'Here Comes the Grandmas' with Cynthia Leitich Smith

What happens with Sid? Now I would like to welcome author Cynthia Smith. Cynthia, how are you? I'm terrific. Thank you so much for having me today. Thank you so much for taking the time to come on. And you have quite a few books under your belt. And one of my favorites is Here Comes the Grandmas. And before we kind of take a look at that story, tell us a little bit about who you are, where you're from, and what really sparked your interest into becoming an author? Certainly. If you don't mind, I'll briefly introduce myself in Muscogee language, which is the language of the Muscogee people, the tribal nation I belong to. It's Jay Estango, Cynthia Leidig-Smith, Jehojokitos, Mido. That basically means, hello, I hope you're well, my name again is Cynthia Leidig-Smith, and thank you for your kind attention and enthusiasm. I have been a children's author since the early 2000s, and for me, when I was reflecting on what had made the most positive difference in my life it was the time that i spent with my best beloved my grandparents my great aunties and uncles extended family at the kitchen table hearing stories and story has always been how i made sense of myself and the world around me and then when i got big enough suddenly there was the public library and the school library and i learned the number of stories was infinite and they could take you anywhere and so with um here comes the grandmas which like I said I love because my grandmother she's no longer with us but that was my girl right there she was like second mom we were always together like I was either with her or my mom like if they if people saw one of us or one or the other like oh where's Sydney where's this where's that and I learned a lot from her you know over the years like she had me drinking coffee I think when I was like four like I'm sitting on the kitchen table just drinking I probably shouldn't have you know but I've had so many life experiences and fun times and stories to tell broadening my horizons at such a young age thanks to my grandmother and so tell us a little bit about what's kind of involved in this children's book absolutely so a quick peek here come the grandmas is uh it's essentially a story about all the many roles that grandmothers play in our lives. They're best friends, they're confidants, they're playmates, they're teachers. They are so much to us, wrapped up in one person, and I feel like they can't be celebrated enough. So this essentially takes a look at different kids, their relationships with their different grandmas, and you get the sense by the end that they're all part of a larger extended family, and ultimately they welcome one of the grandmothers home who is serving, doing relief work through the military so there is this additional thread that even grandmas who are far away are also heroes that they're you know helping people who are in distress and that they are still a vibrant part of our lives yeah and they truly are like the matriarch of the family you know like when when they're gone and it's kind of interesting to see and i've seen like a lot of videos you know talk about it on you know social media about how like once your grandmother is gone it's kind of like the family dwindles a little bit because they hold so much you know together or you might communicate or get updates on other relatives you know from grandmas but it's just so interesting you know seeing their life and like how they lived and like the examples and things that they're that they pass down to you and like things that i still hold on to and so what is one lesson you would like readers young and adults to take away from this story if nothing else it's that grandmothers are three-dimensional human beings with a full range of emotions. You know, sometimes we tend to stereotype our elders. We fix them in time or in a particular role in our lives when really they are dynamic. They're changing. They're younger grandmas. They're great grandmas. They have a tremendous range of perspectives and life experiences. And one of the greatest things about grandmas is that they don't necessarily have to be, you know, the mother of one of your parents they could be a sort of adoptive grandma or foster grandma or maybe just someone who is dear to you in the community that everyone refers to as grandmother out of love and respect yeah and it's like it's so interesting because like with my grandmother i always saw her of course you know as my grandma but i liked hearing stories you know when she was younger from my mom and i could never really picture it because i'm so used to her like you know in the grandmother form but i think that's what makes it so interesting because you know they've had all these different stages you know in their life and then you kind of transition I feel like when they become grandmothers they never really say no and that was like in my case like I was always with her it was never a no it was like you know I was like her other child pretty much and so um Cynthia before I let you go is there anything else that you would like to say to fellow book lovers out there certainly um this is an indigenous book or native focused but you know grandmas are part of the lives of every family so you know a lot of the stories that may seem specific are also universal and one of the best things about people is what we have in common and what we can connect in by sharing well cynthia thank you so much for sharing all these amazing stories like i said you have so many of them not just here comes the grandmas and i can't wait to see what else you come up with and thank you for taking the time to chat with me and fellow book lovers out there we greatly appreciate it. Thank you for all you do for young readers and for literacy across the board. I appreciate you.