This week’s Story Seeds collaboration follows the one and only Chris Grabenstein, author of the NYTimes best-selling Mr. Lemoncello's Library series, and creative rockstar Jasper! 

Chris Grabenstein helps Jasper grow this idea:

A story about a 74 foot tall mystery solver.

Follow this special Story Seeds adventure with host Betsy Bird as: 

• Chris invites Jasper over to his NYC apartment to chat about his giant story seed which is about a 12 year old boy detective named Zeta Zingone who is 74 feet tall
• They talk about how to root even the wackiest and wildest storytelling ideas in  logic and facts
• They get a view from Chris' rooftop deck and imagine what it’s like to be 74 feet tall

The episode concludes with this week’s storytime segment (15:55) where Chris reads the story he grew from Jasper’s story seed: The World’s Biggest Detective.

Last but not least, this episode was recorded when Jasper was 12 years old. He is now 13, a proud teenager. 

Books mentioned in this episode: Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and The Island of Dr. Libris by Chris Grabenstein. Tall Tales: Jack and the Beanstalk, Johnny Appleseed, Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, John Henry, Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind.  

Calls to Action

Bonus Episode: Check back next week to hear Betsy's interview with Chris Grabenstein. He talks about getting his start by writing for the school newspaper and shares tips on how to write a great mystery.

Kids: Call The Story Seeds Hotline at 646-389-5153, email us at [email protected], or visit our website to submit your story ideas. You can also join The Story Seeds Society, our kids listeners club .

Grownups: Visit www.storyseedspodcast.com for subscription links, to sign up for our newsletter, and to download our printable activity e-zines for your kids (or the  kid in you!). You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari. 

Get our Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity activity book! It pairs perfectly with the podcast and features tons of episode-inspired prompts and projects! Order your copy here!

This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here. 

Show credits

Produced and written by Sandhya Nankani and Anjali Sakhrani. Kayla Fedeson is our Associate Producer. Scoring, mixing, and sound design by Ania Grzesik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Field audio recorded by Nathan Miller. Hosted by Betsy Bird. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT. 

The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com