Duke Stebbins, author of A Little Book About Sharing, talks about how working together and helping each other are two of the best things we can do in life.
Duke Stebbins, author of A Little Book About Sharing, talks about how working together and helping each other are two of the best things we can do in life.
A Little Book About Sharing (view book)
Full Book Description:
Sharing can be hard because it feels like we’re losing something. But actually, when we share, we gain more than we could ever imagine!
About the Author:
Duke is an Oregonian designer whose sharing skills have been prudently honed by his twin brother and 4 older siblings. He would like to thank his mom for helping him with this book, among many other things.
*If you want to be on a future episode of A Kids Book About: The Podcast or if you have a question you’d like us to consider, have a grownup email us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com and we’ll send you the details.
A Kids Book About: The Podcast
S1 E027, Duke Talks About Sharing
[INTRODUCTION]
Matthew: What does sharing look like?
Duke: Sharing can look like so many things from something as simple as maybe sharing some of your dessert with your siblings sitting next to you, to passing someone the ball and a game, to things that can get very complex about sharing.
You can share feelings with people and experiences with people. And it's really just a conversation that's not using words, but the ability to give and take in an empathetic way with others.
Matthew: Welcome to A Kids Book About: The Podcast! I’m Matthew. I’m a teacher, a librarian, and I’m your host.
Today we’re continuing our special series of episodes with the authors and illustrators of our A Little Book About series. And while this series is intended for kids ages 0-4, we know that many, many of you are the ones who read to those young learners.
The topics we cover in the series are universal, which means they are things that anyone, no matter the age, can connect to. Things like curiosity and bravery and fear.
So today, as we talk about the big things going on in your world, we’re doing so with an author-illustrator from our A Little Book About series.
[MEET OUR GUEST]
Duke: Hi, my name is Duke Stebbins. My pronouns are he and him. And I am the author and illustrator of A Little Book About Sharing.
[TOPIC EXPLORATION]
Matthew: I'm so glad that you're joining me on the podcast. It's so fun to be talking to people that I work with and get to talk in this different capacity.
I love that and I love it that in this short time that you and I have known each other only about six months that you have really modeled for me what kindness and sharing looks like. So I know how that makes me feel, which is why I want to ask you, Duke, for you, what can sharing feel like?
Duke: Thank you. Just right there, that made me feel really good.
See, you shared something positive. You shared your thoughts, what you thought about me. And, um, that made me feel good. Um, sometimes though, uh, sharing is not always easy, uh, say for like my first example, maybe, uh, You have a really large piece of cake and your little brother's sitting next to you and has a very small piece of cake and that cake is yours and it's going to be delicious, but maybe it's fair to let your little brother have a bite off your cake. And sometimes that's not immediately gratifying because you have less cake.
Matthew: You know, you talk about sharing cake and I have two kids.
I have a six year old and a 10 year old and the six year old, whenever she shares with a 10 year old, uh, she'll give him just a tiny bite to share. And we've had these conversations about sharing. I wonder if there's ever been times where sharing has been difficult for you or how it felt afterward after maybe you did or did not share?
I don't know if you had any different feelings for not sharing. I don't know. So how, how about a time when, when sharing may have been difficult for you Duke?
Duke: Yeah, that's really interesting because there's a lot of different emotions that can get piled into this idea of sharing. Um, I think. There, I don't know.
I can't think off the top of my head of any particular moments where I regretted sharing, I can think of probably a number of times where I regretted not sharing. And the feeling that you feel from that or that I feel is guilt.
Matthew: Tell me more about that. Why do you feel guilt if you choose not to share sometimes?
Duke: Because I will think back at a certain scenario where if I shared it, might've helped someone or made someone feel better. Um, and maybe, yeah. Maybe I, for whatever reason didn't have, uh, the will or, or the awareness to recognize that and share in the moment, and then I'll think back and think, you know, dang, that would have been a, that would've been a good thing to do.
And that's where the guilt comes from.
Matthew: That makes sense. Do you fix that guilt or address that guilt by maybe trying next time when you're in a similar situation to do it differently to maybe, maybe I'll share next time I'm in that situation again?
Duke: Absolutely. That's all that's all we can do is learn from our experiences and grow from them.
Matthew: That makes sense. Yeah. So I, I wonder what it was like for you to create a book to create a you create lots of books and A Kids Book About, but this is the book that was yours front to back. And also that you made it for our youngest readers. What was that like for you Duke?
Duke: It was so interesting. Um, As Matthew, as Matthew alluded to, I, I am a designer at A Kids Book About, I designed many of the books from the ages five to nine range.
That is my primary part of my job. Um,
Matthew: As a designer, you're, you're like helping choose the colors and the way that the words look and lots of things, right?
Duke: Yeah. Everything we're so involved in the process. Um, usually from the workshop and talking with the authors all the way to the end and sending it to the printers laying it out.
Yeah. Um, yeah, and I love it. So I was really excited about this, but it was a challenge in, in different ways. Um, and it all kind of, it all kind of wraps together. Um, so the idea of sharing was hard for me. Um, let me back up a step. Initially, I was going to do A Book About Siblings. I have five brothers and sisters, um, including a twin brother.
Matthew: Cool! I didn't know that!
Duke: Yeah. And we're the youngest, the twin brother and I, so, and I was thinking, okay, I could do a book about siblings, but it's going to be from the youngest person's youngest siblings, point of view. And I think that as for, you know, marketing the book and, and who's actually going to read the book, it's probably gonna be.
Uh, parents reading with the older kids who are welcoming a new kid into their life. So I just didn't have that angle. And I also felt a little bit weird about sharing because, you know, how am I, how am I an expert on sharing? But when you have so many siblings and one of them is a twin, it's more of a lifestyle really.
Uh, you have to share and it's the, it's the everyday. It's baked into who you are and what you're doing all the time, because you can't escape your twin usually. Um, so what really helped was when I was like, I'm the youngest kid, I don't know how to talk to kids like under five. I, cause I just have limited experience to be quite honest.
So I called my mom and I talk with my mom multiple times. Like her name could be on the front of this book. I gave her a little shout out on the back, but she was very helpful. Uh, she. Helped me really deconstruct that idea and showed me, listen, I watched you grow up. You are sharing constantly. That was just part of what you did.
Um, so recognizing that, and really that helped me really understand the concepts of sharing and what is, what is sharing. Um, and what does it mean to you as a human and the other humans around you? That kind of cracked the code for me.
Matthew: And you cracked the code and, and now you have a book. Do you have a favorite spread from the book you have, you have some lines in this book, Duke that are so good.
And we're going to have you read it in a little bit, but I wonder if you have a favorite spread when you were working on it.
Duke: My favorite spread is the last spread. Uh, just because there's so much joy in it. Um, the book follows these two characters that are kind of exploring sharing together in the last spread is, um, them just enjoying the things that they've shared together.
Um, and they make a little bit of a mess and they have really big smiles and, uh, yeah, that one just, I just loved that one.
Matthew: It, it feels very, very joyous to end in. In that space in the book. I love that. And I think as you're talking about those older siblings that read to younger ones, I think that that is a particular page that will bond them together.
Uh, and, and, and, and really give everyone in that reading experience a chance to feel that gift of being together and sharing things together. So I guess on that note, Duke, before we go, I'd love to know if there's a message about sharing that you want to leave with our listeners.
Duke: Sharing isn't just giving up something that's yours.
We're all in this together. Therefore it's really about working together and helping each other make the best lives that we can.
It's not just about giving up something that's yours. And giving away something that's yours has ways of coming back that, uh, you don't always expect.
[FULL READ THROUGH]
Matthew: And now, read to you in its entirety, here is A Little Book About Sharing by Duke Stebbins.
Duke: A Little Book About Sharing by Duke Stebbins.
Howdy. This is my little book about sharing.
While there are lots of things you can do by yourself, like playing ball, it can leave others out .
Sharing isn't always easy.
Sometimes it feels like giving up something that is yours, but I knew a few secrets about sharing that I want to pass on to you.
The first secret is that you might have more fun when you share.
The second secret is that when you share it can inspire others to share too.
And finally, the third secret is that when you share, you're actually giving yourself a gift. The gift of someone else's happiness and the chance to make a new friend.
And that is what sharing is all about. The end.
[CLOSING]
Matthew: Thank you to Duke Stebbins, author and illustrator of A Little Book About Sharing, for joining us today. You can learn more about this book and others like it by visiting akidsco.com.
A Kids Book About: The Podcast is written, edited, and produced by me, Matthew Winner, with help from Chad Michael Snavely and the team at Sound On Studios. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory. And this show was brought to you by A Kids Podcast About.
Follow the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever podcasts are found, and if you liked this episode, consider sharing it with a friend, teacher, or grownup.
Join us next week for a conversation about Curiosity with Jonathan Simcoe, author and illustrator of A Little Book About Curiosity.