Ep. 3: The View From The Top

Episode Summary

Chris Grabenstein and Jasper, age 13

4/2/2020

This week’s episode features Chris Grabenstein, author of the NYTimes best-selling Mr. Lemoncello's Library series, and his story seeds match Jasper, age 13. Jasper’s story idea is about a 74 foot tall detective (talk about being well equipped for extreme social distancing) and how he *ahem* turns lemons into lemonade by using his height to see things that others can’t. Join host Betsy Bird as she takes you to collaboration nation with Chris and Jasper, and unveils the brand new original story that Chris grew: The World’s Biggest Detective. Click here for complete episode notes.

Listeners: How do you picture Zeta? We want to see your drawings too. Whether you see him as an expert at social distancing (🙋‍♀️) or as a giant Sherlock Holmes (🕵️), draw a picture of your favorite moment from THE WORLD'S BIGGEST DETECTIVE and ask a grownup to share it with us right on Instagram @storyseedspod!

Episode 3 Activity Kit

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This Episode Features

Jasper, age 13

My Story Seed is ... about a 74 foot tall mystery solver.

An interesting thing I can do is … spell the world’s longest English word: pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis. It’s the name of a disease caused by breathing in a very small piece of dust.

My friends notice that ... I’m such a city kid that I can feel my way around the city without getting lost. Even in a neighborhood I haven’t been to before. It’s like I have an internal GPS.

If I Met an Alien ... I would show them New York City’s architecture.

My favorite authors are ... Roald Dahl, JK Rowling, Tove Jansson

Chris Grabenstein

I really connected to Jasper’s story seed because ... I'm always looking for a challenge. And I thought Jasper did a good job of coming up with a story seed that was specific: a 74 foot detective. It sparked me to start imagining that world.

Once upon a time … I wrote commercials for Burger King. That was when I worked at an advertising agency where the famous author James Patterson was my boss.

What you may not know about me is … that I used to do improvisational comedy with a troupe that included the actor Bruce Willis. Another famous actor, Robin Williams, would come to our shows and jump on stage with us whenever he was in town.

Some of the books I’ve written are ... The Mr. Lemoncello’s Library series, The Wonderland series, Shine (which I co-authored with my wife JJ Grabenstein), and many more.

Here’s a writing tip for you … If you’re feeling stuck, that's when you need to go take a walk. You'll find if you take a walk, and you don't put any ear buds in and you don't have any devices for 30 minutes, all of a sudden you'll start daydreaming again.

Bonus Episode

On this bonus episode, our host Betsy Bird and Chris Grabenstein chat about growing Jasper’s giant story seed into the original story "The World's Biggest Detective." You’ll also get writing tips, imagination improv exercises, and hear how Chris Grabenstein became the best-selling author of multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling page-turners for kids, including the fast-paced, fun, and funny Mr. Lemoncello's Library series. Click for episode notes and transcript.