Speaker 1: Hi, Hey, good morning you too. How are you doing
doing good? How are you absolutely excited to share a
conversation with you? Because this is it.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: You actually made me feel like it's a kid again,
I meanly adult who picked up Oh my god, I've
got to do these books.
Speaker 3: That's the best. Puzzles are awesome. Man.
Speaker 1: Well, you guys are doing something though that which which
really inspires me in the way that I believe that
the human brain needs puzzles, and you guys are really
bringing that forward because we need to exercise that muscle.
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally. It's so good for your brain to take
a break like that and challenge it.
Speaker 1: So now what led to this connection with you know,
with National Puzzle Day.
Speaker 2: Well, Jody started National Puzzle Day many years ago, and
Highlights has been doing puzzles in their books and magazines
for almost eighty years now, So this collaboration just made sense.
We know kids love puzzles at Highlights, we know from firsthand,
and we know how good they are kids' brains, so
that's why we're passionate about puzzles, and Jody's passion for
puzzles is contagious. So it just made sense for us
to do something really cool for a National Puzzle Day.
Speaker 1: So now do you do? You think it's one of
those things that will put us in a different place
when it comes to the mindset, because I'm always sitting
here watching people in the way that they always seem confused, lost, torn,
And it's like a book like this puts focus on
what is right now.
Speaker 3: That's true.
Speaker 2: It forces you to, you know, take a break from
worrying about things and all the other things you have
to do with your day and just focus on the
challenge in front of you. And then once you've solved
the puzzle, you get that satisfaction of solving the puzzle.
It's like a little boost for your brain.
Speaker 1: But you know what, what in having all three of
these books here in front of me, the one thing
that I worry about is that when I get to
the end of the third book, it's like, Okay, what's next?
Will this be a continuation?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, there's so much more. We have so many
more books more in the works. We are always thinking
of new and more challenging ways to do our puzzles,
so we have many ideas coming. We also have an
all puzzle magazine, so you could every other month, get
a book of puzzles in your mailbox, new ones that
we've come up with or that have been suggested to
us by kids. So yeah, we're always thinking of new stuff.
Don't worry, there's more to come.
Speaker 1: You just brought up the kids, But in a way,
are you also thinking about those adults too?
Speaker 2: Secretly, we have put little nods to other generations in
our brain playbooks. If you look through the puzzles, you'll
probably notice.
Speaker 3: We know that grown ups.
Speaker 2: Are also stealing these books and doing the puzzles themselves,
and we encourage that, but there's no shame in it.
So you might notice throughout those little references to retro
toys and things, and we hope that grown ups see
that little nod. See.
Speaker 1: One of the things that inspires me as a broadcaster
as well as an educator is the fact that you
help classrooms develop plans so that they can jump on board.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, yeah, there's a You know, there's so much
benefit to puzzling, even in the classroom.
Speaker 1: And that to me is what keeps them engaged. And
and today's society doesn't matter if we're talking about generation
alpha or beta. I mean, those those young kids need
to have something to grow with, and I think puzzles
exercise that opportunity.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a it's you know, you're exercising your brain
in a fun package. And Jody knows this. She's been
actually doing school visits all months. So how have your
interactions with the students been going it?
Speaker 3: They have been so excited. Yeah, you find out you
have a puzzle in your backpack, They're like, let's get started.
Speaker 2: Ye.
Speaker 3: The thing about puzzles is that we all love them,
some different levels than others. But when you bring it together,
you get enthusiastic. You want to share it with your friends.
It's an opportunity to really engage yourself and your community.
And that's why Puzzle Day is so very fun.
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, and the Highighlight's little motto, it's fun with
a purpose. We always say that the fun comes first,
and that's the nice thing about puzzles is like, yes,
you're learning or using your brand, but they are just fun. Also,
the fun comes first.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I love to do with
puzzles is the fact that I love to what being
at the grocery store is that I love to have kids,
do you know put things in the in the bags
as well the paper bags, because it challenges them to
put different shapes in different areas and to see their
smiles when they have filled up a bag just blows
me away.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's actually you know. One thing we joke about
it highlights among the staff is that we just see
puzzles everywhere.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: We spend so much time thinking up new puzzles that
we're like, oh, that highway system looks like it could
be a maze, or like you said, putting the groceries
in the bag is almost like a lotch of puzzles.
So their puzzles are everywhere.
Speaker 1: Now, Jody, what are you experiencing in the schools in
the way of you know, you know, like like I
just said about how kids are enlightened and how they
feel like that they've accomplished something. I mean that's going
to make you feel fantas I think about what you've
done here.
Speaker 3: You know, I am so delighted and humbled about Puzzle
Day and what it does for the kids. The thing
that we see as adults is we see analog hobbies
coming to be a trend. That really is something you
see in those classrooms where the pen hits the paper
the pencil hits the paper, and these kids are like,
oh my goodness, let's try this, let's look for this.
When I was at my last school presentation, we were
all looking for a frying pan from one of us
activity things because we couldn't find it anywhere, and we
finally found this, thankfully, because we couldn't leave without that.
But what was so great was is they were engaged,
they were excited, and they got a chance to be
smarter without even recognizing that they're learning, that they're being
provided knowledge, and they're smiling. And I think that combination,
while you know, you can use all sorts of fancy words,
it's just amazing. It really brings out the best puzzles are.
And if you don't like one puzzle, let's say a
child doesn't like one puzzle, there's nine hundred more to try,
so you can actually challenge a child, challenge a community
with different puzzles, and puzzles have gone two point zero.
I mean, let's be honest. We have puzzle competitions everywhere,
and those are the ways that we're bringing new people
to the puzzle world. And of course you think to yourself, okay,
well we have all these different puzzles. I'm not much
of a puzzle person, or I'm too much of a
puzzle person. There's just no such thing. Puzzles are Puzzles
are puzzles, and they touch all of us, whether that's
the LA traffic and we're trying to get around on
the freeway, or if we're walking and we're trying to
get into a building and we have to go around
a fence and a this and a that, and it's amaze.
So it really is part of our life. And I
can't be more excited to see that on puzzle Day,
the kids just light up. It's so amazing.
Speaker 1: I would love to put this on a coffee table
and see how many adults pick it up like they
used to do when we would run to the dentist
or the doctor's office, because it is an automatic magnet
to go to a book like this.
Speaker 3: That's not true.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we encourage that. Absolutely no shame in picking up
up Kids magazine and doing the puzzles.
Speaker 1: So now is it a puzzle to create puzzles?
Speaker 2: Uh? Yes, it is a puzzle to create puzzles too.
I'm lucky. I mean, Jody is an amazing puzzle writer.
I'm lucky that I have other editors that I work
with because we all have our strength. It's very difficult
for me to write mass puzzles. For example, I'm more
of a word person, so you know, we it is
a puzzle putting together puzzles.
Speaker 1: But it's got to be inspiring for you guys to
see that people are putting their hands on a physical
book instead of something that is sitting inside a smartphone.
Speaker 3: Yes, definitely, I think that's so amazing. You know. One
of the things that we see is people come to
me all the time that whether they take a book
or a jigsaw puzzle, and they go, hey, we're taking
a puzzle on vacation, and it goes in the table.
And so when we come back, the kids can play
before they go to bed, or they can play when
we get up. I think it's really become a family
and a community thing where it's just togetherness. It's just
how having fun. There's just no reason not to compulsive
in a way right out.
Speaker 2: And you have to be in the moment. Yeah, yeah,
an analog activity like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know it might be my age, but
it's one of those things where it's like I want
two of each one of these books. And the reason
why is because I want one to actually write in
and one that I don't touch because they're so beautiful.
I mean, you've got nearly impossible puzzles, you've got trickiest puzzles,
you've got funniest puzzles. I mean you give every imagination
an opportunity to say, hey, test me, take me out
for the day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm so glad I said that because my favorite
thing about the Brain play books is the artwork.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But it is just like really fresh and funky design
and also a touch of humor in the pages. It
is some of those pages I want to rip up
and frame and put in my office because they're really,
really beautiful.
Speaker 1: Well, you guys have got to come back to this
show anytime in the future. The door is always going
to be open for you. Oh, thank you, will you'd
be brilliant today. Okay, thank you to Puzzle Day.
Speaker 3: Ok