W. Kamau Bell & Adam Mansbach talk new children's book: Rock Paper Scissors Cheese

All right, two East Bay residents are teaming up for a new children's book. W. Kamau Bell is a Peabody and Emmy Award-winning producer, director and comedian, and Oakland resident. And Adam Mansbach is a Berkeley resident and screenwriter, as well as a New York Times bestselling author of the book, Go the F to Sleep. They're both dads of three, and they joined us here in studio. They're here in studio to talk about their new book, Rock, Paper, Scissors. Cheese! Sir, this is a daily... This is like on the air. I know, I know, I know. Clean the language up. We're selling a kid's book. I know, right? But it's nice to meet you. Now I know the face behind the book that, you know, I've heard all about this book over the years. And you've got the book right here, W. Kamau Bell, Rock, Paper, Scissors, Cheese. How do you make cheese with your hand? Well, I just pick up a block of cheese at home. Oh, you have a block of cheese. Is that cheating, though, Adam? No, no, no. The way the game is played is anything you can think of, And argue for imagine or I say this is cheese. This is cheese. That's cheese. Okay. So this is not your grandmother's rock, paper, scissors. No. What inspired this book? Well, so me and Adam know each other for 10 years. We worked on a lot of things together. We Both have three kids. One of mine is right over there. Hey, Peanut! Hey, Peanut! Hey, Peanut! I was playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with Peanut. Yeah, right across the alley. So we have known each other for years. Adam's written books before. He's written legitimate kids' books. We've worked on things together. Our families celebrate holidays together. So I was like, hey, man, you write kids' books with Matthew McConaughey's wife. Can you write one with me? And so this is what came together. And Adam, his family plays this version. Yeah, this kind of expanded version of Rock, Paper, Scissors. I already forget the real name. It's something that my kids and I have played. Making up new things, you know, everything from, like, coyote to hitchhiker to bear to love, so... We sort of incorporated that into the book. So what was the kind of the inspiration behind doing this or behind the game that you all play at home? What is it you hope to inspire in your children when you started doing it? You know, or evolving Rock, Paper, Scissors. Yeah, I mean, I think it's really just about creativity. And the book is really about sort of snatching victory from the jaws of boredom. It's about Kamau's family. It's on a day when everybody's cooped up at home. It's rainy. Everybody's kind of driving each other insane. and Kamau's youngest daughter, Peanut. Remembers Rock, Paper, Scissors, and then it just becomes a romp. It becomes a game that expands and changes and everybody is folded into the fun. And of course, Kamau's mother. The kid's grandmother is ultimately the big winner of the game. Yeah, and it's just about the rock, paper, scissors can be sort of boring. You get stuck in the thing. But this is about you can think of anything you want, and it teaches kids to advocate for themselves and also be creative. Yeah, and so what was your experience like writing this and even discovering this game that Adam's been telling you about that his family has been playing? Well, I had to road test it, so I took it to my kids. How'd that work out? Yeah, I mean, once they were okay with it, we were in. But then the big thing is we had to figure out their cartoon images and things. We had to figure out how they dressed. That was the hard part. have to come up and conceptualize how the kids dress and all that? Is that part of it, or do you outsource that to an AI data center? That's a good one. That's a good one. Yeah, this book is 100% not AI. That's a good one. Oh, wow, okay, it's a real deal. There you go, a good selling point right there. Yeah, yeah, our illustrator, Brandon Chambers, drew these things. Certainly used computers, because computers are tools, but we didn't say, AI, write a kid's book. We didn't do that. You didn't do that? Okay, so this is totally up off your head. So is this a game that you're still playing with your family, even to this day? How old are your children? My kids are 18, almost 10, and just turned 8. Okay, so how's the 18-year-old doing with rock, paper, scissors, cheese? It's the hit of her college. I figured, yeah. You know, the dorms. Everybody in the dorms is playing it. Yeah. That's all they're doing is what I'm hearing. It's a new, you know, game where you throw the ball into the... Yeah. Beer pong is out. Beer pong. No, it's rock, paper, scissors, cheese. Yeah, and so, and tell us about, you know, your... You want... What do you want families to read this, Kamau, and what do you want them to take from it? I mean, you know, I've got three daughters. I've been reading kids' books for 15 years. So I have opinions about kids' books, and we started talking about making a kids' book. I was like, the books we want to read in our house are the ones that are fun, but also represent families like ours. So this is an interracial couple with mixed-race kids, but it's not about that. It's also a multi-generational family. It's a fun book that just happens to feature a family like mine. And whatever happened to video games? Why are no one playing? Well, that's not included. Which side of the books do you want to push it back to me? No, no, I love it. I mean, I still play tic-tac-toe and all that stuff. But, yeah, I do like the fact that this is a book that is, you know, it's still a tactile thing that you can do, Adam, right? You can pick up the book. You can read it. The kids can read it. It's something we don't often see these days because every time you walk around the airport, you know, someone gives their kid the phone. But why is it so important to have this in a paperback tactile version for children to read? Yeah, well, I mean, on a fundamental level. Houses that have books produce kids who read and who think for themselves and who are more engaged in the world. To me, there's nothing more depressing than going to a restaurant and seeing a bunch of adults talking while a kid is just staring mindlessly at an iPad. Right. I'm going to be fair. Sometimes I'm the person staring. Yeah, I didn't want to imply that. Get off the phone. We're here. We're all here. But yeah, I think it's also about these are just more things. You can have the devices. You can play video games, but also remember books. Remember books. Yeah. Remember the books. And we've had books in our house for all three of my. daughters that have been there the entire time. So it's also about the fact that they've become family heirlooms to pass down. Yeah, yeah. I love reading books to my kids that my parents read me. Oh, yeah. We wanted to create a book that was the book that the kids reach for and that the parents are glad that that's the one they reach for. And this, and I also want to point out, this game is activating the imagination of these kids, right? Yeah. So you're not looking at the computer, but you're thinking about something in your head, the creativity that can lead to later in life. Is that kind of your hope when you started Rock, Paper, Scissors, Cheese? Yeah, the creativity and also, as Kamau was saying, Part of the fun of the game is arguing for why your thing wins. It's not just about me being like... Coyote. It's like, well, why does Coyote beat Monterey Jack? This is a bird. Why does Coyote beat Monterey Jack? Exactly. It's about the kids having to advocate and argue for their side. And it's also just about fun because it doesn't matter who wins. Are books available right now? They are available right now. This is the only one. It's like the Wu-Tang album. Oh, yeah. Five million dollars. Yes. This book is an NFT. One special. It's also Bitcoin. Martin Shkreli is on the phone. He wants to buy it right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Martin Shkreli is barred from getting one of the books. The book is available in independent bookstores. And we also are partnering with... And also regular bookstores. We're also partnering with Little Free Library where we gave 100 copies that are going to be distributed around the country. And we're distributing some signed ones around the Bay Area. Oh, nice. All right, we have to look for those because those will be worth some money. Oh, yeah, for sure. That's why you have books because they're worth money. Adam Fassbeck and W. Kamau Bell, thank you all so much for joining us today. Really entertaining discussion. And there it is, rock, paper, scissors, cheese. Take a look. Congratulations, gentlemen. Thank you. All right, we'll be right back here.