My heart is breaking for my hometown. First of all for the lives lost, then for the homes and livelihoods lost, but I am also very sad for the damage and threat to the cultural landmarks of Los Angeles. We won’t know the full damage for some time, but here’s a first look at the irreplaceable culture being wiped out by the fires.

So far the Zane Grey estate in Altadena has been destroyed. Grey was the home of one of the creators of the genre of Westerns, and his home was a beautiful Spanish revival mansion. Also gone is the Will Rogers ranch house in the Pacific Palisades, which was a beloved California State Park property that served as the starting point for many hiking trails. Luckily the Getty Villa and Getty Center are safe as of the time of recording, thanks to the careful construction of the buildings and the vigilance of staff. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which has inspired too many science fiction authors to count, is also safe for the moment.

Many other beloved and inspirational places have been lost, though, such as Christmas Tree Lane and the Bunny Museum. And many famous film sites in the Malibu hills are lost or under threat. Landmarks are a huge part of why Los Angeles is such a special place, and it’s terrible to lose so many of them. This is an unusual episode of the show but I had to take a moment to mourn the loss of important literary sites in these terrible fires.

Have you made a New Year’s Resolution? I stopped making them, oddly enough, because I go to the gym a lot and accidentally noticed a few things about goal setting and motivation. Many of you may have a goal to write a children’s book, and I think that’s great. That’s why I’ve decided to make amateur and independent authors the theme for the show this year.

I think everyone has stories to tell. But like those who join a gym every January and then quit in frustration by February, aspiring authors can sabotage themselves by not having a clear goal in mind or a realistic, enjoyable way to attain it. I want to do what I can this year to help all of us become the best storytellers we can be by inviting experienced writers and editors on to talk about how to avoid amateur mistakes and how to develop writing skills in a disciplined, enjoyable, sustainable way. I also hope to encourage writers to give up the all-or-nothing mentality that makes them think that writing must bring fame and fortune or it isn’t worthwhile. I think quite the opposite. All stories have value, especially when they deepen our relationships with friends and family.

At the beginning of the year, I made predictions about films based on children’s books that would come out in 2024. Was I right? Was I wrong? And what’s coming up in 2025? (AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!)

This episode managed to get published somehow despite

Tom the Tale Teller joins me to talk about one of the greatest movies ever made – The Muppet Christmas Carol. Tom has been a guest on the show, talking about his books Leicestershire Folk Tales for Children and Forest Folk Tales for Children, as well as his performances in schools and theaters as a storyteller.

The Muppet Christmas Carol is not just a superb adaptation of literature to the screen. It’s also perfectly faithful to the text and spirit of Charles Dickens’ classic novella about how Ebenezer Scrooge learns to be a good man. This story combines so many genres – psychological thriller, ghost story, even science fiction. Only one thing could have made it better, and that’s Michael Caine and a whole lot of Muppets.

Do you have one more person on your holiday shopping list? Need some help? I’ve got you covered with several recommendations of books that make great gifts.

Also in this episode, I give a little update on the drama surrounding those dolls from the Wicked film. It turns out there is a lawsuit over the unfortunate misprint on the box, with one family claiming that they were harmed by being directed to visit a . . . corn . . . website. I still don’t think that this is that big of a deal, and that parents don’t really need to stress about it, especially considering that the dolls were all pulled from store shelves.

What I am a bit more concerned about, though, is that the success of the movie version of the Wicked stage musical has led publishers to put out a new edition of the novel Wicked by Gregory Maguire. It features the images of the actors in the film:

It’s common for marketers to do this when a film is based on a book, but this time it’s pretty inappropriate as well as misleading to consumers. The book Wicked is not now a major motion picture. Because the book has very little to do with the stage show, which is the inspiration for the movie. I read Maguire’s novel when it first came out. It’s wild and weird and interesting . . . and absolutely NOT for children. I know some teenagers are more mature than others, but I still wouldn’t give it to an underage kid. By having characters from a PG-rated film on the cover and implying that the movie and the book have much at all to do with one another, it would be very easy for a well-meaning adult to give a book to a kid which they simply aren’t developmentally ready for. I strongly disagree with this misleading marketing and want to warn parents and teachers about it.

I didn’t think I’d have much to say about Disney’s latest live action remake, Snow White, until it actually came out. But unfortunately a new trailer has revealed such substantial changes to the story that I can already say this will have little to do with the beloved folktale recorded by the Brothers Grimm or Disney’s 1937 film, which was groundbreaking not only in its artisty but in its casting choice for the lead role.

In this episode, I briefly show a quotation from filmmaker Dallas Jenkins regarding how to adapt the text of a book into a film. This came from an interview Jenkins participated in on the channel SeanChandlerTalksAbout . You can see the entire interview, which has useful things to say about adapting fiction to the screen, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAhix0coMrs

Also in this episode, hear about my upcoming plans for the show as well as the book we’ve been reading this week: I’m Not Santa by Jonathan Allen. My kids found it at the library and they LOVE it. There’s lots of chances to do funny voices and fake crying, and the more dramatic you go the bigger the laughs will be.

This is my rant about why Brits should reclaim Thanksgiving. I have two book recommendations to help you learn the basics: The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh with Caldecott Honor winning illustrations by Helen Sewell, as well as Squanto’s Journey by Joseph Bruchac and illustrated by Greg Shed. Both of these books beautifully share a story of brave people who made amazing journeys and helped very different groups of people come together as friends.

British People Should Take Back Thanksgiving

by T.Q. Townsend

I’m an expat who lives in Leicestershire. I love it here. It’s a great place to raise kids. There’s lots of great stuff to do outdoors. And nobody talks politics. I am conspicuously American, a trait that is compounded by being the only Yank in my village other than my dual citizen kids.

I try to do my best to enhance the Special Relationship between our countries, mostly by making my husband cups of tea just the way he likes them, but also by introducing little bits of Americana that are compatible with British life. Things like Goldfish Crackers, meat loaf, and pumpkin bread have been eagerly adopted by my neighbours, and I even got a bunch of families to come play baseball on the village green on multiple occasions.

I don’t want to change Britain fundamentally, but there has been one thing that has been on my mind more and more the longer I live here. Y’all need to take Thanksgiving back. I feel like this shouldn’t be a hard sell. I don’t say this merely because I get a bit homesick every year on this holiday, and it’s very hard to celebrate properly on the fourth Thursday in November when my kids have a normal school day and all my friends have to be at work. It’s also because it’s legitimately a good idea. And you should rely on my authority because not only am I a real red blooded American, but I am also a descendant of Edward Doty, who not only helped celebrate the first Thanksgiving but was also the first person to be punished as a criminal in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Allow me to lay out the facts.

First, Thanksgiving started out as an English holiday. Way back at the start of the 17th century, the people who first partied with the Wampanoag tribe from what is now Massachussetts were English, having lived nearly two centuries before those dirty, dirty rebels sent that nasty note to poor King George III. (We can gloss over the part where they were kind of nutty religious extremists who thought the Puritains weren’t strict enough. Let’s just focus on the part where they all had a really nice time together eating gruel or whatever it was they had in the olden days.) So really, if you think about it, this holiday has always been yours to begin with.

Second, British people love a roast. I don’t mean verbal razzing, although you like that too. I mean delicious savory food slow cooked for hours, served with copious side dishes and a cauldron of gravy. I do not have to expend any energy making the case for having a roast followed by ample desserts. You already take any excuse you can get to do this.

Third, you get something else you already like: a bank holiday. I know that Thanksgiving can feel a little unnatural at first because it falls on a Thursday, rather than on a Monday as the good Lord intended. But this is actually a pretty good deal. Because everyone is so overstuffed with turkey and pie and football and freedom, quite a lot of employers give up and also declare the following Friday to be a loss. Some schools in America even give kids the whole week off, adding a bonus half term holiday to the calendar. In late November it’s getting pretty dark and cold in this country. It wouldn’t be so bad to have a few extra days to party.

Fourth, Thanksgiving does a great job of holding back Christmas. Look, Christmas is the king of holidays. It’s the best day of the year. It also starts way too early. By having Thanksgiving to focus on, stores are forced to hold back on Christmas displays for a few more weeks and we can all keep “All I Want for Christmas is You” out of our heads just a little bit longer.

Finally, it’s fun. Thanksgiving is a casual holiday. A time devoted to gathering with people you actually like, unlike the other holidays that force you to mix with people who say crazy things on Facebook but have to be invited because of shared DNA. It’s about gathering with friends in comfy clothes, watching the big game, eating some good food, and having lots of laughs. It’s a great low-pressure setting for someone to introduce a new significant other to the extended family. It’s a time to invite a lonely neighbour or a new acquaintance over so they can make some friends. It’s a time for grandma to show off her pie baking skills, and for a pack of children to play outside until they go a bit feral. It can be a bit rowdy, which not all British people will instantly be comfortable with, but I have found that with sufficient gravy and pie, folks around here will put up with just about anything.

Most American expats here in Britain celebrate Thanksgiving on the Saturday after the official holiday, so that there’s time for a proper feast. That works, but I hope that I’ve done a little bit to convince you that this holiday isn’t quite so foreign as you may have thought. It’s my hope that in a few years, you’ll be just as overstuffed with pumpkin pie as I am every November.

The Paddington film franchise is a great example of how it IS possible to take beloved characters from children’s literature and write new adventures for them that remain true to the spirit of the original stories. So how does Paddington in Peru measure up? Is it as good as Paddington 2? How many Snapes does it receive for its faithfulness to the source material? And why will it mean so much to immigrant families like mine?

Also in this episode, I take a moment to explain that although I’ve talked about Taylor Swift on the show a few times with my daughter, this is neither an endorsement nor a rebuke of the artist’s political views. Everything seems to be so political lately, and I often forget this as I am lucky enough to live in an area where people simply don’t talk politics.

Chloë has been enjoying This isn’t What it Looks Like from The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch, and Phoebe found a very sweet Halloween book that the library forgot to put away. It’s called The Pumpkin Who Was Afraid of the Dark and tells the story of a cute little pumpkin named Boo who doesn’t like the spooky parts of Halloween. Although it’s out of season, I think it’s well worth picking up a copy and tucking it away for next year.

In this episode, co-host Chloë tells us about Sapphire Battersea, a book that’s really captured her. She has loved every book that she has ever read by Jacqueline Wilson, and whether this author is tackling grounded, real-world family drama or the more fantastical world of circus sideshows, Chloë has always noticed and latched onto the struggles of children born to working class families.

In the main segment, the film adaptation of the stage musical Wicked will be out in a few days and the marketing push is ON. This movie is several artistic generations removed from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The musical is beloved the world over, but mainly by adults. Will this film bring the story back to families and children? Will the drama around its marketing cause problems? Or is it just too darn long for kids to sit through? Let us know what you think!

Samantha Parkington was the first character that I read about in the American Girls book series. She was introduced when I was a little girl. I grew up on this book series and it has been wonderful to see that my daughter loves them just as much as me. She has her own dolls now, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see how well these books help teach about key periods of American history. This is especially important because our family lives in England and we want to stay connected with both of our cultures.

Find out what Chloë noticed about these books, especially the uncomfortable truths about how society treated certain groups of people in 1904. In some ways it’s difficult to see her struggle with the injustice of racism and classism, but at the same time it’s good so see how instinctively she recognizes and rejects these forms of bigotry.

There is a bit of background noise in this episode, which came from Chloë wanting to hold her American Girl dolls while we had our conversation. I never want to prioritize production quality over the enthusiastic participation of my daughter and co-host, so I am sure with this in mind, none of you will mind a few rustling sounds here and there as the dolls are cuddled.

Did you have a Samantha doll or did you read her books? What’s your favorite outfit of hers? What’s your favorite of her adventures?

Also, I wanted to note that our original conversation was much longer. We spent a lot more time discussing issues of race and class than what is presented here. But the conversation was edited down to keep it to the usual show length. I also felt parts of our conversation were very personal, and some moments between parents and children are more special if they are kept private.