Dumpy the Dumptruck and A Kite for Moon

Today we are reading "Dumb Be the Jump Truck" by Julie Andrews in Emma Walton, Hamilton. Illustrated by Tony Walton, and a kite commune by Heidi E. Y. Stumpel and Jane Yolland. Illustrated by Matt Failin. Welcome. I'm so glad you're here. I'm Julie Andrews and this is my library.

As always, my daughter Emma Walton Hamilton is here.

Hello. We can't wait to read with you today. Wow, Emma. It looks like you've been working at the library desk for a long time. That's one, two, three cups of tea you've gone through,

“and so many pages strewn about. What are you working on?”

I'm working on a new story. And you know me, Mom. When I get an idea, I just can't stop writing. I do know the feeling. Writing a story can be just as much fun as reading one. Yes, but sometimes it's frustrating, too. Today, I can't figure out the first line of my story. It's the first thing readers will see, and it has to be just right. Well, that's true. Some of my favorite books have great first lines.

Like, um, oh, it was a dark and stormy night. Oh, yes, a classic. And from one of my favorite books, a wrinkle in time. Yes, or how about this one? She was named Omaqueus, or little frog,

“because her first step was a hop. Oh, fantastic. What's that from him? The Birch Park House by Louise”

Erdrick. Wonderful. Introducing a character in your first line is a great idea. It makes readers curious to know what the character is like. Yes, that's true. I asked our friends if they had any

good ideas for first lines, and here's what they came up with. As she walked through the grand

staircase, something caught her eye, something she had never noticed before. One still is a person in the Frida. It's so many meetings turned in, which everybody loved her. One still is a cyclot's name, Doug, and he had a very tiny body and some children who are cyclot's children, too. Mom, ice cream, can you please get my hair done? It's almost the first day of school,

“and I'm really nervous. In a place called Cool Pan City, Maya was building a new”

robot that was in construction. Well, now I want to read all those stories. Me too, those were some fantastic first lines, but I still need to work on my own. About that, I have an idea, Emma. Whenever I get a bit of writers block, that's when you can't think of what to write. I head to the reading notebook for a break. That's a great idea, Mom. Reading a book can be such a wonderful and inspiring distraction. Well, why don't we read a book that we wrote together? I know just the one.

Perfect. I'll tidy up the desk and meet you in the reading book. My favorite place to take a break is the library's reading notebook. If I'm feeling frustrated

or anxious about other things in my life, it always helps snuggle up with a book here.

With cozy pillows all around, a glowing lamp shines its light on the pages. There's a squishy rug under our feet, and a notebook and pencil in case inspiration strikes. Now we're ready to read. Let's read together, Emma. I'd love to. Dumpy the dump truck by Julie Andrews. That's me. And Emma Walton Hamilton. That's me. Way out east, where the country meets the sea, there's a little village called Apple Harbor.

Seagulls circling high above the fishing boats can clearly see the stony breakwater and sandy beach. The bright-y painted cottages, the church steeple, schoolhouse, and a small, white-washed post office. Behind the village, overlooking the bay sits Mary Hill Farm. Most days, farmer barns can be seen driving trundle the tractor up and down the green and golden fields. Trundle turns over the fresh earth and plants the potatoes, corn and wheat.

digging holes and planting apple trees. B.B.B.B. She says that she backs up to scoops once more,

two hands are better than one. On the old barn roof, he does it every morning. As the sun rose over the hill, something twinkled in the tall grass beside the barn. Among the berries and thistles, there was a cracked mirror, a flat tire, a twisted fender,

“and a sweaty smoke stack. What could it possibly be?”

It was an old dump truck. The little truck had been there for such a long time

that he felt stiff and sore. Birds and mice had used the stuffing from his faded leather seats

to build their nest and he was dusty and very rusty. Bang went the backdoor of the farmhouse. Charlie and his grandfather pop-up strode across the farm yard. But why Charlie was saying, why do we have to get rid of dumpy? Because everything's changing around here, said pop-up. The old barn has to come down to make room for a better one and that little truck is in the way. Besides you heard your dad,

“he wants to buy a new one. "But I love dumpy," said Charlie. "I play on him every day”

and pretend that we're driving all over town." They stood for a moment, gazing at dumpy. "It's so sad to get rid of something you love just to make room for something new," Charlie said. "Well, you're right about that," said pop-up. "When I ran this farm, dumpy did everything and when something broke, you fixed it. You didn't just throw it away." "Well, why can't we fix dumpy," Charlie asked. And then dumpy can help daddy

with the new barn. Pop-up pushed back his hat and scratched his head. I don't know. He said thoughtfully. Things are going to be pretty busy around here and I'm not as quick as I used to be.

“"I can help," said Charlie. "We could do it in time. I know."”

A slow, smile spread across pop-ups face. "You know, pal? This might be just the thing I'm looking for. Maybe we could even use dumpy for odd jobs around town."

So pop-up and Charlie went to work. First, they asked Old Nelly the cart horse to help pull

dumpy out of the weeds. Then, Charlie and Pop-up began to clean. They posed, scrubbed, white, polished and scraped. They got rid of all dumpy's rust and mud and buffed his old headlights until they cleaned. There was so much work to do that they had to get up extra early before farm chores began. "Farmer barns often came by on Trundle. All in a days work," Trundle would say. "Looks like you've still got a long way to go," farmer barns Freded. "I hate to remind you

but we don't have much time before that barn has to come down." "For sure," said Pop-up, "just watch our dust." The days flew by, slowly but surely dumpy could feel himself coming back to life. Pop-up brought dumpy four fat new tires with shiny hub caps and buttery liver seats that smelled like cinnamon toast. Pop-up and Charlie spent hours on the dump truck's great bed. The arm that raised it up and down was stuck and Pop-up had to use so much grease on it

that he was slippery from head to toe. Next came the part that dumpy liked best. Pop-up and Charlie gave him several coats of paint in bright and cheerful colors. Apple red, sunshine yellow, ocean blue. But now Charlie was becoming a little anxious. Two more days Pop-up and Dad says the barn has to come down. Pop-up's head was buried under dumpy's hood. I've just got to fix the engine. "Clain, bang, ding, ding, pow, whee!" "Dumpy had a stomach ache from all the poking. Sorry,

dumpy said Pop-up but you can't run without an engine. We've just got to keep at it."

okay, pal, let's start him up. Carefully he turned the shiny new key in dumpy's ignition.

"Bang, touch, let's go to dumpy." He heaved a big sigh. "Silence. Now let's see," he said Pop-up as he went back under the hood. "Quick here, some oil there. He climbed back into the cabin to turn the key once again." "Oh, please, dumpy, please start Charlie pleaded." "Dumpy took a deep breath and tried as hard as he could." An old nest exploded out of his smoke stack. "Dumpy gave a satisfied burp."

“So that's what it was, Pop-up smiled. "Dumpy must be feeling much better now."”

He turned the key one last time. "Dumpy was feeling just grand and he wrought with happiness."

"Yes, Charlie, y'all." "Yes, y'all, Pop-up." "What is it? What's happened?" Farmer Barnes barreled around the corner on Trundle and slammed on the brakes. Trundle stalled and for once was speechless. "There was dumpy, mint fresh and sparkling his engine humming happily." "Well, what are we waiting for?" Pop-up winked at Farmer Barnes. "Let's get to work on that barn." So, with dumpy's help, the old barn came tumbling down. "Dumpy hauled timbers and helped

“stack them for later use. He fetched bricks and wood and delivered huge bags of cement and gravel.”

Every day he grew stronger and stronger." "Word of dumpy's return spread and all sorts of people came to see him at work. Stinky, the garbage truck drove into the yard and was amazed to see dumpy lifting and tipping, load after load. "Urrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr to see dumpy lifting and tipping. Load after load. He said happily, "It's not what you do, it's how you do it."

Bebe the backhoe dug a big hole for the new barn's foundation. Bebe, bebe, bebe, bebe, she said, as she scooped and dumped the earth into dumpy who carted it all away, two hands are better than one. Pop-up tied a strong rope to dumpy's fender and with trundles help, they raised the sides of the new barn. All in a day's work said trundle proudly. The day came when the last single was nailed to the roof. Farma bonds stepped back to admire the new barn. Well, I take it all back.

He put his arm around Charlie's shoulders and smiled at pop-up. You guys make a great team! Tomorrow we'll start the harvest. And after that, who knows, dumpy could be the busiest truck in town. Digging a lingoing? Ike the ice cream truck drove into the farm yard. You're in for a treat, equal? I scream for everyone declared Farma bonds. That night, pop-up and Charlie put dumpy to bed inside the cozy new barn. It smelled of hay and herbs,

fresh wood and a hint of dumpy's gasoline. Time for us to get to bed, too, said pop-up. Good job, dumpy. Charlie whispered rubbing off fender gently with his sleeve. We couldn't have done it without you. The barn doors swung closed. dumpy heaved a happy, sleepy sigh. He knew he couldn't have done any of it without Charlie and pop-up. The end.

That was the very first story we ever wrote together, Mom. And my dad illustrated it,

“remember? So nice to read it again. I feel my writer's block fading away already. Excellent.”

Reading the story of dumpy reminds me of all the things that inspired us to write it. Like when your son and my grandson Sam was a little boy and he loved trucks more than anything else in the world. He did. In fact, he was the one who inspired dumpy's name. That was his

instead of throwing them away. Old things can often be made new again. All it takes is hard work and a

“bit of love. Yes, they can become a favorite treasure, like my old teddy bear. I always feel so”

proud when I fix or mend something, just like Charlie and pop-up felt about dumpy. Oh, someone's at the library door. I wasn't expecting anyone. Well, when I heard about your writer's block, I thought it might be a good idea to have some author friends over for a visit. I'll go let them in. Oh, I can't wait to see who it is. Will you bring them back here to the reading

book? I will. And we'll have another story after short break. Well, come back to the reading

book, Dear listeners. Today, we're joined by some good friends Jane Yolenn, hello and Heidi

“E. Y. Stimple. Hi. What a treat that you both stopped by. It's so great to see you too. Jane and Heidi”

are a mother daughter writing team. Just as we are Emma, it's true. Heidi is my daughter and we started writing books together many years ago. Yep, I was the last one in the family. Both my brothers had already worked with her. Our first collaboration was a story in a book called Famous Riders. You can guess who that is. And their kids, that's me, right spooky stories. That was 26 years and 33

books ago. Wow, that is amazing. And we are so lucky to have you here. You two wrote one of my

all-time favorite books. A kite for Moon. It is such an inspiring story. No, that is a beautiful

“book. Would you be kind enough to read it for us and our listeners? Absolutely. We would love to.”

Oh, wonderful. A kite for Moon by Jane Yolenn and Heidi E. Y. Stimple. It was morning and Moon sat alone in the sky. The stars were all a bed. No one below was singing to her. No one was sending up rockets or writing poems about her. No one was taking her photograph or painting her picture. Moon began to feel terribly sorry for herself. Down below, a very small boy flying his kite on the beach near his house looked up at Moon.

Moon, he called up to her, "Don't be sad." He ran as far as he could all the way to the edge of the water where Moon sat on the horizon. He tried to hug Moon as his mother did to him whenever he was unhappy but Moon was too far away. So he wrote on his kite promising to come some day for a visit. Then he let go of his kite sending it up, up for Moon. Days went by. Years. Moon waxed and waned. She counted shooting stars and meteors.

She worried about peace, down on earth, and strange objects whizzing by. She eclipsed. Many nights the boy watched Moon through a telescope his father had given him. Many days he sent up a new kite for Moon. Red kites, blue kites, green kites, yellow. Some fell back to earth, some disappeared into the sky, and Moon watched the boy grow.

Every day the boy studied hard. He learned his large numbers and his small sums. He learned algebra and equations. He learned geometry and tried to square the circle. He learned all about the sky and the moon. He learned to write a bicycle, drive a car, fly a plane, and a rocket. Then one day when he had learned enough, he went up, up, up in a big rocket ship with a fiery tail. Hello, Moon, he said, "I've come for that visit." And the whole world watched.

Oh, what a lovely story the two of you wrote together. What was the inspiration for the book?

“I've written a lot about kites because my father, William, was the international kite flying”

champion. I know that sounds rather large, but it was a title he gave himself and then defended. So I started out writing about a boy who loved kites and loved the moon. Notice, I said, "I started out writing." I didn't say, "We started." Because unlike most of our

collaborations, I wrote the whole first draft for this one, but it was rejected by all the publishers I

sent to, and there were a lot of them. And that's where I come into this story. I read the manuscript and though I really loved the bones of it, the actual story, I thought it was too long and too

“sentimental, little too mushy. I asked permission to revise it. And my mom said, "Right away, sure”

when I was done, we had a great book." Wow, now that is teamwork. Yes, could you tell us more about how you both collaborate? Well, usually not the way we did for this book. Usually, we work back and

forth from the beginning. I may write some, then Heidi will write some, and we debate and sometimes

argue, but only a little about lines and phrases and sometimes even individual words. And when we're done, we read the workout loud to each other. Most of the time, sitting across the dining room table from one another, but sometimes we do it over the phone. We change things until we're both happy. We have worked on so many books together about 25 actually now that we have an easy

“rhythm to our collaborations. And most times, once the book is done, we can't even remember who wrote”

which lines. It's not my voice or Heidi's voice. It's a special kind of our voice.

That's so lovely. And actually, it reminds me of how we work, Mom, always bouncing ideas off each other.

Yes, it is such fun to be creative together. It is. But I'm having a bit of trouble today with writer's block. What do you do when you're feeling stuck? When I'm feeling really stuck, I like to write a poem about my day or how I'm feeling and that usually helps get my creative brain going. I learned that from my mom. I was just about to say exactly that. She took the words right out of my mouth. She often quotes me, you know. Well, that's very good advice. I'm

may start quoting you now too, Jane. I'm working on something totally different. Might just do the trick for me. I'll try it. Well, we'd better be on our way. Yes, but it was so nice spending time with a fellow mother and daughter writing team. Oh, likewise, Jane. And thank you both for coming today and for being such a help. Goodbye. Goodbye. See you again soon. Bye. Jane and Heidi are so talented. Is it wonderful to hear them read? It really is. And speaking of wonderful,

it's time for wonderful wonderful words. Yes, every week we take a moment to save us some of the wonderful words we've encountered. And our listeners share their favorites too. A wonderful word could be just plain fun to say. Like Powell, which is one of the sounds Dumpy's engine made before his repairs. I just love to say it. Pow. Or a wonderful word could be one that describes something interesting that happens in the world. Like the word Eclipse in a kite for a moon. When something

Eclipse is something else, it covers it up or hides it. Sometimes the moon Eclipse is the sun. It moves in front of it and makes it hard to see until it moves on and the sun comes out the other side. That is a wonderful word. Let's hear some of our listeners wonderful words.

What a terrific batch of wonderful words. Listeners, do you have a wonderful word you'd like to

“share with us? Visit juli's library show.org and send it our way. Every week we'll play some of your”

words on the show. Well, Mom, the reading knuck and a visit from friends really got me out of my writing funk. Hearing Jane and Heidi read was so inspiring. I can feel my writers block fading away already. I can't wait to hear what you come up with M. Thanks so much for joining us in the reading knuck today listeners. Yes, we'll be back next week with another book that we picked out just for you.

“Until then, happy reading. Bye-bye everybody.”

Julie's library is hosted and produced by Julie Andrews and me, Emma Walton Hamilton.

The first featured book in this episode was "Dumpy The Dump Truck" by Julie Andrews and

me, Emma Walton Hamilton illustrated by Tony Walton and published by Hyperion Books for Children. The second featured book was a kite for moon by Jane Yolan and Heidi E. Y. Stemple,

“illustrated by Matt Falen and published by Zonder Kids. Thanks to the team at Zonder Kids.”

We always recommend picking the books up for yourself. You can find "Dumpy The Dump Truck"

and "A kite for Moon" at your local library or bookstore. The illustrations are a must-see. For more book recommendations, head to Julie's library show.org. Sign up for our newsletter and you'll receive special activities and notes from Mom and Me. Julie's library is produced by Molly Bloom, Elissa Dudley, Rosie DuPont, Tracy Mumford, Mark Sanchez and Sandin Totten. Our executive producer is Lauren D. Digital production is by Christina Lopez and original

music is from Alison Layton Brown. Engineering is by Sam Hamilton and Soundmixing is by Cory Schreppel and Eric Romani, special thanks to Cynthia Daniels at Monk Music Studios and Lily Kim. We'd also like to thank Associate Professor Sarah Park Dillon of St. Catherine University for

consulting with our team. We always love hearing from our listeners. Today you heard from Charlotte

from Manchester, England, June from Toronto, Canada, May from Saudi Arabia, Natalie from Oklahoma, Sam from Tacoma, Washington and Sonja, Josh and Bella. Julie's library is a production of American public media.