storytelling with a solar eclipse
Before getting into today’s topic, I’ll draw your attention in the map above to the red line cutting across Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and the Southwest: these will be the best places to see the ring of fire in this Saturday’s annular eclipse!
I spend a great deal of time talking and thinking about storytelling in the business world. But last weekend, I partook in a fun storytelling session of a different sort. The setting was Boswell Books, the oldest independent bookstore in Milwaukee. My kids and I attended a reading and demonstration by children’s book author and illustrator Andy Rash.
Before I tell you more about Andy’s new book and our experience, I want to share how we initially met. I got to know Andy’s wife Jennifer Rash through our online SWD community. Jen was an early active member who also lives in Milwaukee (the city to which I had recently moved). Since connecting online, we’ve established a regular routine of coffee meetups and Jen has attended a number of our local events (you may even recognize her from her cameo as part of my “client group” in the final presentation!). Through Jen, I learned that her husband is a children’s book author and illustrator. Given a project that I’ve been working on for a while (and will soon share more details on, but not today!), I connected with Andy and have sought his input a number of times since. I love that an online space like the SWD community can foster meaningful connections like this.
Back to the bookstore, we were there to celebrate the release of Andy’s latest book, Eclipse. It’s a super cute story inspired by the trip Andy and his son took to view the 2017 solar eclipse.
As part of the event, Andy organized a clever demonstration. It was no surprise to me that my oldest son Avery’s hand shot into the air when Andy sought participants. It was unexpected, however, when my second, Dorian (who tends to be shier in public settings) volunteered next.
Avery played the role of the Earth, holding an inflatable globe, and spinning (per Andy’s instruction), in a wheeled chair. Dorian was the sun (holding a giant yellow inflatable ball), stationed in the distance. A cute little boy, Eli, was the moon. He held on a stick a styrofoam ball that was half white and half black. Andy guided Eli to walk around Earth, demonstrating how, from our perspective, we see a new moon, a quarter moon, a full moon, and a solar eclipse.
The demonstration was well conceived and executed, highlighting for me the magic of hands-on interaction that engages everyone involved in really interesting and memorable ways. I enjoyed the spontaneous moments: kids do and say some pretty amusing things! Andy also read his new book.
The release of Eclipse was intentionally well timed. This Saturday, October 14th, there is an annular eclipse, followed by a total eclipse next April. After that, the next total eclipse visible from the contiguous US isn’t until 2044!
If you have little ones in your life, I highly recommend Eclipse. Also check out Andy’s other books.
