Speaker 1: You can.
Speaker 2: How are you guys doing today.
Speaker 3: I'm good, Arrow, you've got that radio energy going on.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 2: Well, it's only because of this book. Well, thank you
for listening to that. You guys have come up with
a book that has touched me in the way that
Mike Mulligan's Steamshovel did when I was a kid. This
is what a picture book is all about.
Speaker 3: That's so kind. Wow, I love Mike Mulligan. That's super
well the way that.
Speaker 2: You bring it together, especially with I mean because I
come from a pretty big family and and I can
relate with every character in this book, especially Estie, who's
an outgoing person. I want my brother to have a party.
But then again, I was the one that would hide.
Oh you were the one who would hide always always.
I would just go to my bedroom. I'm fine, I'm good.
You guys do your thing. I'm okay.
Speaker 1: So how you turn grow up to be an extrovert?
Speaker 2: Then I think that's because I learned how to become
an actor there, because I mean, away from this microphone.
Who am I?
Speaker 3: That makes sense? I guess. I mean I think a
lot of great actors are actually introverts, and.
Speaker 2: That's why this book is so much, so lovable, and
it puts such a happy smile on your face because
you're speaking about something that is actually taking place in
our homes and you're dealing with it. You're creating a
solution for it.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm thrilled.
Speaker 3: I guess the solution is to realize that there is
no solution, because there is no problem. It's okay to
be an introvert. It's okay to read a book under
the couch, and it's okay to be an extrovert who
wants to bring everybody over and throw some tinfoil stars
up in the air.
Speaker 2: I can totally see some great merchandise coming out of this,
in the way of a T shirt that says, which
vert are you?
Speaker 3: Robin? Get on that?
Speaker 1: Well, you know that you say that arrow because I
believe I was very much an introvert when I was
a child, and I was a professional ballet dancer up
till I was thirty before I became an illustrator, and
it was also being on stage that helped me come
out of myself. So so young kids, I think that's
really good to be forced to do some public speaking
and that sort of things. Even the kids who who
find it really hard. It does help bring you out.
Speaker 2: One of the one of the best scenes inside the
book that really got me was the way that the
mother knew that Ivan didn't want to have the party.
I'm so glad that you put something like that in
this book, because it was obvious that he didn't want
to do it, but we needed someone to say it
for so as readers we would go, yes, I'm not
the only one who thinks that Ivan doesn't want to
do this.
Speaker 3: Well, and it's very subtle, but mostly seen through Robin's
brilliant illustrates that the father is also an extrovert. He's
playing music and dancing and doing the conga line in
the living room with all the guests, and the mother
is in the kitchen washing dishes with Ivan. There has
never been a party in which I was not the
person going to the kitchen washing the dishes. My sister
is the same way, and we will argue at Thanksgiving no, no, no,
I'll clear the table, no no, I'll wash all the
dishes because we want to be in the kitchen by
ourselves doing the work, and then we wind up doing
it together.
Speaker 1: And interesting, both of us married are opposite Ann's husband.
When you go to a restaurant with Carl, he's like
the mayor of the city.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: You walk in and everybody it's like cheers Carl. Everybody
go around and shake hands with everyone, and a sort
of splinks behind him with some bring over her head,
like a blanket over her head. Oh dear, do I
have to talk to every table again?
Speaker 2: Laul I would love to watch a little ones as
well as parents read this book in the way, especially
when when Esti brings over the Blanche family, because there's
gonna be those that are going, oh gaw, here they come.
Here comes that group, and there's gonna be some going yeah,
more people for the party. I mean, you really do
capture everybody's emotions on that.
Speaker 3: Yes. And I first got the idea for all of
this because of my stepdaughter Josephine, who is somebody who
will decide in the morning that she's going to have
a giant dinner party, go to the grocery store to
get food, meet total strangers at the grocery store, invite
them to come to the party, and say, bring all
of your family and your friends, and they do, and
she's overjoyed, and I'm always thinking is there gonna be
enough food? Is there? How are you going to do this?
Where's everybody gonna sit? It always works and everyone has
the most amazing time.
Speaker 2: What did you do differently this time around when illustrating
the book?
Speaker 1: Well, what happened is Anne and I had done two
books together on the and they both took place on
a farm because Anne grew up on a farm. Well,
I grew up in New York City and I'm a
city girl. And so she said, when we were ready
to do our third book together, what would you like
to draw? And I said, can we get off the farm?
Can we get into the city? Can I draw people?
And so thanks a lot, Ann a book with nineteen people,
and then she still had to throw in some animals.
There are seven animals at the end of the party
in this little, tiny apartment. Esti has thrown for her
brother this massive party, and he's, of course hiding behind
the couch, and that's okay with SD. She learns that
that's really what he wants, and she wants to have
a party, and he feels that that's okay.
Speaker 2: I can't be the only one that looks at these
pages and thinks that all of these colors, all these
facial expressions. It's a journey all to itself, and then
you go in and you read the story.
Speaker 3: When I look at those pages, I feel like I
could spend an hour or more looking at any page
in this book because there are so many little stories
going on as the people are relating to one another
that Robin did. It's brilliant, and it's so much work.
It's so much harder to illustrate a book than it
is to write one.
Speaker 1: Well. Like Anne says, she writes, the sisters walk into
the party, and then I have to figure out the
whole storyline behind the sisters. It's really when I make
a book, it's like I'm doing an entire movie. I
have to do the casting and the costume design, and
you know, figure out who all the backstories of all
the people are and they're feeling and as each scene happens.
So it's that that's my challenge and the fun that
I have entertaining myself for eight months while I draw
these books, and it takes in you know, about an
hour to you know, if they say, well edit it.
We wanted a whole different you know, not in the apartment,
not in a house. At one point they said it
was going to be in a house in France. Let's
have in an apartment in you know, somewhere in the world. Ambiguous,
and so she fixed that in about three seconds. But
of course I had to redraw the whole book because
it was in a whole different setting.
Speaker 2: I've been I've been a wedding DJ for thirty two years,
and this book kind of reminds me of mom taking
over the daughter's wedding.
Speaker 1: You know. I mean, it takes me want to interview you.
Speaker 2: And it's just it's one of the there's so many
different things that we can all relate with. In fact,
I think that there's a business learning lesson here too
for companies to go in say, okay, which one of
the verts are you. Let's grow with Liz this will
you can just be you, but we need you to
be as stronger you by doing this. Let's tap into
your creative energy and understand you. I mean, there's so
many different lessons in life throughout this book.
Speaker 1: I had already, even though the book only a premiere
a pub yesterday, I already had a few friends who
contacted me and said, this book isn't for kids. This
is for adults because they were relating to this whole
concept and maybe even understanding themselves a little bit more
now as adults. Rather, you know, the concept's a little
big for children, but kids totally get it because both
of us already talked to kids and they completely get it.
But one of the things in talking to kids I
discovered the other day is that I'm more of an ambivert,
which is half and half. For instance, Anne started the
concept of this book came came to her through during
the COVID period because she was as an introvert grill
to be stuck in the house for two years and
a lot of people, you know, were suffering. I liked it,
but I also I missed being with people way before
and did so I'm sort of a mixture.
Speaker 2: There's such a great moment there with Grandma. Always wanted
to take that picture, and Ivan reminded me so much
of my grandson Carlos, because all he did was put
his foot in the picture, and my son, my grandson Carlos,
would do the same thing. There I'm in the photo.
Speaker 3: I got to say, Grandma Bunny. Grandma Bunny is like
Robin's great creation. She is so brilliant.
Speaker 1: It's every Jewish person, grandmother and aunt in my family
who's constantly judging everybody a little bit too much and
whispering in the background, why can't they be different? And
then I just love that the mom and dad just
say we love them the way they are, and the
kids at the end come to an understanding with each
other that, you know, just because they're different and have
different opinions, it's okay, and they appreciate each other for
how they each react to different circumstances.
Speaker 2: Where can people go to find out more about what
you guys have done as a creative team.
Speaker 3: Well, you could go to a bookstore.
Speaker 1: Nice that bookstore.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I own an independent bookstore in Nashville called Parnassa's
Books and any place anytime. You can go to your
local independent bookstore and ask for books by Ann Patchett
and Robert Price glass And this is what will happen.
If you look for books just by Ann Patchett, then
you're going to find novels because I'm mostly a novelist
who writes for adults. And if you look at Robin
Price Glasser, you're going to find fancy Nancy. That's going
to be the first thing you're going to find, which
is this huge juggernaut of a children's book series. It's
kind of changed the whole landscape of children's literature. But
then if you search both of our names, you'll find
three books. The first one was Lambslide, which is about
voting on the farm, The second one is a Scapegoat,
which is about blaming farm animals for things you did yourself,
and the third one is the Verts.
Speaker 2: Wow. Well, please come back to this show anytime in
the future. The door is always going to be open
for you.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
Speaker 3: What a joy you are.
Speaker 2: Will you'd be brilliant today? Oh please do please do. Man,
it's a new age of a communication and connection with listeners.
You know, it gives you that opportunity to feel like that,
you know you're part of something.
Speaker 3: Absolutely thank you
Speaker 1: Mm hmm