{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Mirrors, Windows And Moonlit Roads","description":"In this heartfelt episode, Jed welcomes author Julie Leung and illustrator Angie Kang to celebrate their new picture book \u201cNavigating Night,\u201d a moving father\u2013daughter story that beautifully coincides with AAPI Month. Julie shares that Navigating Night grew out of her memories of riding along on Chinese food deliveries with her dad in rural Georgia in the 1990s. The book is part memoir, part homage to her father and to the often-invisible workers in the food service industry who \u201cmake sure the food shows up at your doorstep on time\u201d.  It also explores the loneliness and dislocation of being a child of immigrants, driving through other families\u2019 \u201cnormal\u201d evenings while her own family worked late and ate at odd hours. Julie explains how the story was originally a multigenerational epic including her grandfather\u2019s escape during the Cultural Revolution, but her agent helped her refine it to the emotional core focused on her and her dad. Angie describes her powerful emotional reaction to Julie\u2019s manuscript and the parallels with her own relationship with her father and her family\u2019s Cultural Revolution history. She breaks down her art process, including using gouache and table salt on wet paint to create rain textures that mirror the story\u2019s emotional storms, clearing as father and daughter reconnect and the moon comes out. Both Julie and Angie reflect on being only children, the quiet intimacy of car rides, and their hopes that the book serves as both a mirror and window into immigrant family life. In the final segment, Jed travels (virtually) to Australia to chat briefly with Amelia Tonta about \u201cNeil, the Amazing Sea Cucumber,\u201d inspired by her love of snorkeling and the overlooked, \u201cboring\u201d creatures on the ocean floor. Amelia discusses giving a seemingly dull character surprising heart and humor, and hints at more playful, visually driven stories to come. ","author_name":"Reading With Your Kids Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/readingwithyourkids.libsyn.com\/site","html":"