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The Magic of a Single Dot: How One Small Mark can Change a Child's Life - A conversation with Peter H. Reynolds · Parenting for the Future

2:31
What if the most important gift we can give a child isn't achievement,
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but creative confidence? What might it mean for their lives if we could help them
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trust the curiosity and unfettered imagination with which they were born
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and allow them to follow those things wherever they lead,
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whether it's through music, storytelling,
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art, math or science, whatever form their gifts might take?
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Today,
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We are joined by beloved New York Times bestselling author and illustrator,
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Peter H. Reynolds. Best known for his creatology,
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the dot, ish, and sky color, Peter has written and or illustrated more than
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70 modern classics that have inspired millions of children around the world.
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The dot alone sparked a global movement,
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now celebrated each year as Dot Day,
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when families, classrooms, and communities across cultures
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come together to champion creativity,
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confidence, and a growth mindset.
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In this conversation, we'll explore with Peter what it truly means
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to nurture creativity in children,
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how adults can support it without unintentionally shutting it down,
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and what we can do to protect a child's voice.
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We will also talk about creative expression as emotional development,
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and how DUT Day can become not just a celebration,
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but an invitation to live differently.
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Welcome, Peter, to Parenting for the Future.
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We are so delighted to have you here.
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It is wonderful to be with you,
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Petal. I love your name, by the way.
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So... I know!
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If I need a character's name for my next book,
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I think it might be Petal.
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All right, you have my permission.
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I would be honored.
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You
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I always like to start these conversations,
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Peter, with a little bit more,
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you know, giving our listeners a little more background ~ about our guests.
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I know that you and your twin brother were born in Toronto.
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You grew up in Massachusetts and you have described your family as
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a family of storytellers and adventurers.
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When
4:35
Hmm.
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you think back to your childhood,
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what values shaped your home and what made your family?
4:41
Storytellers and adventurers.
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Well, ~ our parents were ~ survivors of World War II.
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know, Dad was originally born in Argentina and was put on a ship with
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his brothers to go to boarding school in England.
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He was there until
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Okay.
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the war started and then he was sent off to Egypt,
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served for, I think, eight years.
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~
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during the war came back to London and met mom who was working in the bank.
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She was a bank officer. Women had stepped into the roles that men
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had during the war. And so he was looking for a loan to open up a bookstore,
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interestingly enough. And Hazel and Keith met and
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fell in love and began to have lovely children,
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Andrew and Jane in England. And then we moved to Canada where Paul and I were born.
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And then went to United States back in 63.
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Our little sister, Rene, joined the family.
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So, we're a big family, big table,
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lots of conversation around that table.
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Mom and dad, of
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Mm-hmm.
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course, had already lived big,
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big lives.
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And also
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Yeah.
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I think that being ~ immigrants to the United States,
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was also, you know, that's a part of our story.
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I tell kids that we are a journey family,
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which is really fun
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Mmm.
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conversation to have with kids in school.
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Yeah.
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Cause I say, you know,
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who wasn't born here? And it's actually kind of a badge of honor for
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the kids who are like, yeah, I was born,
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know, in Venezuela. I was born in,
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wherever. And it's really interesting to see this,
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you know, collection of human beings together and in a welcoming space.
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So that I think was very formational ~ for me or
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Yeah.
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for my twin brother, Paul.
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Mm-hmm. You dedicated the dot,
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which is arguably your most popular book.
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You dedicated it to your seventh grade teacher.
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I think he was a math teacher named Mr.
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Matson. And I think
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Mm-hmm.
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that says a lot. What did he do for you in seventh grade?
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What was it about his influence that has stayed with you so much through the years?
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Yeah, well, I was, well, as I say,
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I'm a twin. And I like to point out that Paul was very good at school.
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He was very good at focusing the way that school is designed.
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~
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is it was very much for Paul kind of the Paul kind of kid that that didn't mind
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following, you know, the the ~ the itinerary for school and,
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you know, focusing. love to draw.
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And my imagination
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Mmm.
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was happening all the time. So I was drawing,
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drawing, drawing and not all teachers.
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appreciated that they would say,
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know, please, Mr. Reynolds, you know,
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could do that on your own time,
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you can do that at home. And but my math teacher,
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Mr. Madison, he noticed I was drawing in class,
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and he came over to me, he said,
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I'd like to talk to you after class.
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So I thought I was in trouble at first,
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but he, he pulled me to one side after class.
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And he said, Peter, I noticed you love you love to draw,
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you have a good imagination. How would you like to teach math?
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using your art and your storytelling.
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That was the first time an adult had ever suggested that.
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~
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Yeah.
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And so he kind of connected the dots from right from what he loved.
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He loved math. He wanted me to get there.
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So he knew I
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We can't.
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I love storytelling and drawing.
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So he he kind of connected those dots together.
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And so I went home, came back with a comic book that I made to teach math and
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being a rather brilliant teacher rather than just say,
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you know, thumbs up. He said, Oh,
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do you know what you've done? I said,
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well, I a comic book. And he said,
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actually, it's also called a storyboard.
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It's how a filmmaker plans out a film.
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How would you like to make an animated film?
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And we made an animated film.
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So age 12, I made my very first animated film to teach.
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And he did something really powerful because he,
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he showed me that my interests could be mapped on to
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~ a quest in this case to learn math.
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And he actually taught me to be a teacher,
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right? He actually asked me, how cool is it for a teacher to say teach?
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That was that was
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Yeah.
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a big idea. And then I think probably even the more powerful ~ lesson that
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I learned was there were adults who notice you,
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right? And not just like, you know,
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come on, do your homework that he noticed me he wanted to get to know me better.
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He
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He saw my interest and then he leveraged that energy to move
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me further ahead. so anyway,
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so that was really, really life-changing for me because the animation teacher turned
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out to be my other mentor. He became a mentor.
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Okay.
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He and his wife were
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filmmakers and storytellers and game designers and they were amazing human
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beings, still in touch with them.
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Jim and Jim
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Morrow and ~
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inspired me pursue storytelling and here I am.
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Wow.
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There you are. I mean, what a fascinating story and what a wonderful example
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of how the best teachers really do see each student and can tap into these natural
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inclinations, their curiosity,
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their talents.
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Thank you.
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That's a really, really great story.
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And I think we will come back to that story in different ways throughout this
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conversation. ~
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So
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when I was getting ready for this,
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I kind of went to my kids bookshelves and I started pulling out all
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of your books because I was like,
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Mm-hmm.
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I have a feeling we have all of them.
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And I think we did. I think I checked off.
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I checked off most of them. And obviously,
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for me personally, your stories consistently return to some themes that
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are very important us and our family.
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Yeah.
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And I think most of the parents and the educators,
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the grandparents listening,
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it's important for them too. Those values are important.
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Things like how do we nurture resilience and persistence,
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bravery, confidence, connection,
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joy of words and music and imagination.
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All of those themes keep coming up in your books.
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But I'm curious, before the world knew you as this creative voice,
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before your teachers allowed you to really see the promise of your gifts,
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Did you have any internal obstacles that you had to overcome?
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And maybe it was even after you recognized your gifts,
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as you've started to create more intentionally.
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Did you have anything inside that stopped you,
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that give you hesitation?
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~ well, you know, was born with a twin brother,
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which I always say was an unfair advantage because I had,
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kind of had my peer leader, you know,
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assigned to me on at an early age.
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and you know, if I ever did have problems,
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I always had my wingman next to me.
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And Paul was
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Yeah.
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always just really good at helping me problem solve.
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~ and he knew me well because he was,
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he's half, half me, right? We share same DNA.
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It's half of you.
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Yes.
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And we also
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share the same frame of reference.
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But yeah, I've certainly my obstacles.
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And I think a really important one is I wasn't as sure
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of myself as I should have been.
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I look back and I think, how could ever doubt that you were capable of
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all of the things that you have done?
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I remember back in 19, I think it was 1995 or six,
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the internet had just exploded.
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It suddenly became a thing and people were saying,
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you do you have a URL? And I'm like,
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what's a URL? then we got, it's a
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Hmm.
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name of your website. You've got to have a website.
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so I typed in Peter Reynolds. And at the time anyway,
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it popped up. There was a British scientist who had already taken my name.
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And so
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Mm.
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I thought, I'll put the H in.
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My middle
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Right.
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name is Hamilton, my grandfather was born in Hamilton,
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New Zealand. So Peter H Reynolds
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okay.
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dot com. I typed it in, it was available.
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I grabbed my website. And I remember I turned to my brother Paul and I said,
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I wish I had a better name. And he said,
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I'm 35 years old, okay, I'm 35.
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And he said, I wish I had a better name.
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He said, what are you talking about?
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I said, well, I don't know, it just doesn't sound.
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doesn't sound like an author to me.
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And of course I chuckle at that now because I walk into any school and
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the kids come running up to me and they always include the H.
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They say, Peter H. Reynolds, Peter H.
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Reynolds.
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Yep.
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But it's interesting that I felt that I wasn't,
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I think, proud of that name. I didn't see that name that
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it meant that I was an author and that I had a voice,
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right? Because if you're an author,
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you're sharing something
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If have something to share, usually it should be of use
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and importance and it has some kind of function.
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I think starting there, being proud of who you are,
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your name, think that that's something that we need to work on.
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So in fact, in the book, The Dot,
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the teacher intentionally, when Vashti finally makes her little dot,
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the teacher says, please sign it.
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Sign it.
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Right? She signs it V-A-S-H-T-I,
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Vashti. And I
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Mm-hmm.
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tell kids that, you know, I want you to sign your work because it means you're proud
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of it, which means that you're
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Yeah.
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proud of your ideas, which means that you're proud of yourself,
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right? those ideas came from,
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Mm-hmm.
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from in this amazing thing, your brain.
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And so so I look back and I think,
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wow, you know, I was 35 when I finally did my first picture book.
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I think if I had been braver earlier.
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I probably
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Yeah.
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would have been prouder of my name and I probably would have started.
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But do know what? It all rolls out the way it was destined to,
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It all works out. Absolutely.
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right? So I had to learn and I incorporate
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Yeah.
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that into my work because I do a lot of my work,
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you'll see kids who are struggling a bit.
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And there's always some kind of person that reaches out to them.
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And sometimes it's themselves,
15:03
Yeah. Right.
15:04
right? Sometimes we can help ourselves.
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And that's something we
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have to tell kids, you know, be kind to others,
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but be kind to yourself.
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to yourself. Yeah, this very prevalent theme indeed and ~ glad you got over that.
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~
15:17
Yeah, I did. I We all were over it.
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you know, just to go back to some of these themes,
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you know, they are consistent in your work.
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I believe that, as you have written books,
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as you have seen the reaction of children,
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teachers, educators, parents,
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It
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is really, it never gets old. None of those things.
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This idea of building resilience and bravery and all of that,
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they never get old.
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Mm-hmm.
15:43
One of the things that I've noticed is that you've worked with
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a lot of collaborators over
15:47
Mm-hmm.
15:48
the years, including Jim Henson Productions,
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the Sesame Street folks, the Smithsonian,
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Susan Verde, who has been on the podcast and is a very good friend.
15:57
You've illustrated a lot of her wonderful books.
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And you also did this book called Our Treasures Within,
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where you bring Pope Francis's,
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lay Francis's words to life in a way that reminds us that we already carry what
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we need to live lives of meaning and love.
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So I want to zero in on that because
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Mmm.
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that is also just, dovetailing off your last statement that sometimes
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we have what we need already to help ourselves.
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Tell
16:25
Yeah.
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me, tell me how you think about that concept.
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were. ~ Well, it was amazing getting that phone call from Loyola Press saying,
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how would you feel about working with Pope Francis?
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And ~ of course, I thought he's amazing,
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amazing human. He was also born in Argentina as as was our father.
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Yes? Yes.
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And of course, Pope means
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father. So there were some lovely dot connections.
16:53
And then I said, Well, let's explore and he ~
16:57
shared a couple of stories that he would tell children.
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And there was one in particular that was just,
17:04
it resonated with so much of my work.
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it's this, the picture book is called Our Treasures Within.
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Pope Francis would tell kids,
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when you're born, God blesses you with gifts.
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imagine that they're in a little box,
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a little treasure box. And your
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quest is to open up that box and find out what did you get,
17:28
right? We all get different gifts.
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Thank you.
17:30
And when you discover your gifts,
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do do with the gift? Well, you can keep it.
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You can also give it right. So a gift gifts are forgiving.
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And so how can you use your talents,
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your interests make the world a better place.
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And I just love that story. And and I immediately put pen to paper.
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started sketching and came out was Our Treasures Within,
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which was just published earlier this year.
17:57
And of course,
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Yeah. Mm-hmm.
17:58
Francis sadly passed away, but isn't it lovely that a book can carry the spirit
18:05
of a human forward, right? So it's a way to being present on the planet.
18:11
Yeah.
18:11
that's why I encourage everyone,
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you you don't have to be a Pope or a rock star to write.
18:18
your wisdom down, share your family wisdom,
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right at
18:22
Yeah.
18:22
some place and share it because you know,
18:24
none of us are going to be here forever.
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And how lovely
18:27
Yeah.
18:28
is it to say, you know, my grandchildren,
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my great grandchildren, my ancestors will have a little bit of wisdom.
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And I always say that wisdom is hard,
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hard fought for you you win it by going through it.
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And
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Yeah.
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~ hopefully, sometimes you can tell a story and you can help someone maybe avoid
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that.
18:45
or at least have a
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Yeah.
18:46
perspective on like, I'm going through my own storm.
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But this is how my, you know, my grandmother always told me,
18:52
how to weather that storm. ~ So I am a big believer that picture books
18:57
are a great way to transport wisdom.
18:59
Yeah.
19:00
And you can do it in a very short period of time.
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That's what the lovely thing
19:02
Mm-hmm.
19:03
picture book five, six minutes,
19:05
you're in your out and then you've got
19:07
thing.
19:07
you've got this lovely little treasure within.
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You have a treasure with and you have a gift without.
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It's really beautiful.
19:14
Hmm.
19:14
So you mentioned, as I mentioned actually ~ about your book,
19:19
The you it has become a global sensation.
19:22
it was published more than 20 years ago,
19:24
but it is now available in I think 25 languages.
19:27
Of course it has its own international dot day.
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I mean, a book with its own day.
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Over 32 million people celebrate that day in over 196 countries.
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I mean, like that's the world.
19:37
A of dots. A lot of dots. ~
19:38
~ A lot of that.
19:41
Now, of course,
19:42
at its heart, and you refer to this a little earlier,
19:45
it is a story about a teacher who unlocks a child's potential,
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not by rescuing her, but by gently shifting how she sees herself.
19:56
Mmm.
19:56
What
19:56
can parents and educators, Peter,
19:59
learn from that kind of encouragement,
20:01
especially when a child doesn't yet believe in their own ability?
20:05
Right, yeah. In the book, Vashti is very frustrated.
20:08
You see her in class and there's a blank sheet of paper and there
20:13
are children there. The children,
20:15
I imagine, are probably outside at recess.
20:17
But this little girl is determined to make her mark.
20:21
So fortunately, her teacher sees her and she says,
20:25
just make a mark and see where it takes you.
20:27
And the little girl, Vashti, she grabs the marker.
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She gives one little dot behind and
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The next week when she walks into class hanging above her teacher's desk
20:37
is the little dot she had done,
20:39
but all framed in swirly gold and she looks at it.
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She's like, well, I could do a better dot than that.
20:44
And
20:45
Mm-hmm.
20:45
you see her blossom and bloom as an artist.
20:48
And I think it's important to help kids understand that they capable
20:55
and it may not be now, right? it will be in time.
20:59
grace and patience with yourself is really important.
21:02
But ~ having someone who believes in you is so important.
21:07
And we really have to
21:08
Yeah.
21:08
vocalize that and say, I see the reader,
21:11
right? You may not read now, but I see the reader,
21:13
right? And I see the mathematician and I see the creative person.
21:18
I see the artist. Even before you give evidence of that,
21:22
having someone who believes in you and says,
21:25
actually, no, no, no, no, no, you hang out with me,
21:27
we're gonna get you there.
21:29
So I think as much dialogue as we can encourage,
21:32
know, find out where your child is think a big piece is don't apply
21:37
too much pressure on kids
21:39
Yeah.
21:40
because I think there's a tendency,
21:41
you know, to look at the chart and say,
21:43
well, my child should be, they're,
21:45
you know, they're, you know,
21:46
Ugh.
21:46
four years old and they have to be here.
21:48
And it just doesn't work that way.
21:51
Every child is different. And,
21:53
Hmm.
21:54
you know, of course there are,
21:55
very few people who know your child the way you do.
21:57
And then ultimately, the only person who really knows your child is themselves.
22:03
Yeah.
22:04
And one of the most powerful questions we can ask our children,
22:07
and it doesn't get asked very often,
22:11
especially in school, in public education,
22:13
it is, who are you? That's a big question,
22:17
Hmm.
22:17
right? Who are you? And the only one who can actually answer it,
22:21
because we can take a few guesses,
22:23
but the only person
22:24
who can answer it is you. And it's also a lifetime quest to answer that.
22:29
Yeah, absolutely.
22:29
So adults, right? I
22:32
could ask you that too. And Petal,
22:33
if you and I had, had a couple more hours,
22:37
we could have a cup of tea together and it would be lovely to find
22:40
out more about you. I wrote a book called The North Star and it's a
22:45
way to help people see their talents,
22:47
their skills, their interests.
22:49
as this metaphorical star map.
22:50
And each
22:51
Mm-hmm.
22:52
star is something unique about yourself.
22:55
And you can keep adding to your star map.
22:57
It's a method that I use with kids and grownups as well,
23:01
especially grownups because, I mean,
23:03
of course the myth is that when you finish school and you get your degree
23:07
Yeah.
23:08
or certificate
23:10
that you're set, you're done, okay,
23:12
you do your job. it's like, actually we are works in progress and we are.
23:17
All
23:17
the time. Yeah.
23:17
always learning. And sometimes the path
23:20
you chose was based on maybe an aptitude that you had,
23:23
you might be really good at math.
23:25
And you end up being an engineer,
23:27
you know, for a missile defense company.
23:29
And you might wake up at age 3035 and say,
23:33
Wow, this is not the place I want to be.
23:36
And then you
23:37
Right.
23:37
can take an inventory of your talents and interests and say,
23:40
you know, I love solving problems.
23:42
But I would like to be a math teacher or I would like to build boats.
23:47
There's so many possibilities.
23:49
that's one of my other themes too is,
23:51
know, explore the possibilities and also connect stars,
23:55
right? Connect the dots. Cause you
23:57
Mm-hmm.
23:57
can do two things at once. I think that's the other myth too is that,
24:00
know, I'm going to be a engineer and like,
24:04
I love gardening. Well, can you do both?
24:06
Actually you can. You can do both.
24:07
Yes. Yes.
24:09
And you can actually combine them and then think of,
24:12
you know, new, hydroponic.
24:13
technologies for growing plants,
24:15
~ know, gardens and farms on the roof.
24:18
So ~
24:19
Yeah, yeah,
24:21
absolutely. I mean, I have to say that,
24:23
~ and I'm going to hold you to that.
24:25
I'm coming for tea, okay? Before you write the book with Petal as the protagonist,
24:26
Excellent. I guess you
24:29
I'm coming for tea.
24:30
definitely have to do that.
24:33
~ But what you're saying makes me also think about curiosity
24:37
Mmm.
24:38
because, you know, that exploration of who we are.
24:42
First of all, I love that question.
24:43
Who are you? You're right. We don't ask it nearly enough.
24:47
We don't ask it of ourselves. We don't ask it of our children enough,
24:50
I think.
24:50
Hmm.
24:51
And that curiosity that kids are naturally born with,
24:56
that just sets them on the path to God knows what any given day.
25:00
Yeah.
25:01
We also play such an important role,
25:04
I think, in protecting that, in preserving that.
25:06
And you talked a little bit about the pressure.
25:09
You know, we live in a very performance driven world,
25:12
Mm.
25:12
~
25:13
performance driven societies. I live here in New York,
25:16
you live in Boston, high achieving cities,
25:19
honestly, great
25:19
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
25:21
universities, great companies.
25:23
And so what would you suggest are one or two everyday habits?
25:30
that
25:30
we can use as parents, grandparents,
25:32
teachers to nurture and to protect curiosity,
25:37
that our kids embody, more than focusing on lessons and enrichment and all of that,
25:41
just preserving that curiosity because ultimately that I think is their North Star,
25:48
no?
25:48
Right? Absolutely. Curiosity is ~ so important.
25:54
intellectually curious. I love that phrase,
25:56
Intellectual curiosity. That curiosity can lead you to learn new things.
26:03
how wonderful if you follow your heart and say,
26:05
because I can tell you, the things to learn.
26:08
Interesting, but...
26:10
know, wouldn't it be better to find out what you're actually interested in?
26:14
And,
26:14
Mm-hmm.
26:16
I actually own I also own a bookstore.
26:18
That's my I wear many hats.
26:18
Yep. Yes.
26:20
But I'm in my bookstore, we when someone comes in,
26:23
we always say, Well, what's what is your child interested in?
26:26
loves Egypt. That's like, I've got lots of books for you then.
26:32
So, people directing your child's
26:34
curious and picking up on it, know,
26:36
finding out what are they curious about and supporting that,
26:38
right? Find the right book, find the right film,
26:40
find the right mentor. And if you find the right film,
26:43
by the way, watch it together.
26:44
That's my
26:45
Yeah.
26:46
other thing too, is always keep that line of communication open.
26:51
Because right now we have a lot of incoming,
26:53
right? We have a lot of digital incoming messages and kids
26:57
are absolutely captivated.
26:59
and captivated sometimes not in a good way,
27:01
right? They are captured,
27:02
Yeah.
27:03
right? They are captured by this vortex.
27:06
And there's some very, very smart people on this planet,
27:09
engineers who are keeping all of us busy,
27:12
including adults. ~
27:14
Mm-hmm.
27:14
And I think that's also a dynamic that we have to look at to say,
27:18
technology is pulling our kids into a vortex.
27:21
It's also pulling us into a vortex and it's ourselves
27:26
apart, right? We're not as together as we should be.
27:30
I think having human conversation and asking questions and talking about your day.
27:35
And by the way, I have I have a little folder in my actually in my cell phone,
27:39
technology is good imbalance. And,
27:41
Right?
27:42
and I think that's it, technology in service to humanity rather than humanity
27:47
in service to technology. So I have a little folder is called daily learn,
27:51
I put in something that I learned,
27:53
I learned something new almost every day.
27:55
Someone said the word porcupette the other day and I'm like,
27:57
what's a porcupette? a,
27:58
What's a porcupine?
28:00
it is a baby porcupine. So I typed it in.
28:04
So I have this, I have like a miles and miles of these little things that
28:07
I have learned and I like to share them with my,
28:10
my daughter now is almost 40 years old and she has two children.
28:14
I have a son who's
28:15
Right.
28:15
15. So, you know, a teenager, especially,
28:18
you know, you have to keep.
28:19
the lines of communication open.
28:21
So I share my daily learn with him.
28:23
So yeah.
28:24
That's wonderful! Oh my
28:26
god, I you bet you also taught me that today!
28:28
Yeah, I a book called Our Table,
28:32
and I've written a lot of
28:33
Yes.
28:33
books. I've collaborated a lot,
28:35
as you mentioned, but I also I write and illustrate books.
28:38
Our Table is one of my favorites because it is it's a little modern fable about
28:44
a family's dining room table that begins to shrink slowly
28:47
Yeah.
28:48
at first and more rapidly. And the only person that notices is Violet
28:53
and young Violet, who's I'm guessing about nine or 10.
28:56
She noticed this
28:56
Mm-hmm.
28:57
connection. The more time her father,
29:00
mother and brother spend on their devices,
29:03
their cell phone, computers, television,
29:05
Yep.
29:06
the faster the table shrinks until it is so small she can actually hold
29:11
it in her hands. She blinks and it's gone.
29:14
So no table. And she has to figure out a way to rebuild that table.
29:20
And it's a nice little conversation starter to
29:25
examine how much technology is affecting human communication.
29:29
And, as much as you can have meals together,
29:33
I know it's tough for some people,
29:35
you know, schedules are crazy.
29:37
but, you know, carving out just carving out time.
29:41
And also, even if you aren't able to have dinner together all the time,
29:45
prepare food together, right? So you can you can make brownies,
29:49
you can make a loaf of bread, that's
29:51
Yeah.
29:51
a wonderful activity.
29:53
that will bring you closer together.
29:55
So human connection, that's one of my big messages,
29:58
human connection.
29:59
Yeah, doing things together. Thank
30:01
Mm-hmm.
30:02
you. Our table, extremely ~ thought provoking.
30:06
And I think you're absolutely right.
30:09
I mean, we try to be very focused on eating together,
30:12
just movie nights, whatever it is.
30:15
have a 19 year old and a nine year old.
30:16
Mmm. That is quite a... Mmm.
30:17
it's
30:19
Mmm.
30:20
not often that we can find.
30:22
the
30:23
thing that everybody likes, ~ everybody enjoys,
30:26
but sometimes it's traveling and doing interesting things.
30:29
But you're absolutely right. And that's really good advice all
30:32
of the parents listening. ~
30:33
Hmm.
30:34
Let's talk about growth mindset,
30:36
which you talked about a little bit before.
30:38
When it comes to nurturing creativity and inner voice,
30:42
what does
30:42
Hmm.
30:43
a healthy mindset look like for kids?
30:45
Like in real life, because
30:47
Sometimes there's hesitancy, like with Vashti,
30:50
she just didn't know what to put on the paper.
30:52
Mm-hmm.
30:53
Sometimes they make a start, they put a dot,
30:56
and they don't like what the dot is,
30:58
so they may again not realize that they can make millions of dots
31:03
or connect millions of dots and continue to blossom.
31:06
What does this growth mindset look like in real life for kids,
31:10
especially when they're very young,
31:11
and so we want them to start really appreciating that their minds are.
31:16
elastic they can keep growing.
31:17
Right. I think when they're very young,
31:20
actually barely need our help because they're professional
31:23
Yeah.
31:24
at being curious, playful human beings.
31:26
True. Yeah.
31:27
put them,
31:29
you you put kids on, on the beach and they kind of instinctively
31:33
now to start digging and, you know,
31:35
piling things and making things.
31:39
but as they get
31:41
kind of to that school age, you know,
31:43
the rules start setting in. And I think
31:45
and
31:46
there's a, know, there's a delicate balance of yes,
31:49
there are some rules, and some very important rules.
31:52
Right? Don't don't cross the street,
31:55
you know, be careful how you cross the street.
31:56
I was not so careful when I was six years old,
31:59
I was hit by a car and went flying.
32:02
And this interview would not be happening if I
32:05
hadn't made it through that one.
32:06
But so there's some very important rules to keep us safe.
32:09
But then there are some rules.
32:10
There are some places that are playgrounds,
32:12
right? So art is a playground.
32:15
And that's why I encourage ~ parents to keep that playground active.
32:21
Make sure that you have that playground.
32:24
What is the playground? The creativity playground?
32:26
Make sure you have paper. Isn't it funny?
32:29
Make sure you have paper.
32:30
Yeah.
32:31
Look around your house. How much blank paper do you have?
32:33
I have been in homes where, I don't see books,
32:36
I don't see paper, I don't see I see I see screens,
32:39
I see a lot of screen, big screen,
32:41
huge screens, but I don't, I don't see paper.
32:44
And it's a, it's such a simple thing.
32:48
But in order to encourage kids,
32:50
especially in the age of ~ AI,
32:52
when even schools are teaching them prompting skills,
32:55
you know, and it's like, I don't
32:57
Yeah.
32:57
think a first grader needs to do AI prompting.
33:00
~
33:02
I would much prefer the drawing,
33:04
the self-portrait of that child done by hand.
33:08
And I think AI is very powerful and it's going to do amazing things.
33:13
But when kids are young, ~ giving them that playground,
33:17
make sure there are markers and paints.
33:19
And here's my other big message.
33:22
Make sure you have paper and markers and pen.
33:26
Show them that
33:27
Mmm.
33:28
you do it too, right?
33:30
It's sort of like
33:30
Okay.
33:30
saying, vegetables are really good for you.
33:32
And then you're eating a Twinkie,
33:34
you know, for dinner. The kids will be like,
33:37
hmm, what's up? How could they get a Twinkie?
33:40
I have to eat broccoli. So you want
33:42
Yeah.
33:42
to kids, and even if it's a dot,
33:44
right, just fearlessly make a dot and be careful adults.
33:47
I often hear adults denigrate their own work.
33:51
They'll say, this is terrible.
33:52
No. No.
33:53
I can't draw. I don't have a bone
33:55
in my body. I can't draw a straight line with a ruler.
33:57
The list goes on. Please.
34:00
Be kind to your marks, right? Your kids are sponges.
34:03
You are their heroes. They hear you.
34:05
And when you say things like, I can't,
34:07
I'm terrible, I'm this, you're giving them the vocabulary to denigrate themselves.
34:11
I don't know. I don't see.
34:12
So be very,
34:13
very careful. You know, our mothers and fathers would say,
34:17
right, if you don't have something nice to say,
34:19
don't say anything at all, right?
34:19
Yep.
34:21
But creative people actually
34:22
are more generous. And I think that that's something,
34:25
especially this country needs to become more generous of spirit.
34:28
right, accepting
34:29
Yeah.
34:30
of all kinds of marks, right, all kinds of people.
34:33
If we, right, if we practice that we believe that and I believe that I think
34:37
we are all equal. And that every dot every human is beautiful and capable
34:42
of beauty and kindness. And I really rarely give up on anybody.
34:48
Some people, some people just push it to the limit.
34:51
But, right. But
34:51
Yeah, I know.
34:54
the so
34:56
I wrote a book called Ish, which is a sequel to The Thought.
34:59
Yes, super dot.
35:00
And
35:01
that one's a good one, too, to read to your kids and to yourself,
35:04
because it's about a little boy who's drawing and his brother makes
35:08
fun of his artwork and he loses his confidence.
35:11
~ that usually happens around second,
35:14
third grade. I noticed the kids start to wobble.
35:17
And by fourth grade...
35:18
You know, they're all, pointing to the class artist and it's like,
35:21
well, what happened to the rest of these kids?
35:23
That's because they felt remember those rules,
35:26
right? The good rules, right? But then there's rules on creativity.
35:29
Are there rules on creativity in art?
35:31
Not really. And that's
35:32
Hmm.
35:33
beautiful thing about art is that it is a sandbox.
35:36
It is a beach. It is a it is a it is your domain.
35:41
You can create however you want to.
35:44
It's your voice, your style. So,
35:45
all dots are good dots.
35:47
in this story, this boy is drawing and he's trying to draw a vase
35:50
of flowers and turns out his sister has been collecting,
35:54
his little sister has been collecting all his crumpled sheets of paper.
35:57
And he goes
35:58
Yes.
35:58
into her room and there's this gallery of crumpled sheets of paper.
36:01
It's all his artwork. And he's like,
36:03
kind of shocked. she's like,
36:06
Yeah.
36:06
I like this one. This is my favorite.
36:07
And he's like,
36:08
supposed to be a vase of flowers,
36:09
it doesn't look like one. And she says,
36:10
~ it's vase-ish. Right?
36:13
Yeah.
36:14
And he laughs and
36:14
he's like, vase-ish.
36:17
Yes.
36:17
he looks at his artwork in a whole new way.
36:19
And then he starts drawing again,
36:23
know, house-ish and boat-ish, fish-ish.
36:25
Exactly.
36:25
And
36:27
it gives him freedom, basically says to,
36:30
you know, hey, world, you know,
36:31
back off. This is the way I do it.
36:33
This is the way I do it now. If I keep doing it,
36:37
I can get better-ish, but frankly,
36:40
Yes.
36:40
I look at kids' art and I'm always amazed at how beautiful
36:44
Mm-hmm.
36:44
and free it is. actually, when I hang out with kids,
36:47
I look at their art and I'm like,
36:50
well, that is such a cool way to draw a dragon.
36:53
I've
36:54
Yeah.
36:55
got a dragon in my head of what it's supposed to look like.
36:57
This child just reinvented a dragon
37:00
For
37:00
me, my soul is recharged when I hang out with kids.
37:03
I was at a school yesterday, the Mitchell School in Nita,
37:07
Massachusetts. And it
37:08
Okay.
37:09
is just an explosion of creativity there.
37:11
They get the ish idea.
37:14
They let kids be, they let them be kids.
37:18
Yeah, that's really great. you know what I like about what you're also saying,
37:22
Peter, is that art and creativity,
37:25
like you said, they their own very wide playground.
37:29
Mm.
37:29
But
37:30
you know, there are lots of other things too that our kids,
37:32
some of the gifts that they were born with,
37:34
some of the treasures inside, like problem solving.
37:37
So just yesterday, I was visited by ~ a family that we've been very close
37:42
to for many years.
37:44
The father is Barbadian, the mother is Latvian,
37:46
and they live in Tanzania because went to Tanzania to open a school about
37:51
10 years ago, a school that is thriving in a rural area of Tanzania.
37:55
And they were traveling through US and we're very close,
37:59
so they were here. And they have a 10-year-old son who is a cuber.
38:03
So he is one of these, he solves cubes,
38:07
Rubik's cubes.
38:07
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
38:09
He's already competed around the world and he was,
38:12
you know, testing my sort of knowledge of,
38:15
of his skill. And he said to me,
38:18
you know, pedal, how long do you think it's going to take?
38:20
Take me to the cube was very complicated.
38:23
It's like, I don't know, 20 sides,
38:23
Mm-hmm.
38:24
very big and complicated. He said,
38:26
how long do you think it's going to take me to solve this?
38:29
And I said, two minutes. I mean,
38:31
he did it in 19 seconds. Okay.
38:33
And
38:33
for it next.
38:35
extraordinary. And that is.
38:37
a playground for creativity. Sometimes you're kind person,
38:41
sometimes you're a young leader,
38:42
sometimes music
38:42
Mm-hmm.
38:43
is your craft. And I think we can look at all of these gifts
38:48
as ~ creative canvas. And that's what I love about what you say.
38:51
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
38:52
And I hope the parents listening are ~
38:56
staying astute to see what those gifts are and to encourage them.
38:57
Yeah, that's such an important point
38:59
that the word creativity is not just art.
39:03
sometimes, you
39:03
Right.
39:03
know, some people say like, well,
39:05
look at this to my art teacher.
39:06
I'm like, well, you can, but you can give it to anyone to to your regular classroom
39:11
teacher. because it's a credit,
39:13
it's a mindset, right? you're a flexible thinker.
39:16
And there are lots of ways for creativity to manifest itself.
39:22
It can be through gardening, through landscaping,
39:22
Yeah.
39:24
through
39:24
bonsai, know, raising a bonsai tree,
39:27
to building robots. There's so many ways of creating,
39:31
right? So creative means to create,
39:34
to make. That's something to emphasize too.
39:37
Let's keep making things, not just consuming things.
39:41
That's the problem with screens.
39:43
Yeah.
39:43
know, screens are great. There's
39:45
a lot of cool information. It's very funny.
39:47
Make us laugh.
39:48
because they agree. But
39:48
Mm. Yeah.
39:50
you know, the people who made those videos actually did more work than
39:55
you you're you're consuming. They were
39:57
Yeah.
39:58
creating you should be creating right and not necessarily videos for YouTube,
40:02
but you should be creating a dinner together.
40:05
You should be creating know, a design of your your downtown.
40:09
I that's what
40:10
Yeah.
40:11
I did. I actually I visioned a different downtown I thought it
40:15
Yeah, I, When I opened up the bookstore,
40:18
I noticed that the sidewalks were very small.
40:21
They were also
40:22
Right?
40:22
slightly tilted and a friend of mine in a wheelchair ~ would topple
40:25
Mmm. ~
40:26
over when he took the corner, he would topple over and it was very embarrassing
40:30
for him. And he said, said, you know,
40:33
it's not level. And it made me think I'm being intellectually curious.
40:37
like, I shouldn't they be level?
40:40
Well, they are
40:41
Yeah.
40:41
they are today 88 standards, but these sidewalks were built,
40:46
you know, 70 years ago. So they were slightly
40:48
Yeah.
40:49
tilted and it didn't accommodate wheelchairs.
40:51
So that led me to say, how wide can you make a sidewalk,
40:55
which led me to urban planning and,
40:57
wider sidewalks allow for pedestrian programming for tables and chairs and benches.
41:01
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
41:03
Well, we didn't have tables
41:04
and chairs and benches.
41:05
and the lighting was really horrible in our downtown.
41:07
said, we're in New England downtown.
41:09
We should have some nice period lighting.
41:11
So one thing led to another. started an organization,
41:15
a not-for-profit called the Dedham Square Circle,
41:18
a circle of friends who care about the square.
41:18
Okay. Wow. Yeah.
41:20
And we raised
41:21
over $6 million to redo our downtown.
41:24
And we created this darling little town.
41:28
If you come to historic Dedham.
41:30
Dedham Square, that's where my bookstore is,
41:32
right across the old movie
41:33
this.
41:33
theater, and we have restaurants.
41:35
I'm just sort of pointing out that creativity,
41:38
right, it can
41:38
Yes.
41:39
manifest itself in lots of different ways.
41:41
~
41:42
Mm-hmm.
41:43
But the one thing that is connected is that being able to have a vision,
41:47
right, and you have that little picture in your head,
41:50
like, I'm gonna start my own organization,
41:52
I'm gonna start a school in Tanzania.
41:54
That starts with a
41:54
Mm-hmm.
41:55
sketch in your head.
41:57
And you
41:57
A dot.
41:57
write it is a dot, it's that little dot,
42:00
and you have to put it down either on paper,
42:02
that's actually helpful, because then you can share it with other people
42:05
and you find your kindred spirits.
42:07
And there are people out there in the world who they are very helpful,
42:11
they will they'll say you're building a school in Tanzania.
42:13
Do you need help? I'm an architect.
42:16
I you know, I have access to books I can.
42:19
and by the way, you'll have to connect me to your friend because I would love
42:22
to come visit I may be going to
42:25
Done.
42:26
Rwanda later this year. ~ I also
42:26
~ great. ~ okay.
42:30
just finished a project, a sequel to The Water Princess,
42:33
which is based on the true
42:34
Mm-hmm.
42:34
story of Georgie Baddiel, who
42:37
Yep.
42:37
grew up in Burkina Faso. And she returned many years later to bring water
42:42
to her village. And she wanted to tell that story.
42:45
So there's The Water Princess,
42:47
and I just finished The Water Princess Builds a Well.
42:50
And so I may be also
42:51
~
42:51
going to Burkina Faso later this year,
42:53
too. lots of
42:54
This is wonderful, Peter.
42:56
lots of African dots being added to my canvas.
42:57
African Dots this year. Okay. I will definitely
43:01
do that. Yeah. I will definitely connect to you.
43:04
And I have my own Rwanda story.
43:06
When I was a practicing lawyer,
43:07
I traveled there to ~ work on the trials,
43:11
the war crimes trials, and spent a lot of time in Tanzania and Rwanda trying
43:16
to make that very terrible chapter in human history,
43:18
trying to right a wrong. So yeah.
43:20
Yeah, well, thank you for your work there.
43:22
And you know, they've made a lot
43:24
of progress. It's a beautiful place and beautiful human
43:26
yeah. Yeah.
43:27
beings. And that's where you know,
43:28
we are living on a big blue dot.
43:30
And fortunately,
43:31
Mm-hmm.
43:31
it's not any bigger because I really want to see the whole thing before before
43:36
I know.
43:37
I leave this planet to wherever we're going next.
43:40
But
43:40
Yeah.
43:41
I love this blue dot that we're on.
43:43
And I do think that these dot connections
43:45
like today, like we're connecting,
43:47
think about all these people that we're connecting with.
43:50
There people who are listening to this.
43:50
I know.
43:52
Yes.
43:52
At this
43:53
very moment, we are making dot connections and we're having a conversation
43:58
~ with them, right? They're
44:00
Yes.
44:01
active listeners. What we would love to do,
44:03
I know I love hearing from my readers.
44:06
I love to hear from people who listen to podcasts and say,
44:10
~ what you said about this resonated with,
44:12
you that reminds me of my son or you know,
44:15
I'd like more information about.
44:16
the Burkina Faso project. Definitely anyone who's listening,
44:19
if you're intellectually curious,
44:21
follow up on it. Let's keep connecting
44:22
Yeah.
44:23
the dots. Pretty easy to find both Petal and myself.
44:26
We're very available,
44:27
Yes.
44:28
right, Petal?
44:29
Yes, absolutely. So we have to wrap up,
44:31
Peter, unfortunately. So, which brings me back to the tea.
44:32
Well, we call this, yes, we call this,
44:34
I'm coming for the tea. The Reynolds wrap.
44:35
yes, the Reynolds Wrap.
44:39
We're wrapping it up. could, Petal,
44:40
So we're wrapping it up.
44:42
I do know that we, when we get together,
44:44
it'll be probably eight hours.
44:46
We'll have to do breakfast and
44:47
Yes!
44:47
then we'll do lunch. Maybe we'll do dinner too.
44:49
So much to share with you. Thank you so much for what you are doing.
44:53
You are inspiring so many people with your work.
44:56
And I
44:57
Thank you.
44:58
know just from the little bit that you told me about Rwanda that you,
45:01
you're
45:02
your heart is really big and that you're using your talents and energy
45:05
to make this world a place. And I hope that's what everyone is feeling right now.
45:09
I feel very blessed
45:09
Yes.
45:10
that we have met. I know that there's a reason for these things and this
45:15
Yeah.
45:16
is to be continued or as I like to say,
45:20
dot, dot.
45:21
Dot dot dot. Thank you so much,
45:23
Peter. So great to meet you. And
45:25
Thank you.
45:26
thank you for sharing your wisdom with all of us today.
45:29
I ~ so appreciate it. And yes,
45:31
dot dot dot.