working on that series?
Or do you have something else Iknow you said Mars is coming out
(30:16):
soon,
Unknown (30:18):
Mars is out, and Pluto just came out. Okay, in May, the
next one in that series is goingto be our solar system. So in
that one, each planet will kindof get its own spread. So it'll
get a two page layout. So nobodywill be left out anymore. What
we hope to do all of them inindividual books this way,
(30:38):
everybody will get a spotlightfor the moment. And then after
that, it's going to be Venus.
And then we're going to dostars, like a general star when
we've done sun. But we'll do ageneral star one because what
the James Webb Telescope isdiscovering and seeing is just
amazing and beautiful. And weneed to get, we need to
highlight that. So that'll becoming up as well. So I'm very
(30:58):
excited because I follow thatlike, on social media and I love
seeing all the pictures all thetime. I also have a new sexual
picture book coming out inOctober called I Want 100 dogs,
which I joke is my mostautobiographical book yet, I am
the mom of three Furry Babies,we were up to four during the
(31:19):
pandemic, but we lost one and werealize four is a lot of Furry
Babies. I'm actually there's onein this office with me right
now. So you never know anymoment there could be barking in
this house. So that one I'm veryexcited about it's, you know,
it's also a good book arecounting because we go from 100
to 90 to 80. She keeps justchanging her mind about how many
(31:39):
dogs she wants. So it's fun.
It's got this little countyelement and the dogs and that
are adorable. So excited aboutthat. And then doing some older
stuff as well, some novels, I'vegot forever 12 coming out this
fall, which I've ended novelssince 2020. So that's, that's
exciting as well. So yeah, lotslots in the works. I'm very
(32:02):
fortunate. I've got the careerof my dreams. And I get to do it
all the time. So I feel very,very lucky.
Katie Doughty (32:11):
I'm so impressed.
Because I know how much workwriting is really working on all
these different projects. Andyou know, having things going on
at the same time is superimpressive. So well done. That's
amazing.
Unknown (32:26):
It keeps me away from writer's block. Because if I'm
like stuck on this picture book,I can go work on this novel or
if I'm stuck on the novel, I cando nonfiction research. So it by
having different things goingon, I feel like I can fill my
data easily with with workwithout necessarily just staring
out the window, though we allknow staring out the window time
(32:48):
two can be valuable because weneed time for our imaginations
to kind of percolate.
Katie Doughty (32:53):
You're right. It really can. Do you ever feel
like having so many things goingon? Do you ever feel like you
can't quite turn it off? Are youable to walk away and kind of
just be for a while? Or is itkind of something that's
constantly in your mind?
Unknown (33:08):
I'm not good at walking away, I'll admit. And, like I
love to have a notebook with me.
So even when we go on vacation,and if I don't bring my
computer, I still have anotebook. And I genuinely love
what I do. So one of those timeswhere I say that when I'm trying
to walk away, it's usuallyworking on something that's
maybe not necessarily ondeadline. So there's some idea
that I'm playing with, or I justwant to make a list or I want to
(33:29):
play with a title you know, so Ido have kind of downtime. But
creativity is is a gift and Idon't want to waste it. So I
feel like it's it's with me alot. I do enjoy my walks, I do
morning walks and things likethat, where it's I don't have a
notebook. That isn't maybe mybrain gets a little bit more of
a break. But you will find metalking to myself, my kids make
(33:51):
fun of me because I'm always
Katie Doughty (33:55):
that's how you get into coming up with words. I
love that. I love though whenyou're, you're kind of in the
zone and then something sparksand you're like, oh, obviously
that's the direction I need togo now. And it's such a
universal Yes. I love it somuch. It's such a thrilling
moment where like, this is mynew path. Awesome. Thank you.
Unknown (34:16):
Absolutely. And that does happen often on the walk or
in the shower.
Katie Doughty (34:20):
Right when you don't have a notebook. Oh my
gosh, this has been so fun. It'sso exciting. Tell us where we
can find everything. So I haveso many teacher friends that
would dive into all of your workand possibly, hopefully maybe
someday come to Seattle and dosome school visits. That would
be amazing. And
Unknown (34:40):
I was in Vancouver last year so I was
Katie Doughty (34:44):
very close. Yeah, so where can we find all your
information?
Unknown (34:47):
So if you can spell my name right, you can usually find
me which is not the easiest nameto spell. But Stacy mcanulty.com
is my website and on there yougot all my socials. My daughter
jokes that my there's too muchstuff on my website, but I just
keep throwing it all on there.
But I've got educator guides,there's there's an empathy guide
for the miscalculations oflightning rod that I know a lot
(35:11):
of educators have liked. There'ssheets, you can coloring sheets,
all that stuff is on there. Andagain, links to my socials, you
know whether with Twitter stillaround, you know, I do make some
videos I have. So you can get tomy YouTube from there as well.
So you can see, I don't thinkI've actually read a Small
(35:31):
Kindness on the YouTube channel,I have read Earth, I think
ocean, there's different ones onthere. So you can have me read
to your to your youngster, andlove that as well. So again, if
you just spell my name, right,people always mix up the sea and
a MC a ulty, you will find meand the website is a good launch
page to find anything you couldpossibly be looking for, such as
(35:56):
my daughter's,
Katie Doughty (36:00):
I don't think you can ever have too much right?
You can sift through and findwhat works for you. So that's
really neat that you have allthat available, especially for
educators I know is a formerteacher, I was always looking
for these kinds of gems to bringinto the classroom. And I really
appreciate that you offer yourbooks on YouTube, too, because I
know sometimes it's it'sdifficult with the rights of
(36:21):
your book and all of that. Butyeah,
Unknown (36:23):
technically, I don't know if I'm supposed to. Often,
oftentimes, the publisher hasactually asked me to do it for
like world read aloud day, EarthDay and stuff. And I just leave
them up there. If they asked meto take them down. I would, but
nobody seems to be yet at thispoint. So I like being able to
share that,
Katie Doughty (36:45):
though. It's your gift, right? Like you've put
your heart and soul into this.
So being able to share it withas many people as possible
Unknown (36:50):
is the goal. Yes.
Katie Doughty (36:53):
I love it. Oh my gosh, this has been so fun and
so enjoyable to get a littlebehind the scenes peek into your
world and I cannot wait to getmy hands on all of your books.
I'm gonna have to go find all ofthem. Thank you. Thank you for
being here.
Unknown (37:09):
Oh, thanks for having me. This was fun.
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