Latest / Stuff Mom Never Told You / Book Club: The Girl and the Wolf
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha. I'm welcome to stuff
- 0:07Speaker 1: I never told you production of iHeart Radio. And we're
- 0:19Speaker 1: back with another episode of book Club. We did miss
- 0:23Speaker 1: last month because of chaos, chaos, general chaos that is
- 0:29Speaker 1: still going, ongoing, ongoing, So we did choose a shorter
- 0:34Speaker 1: book for today. Although I will say we do like
- 0:37Speaker 1: to highlight books of all.
- 0:40Speaker 2: Kinds, we haven't done one of these in a while.
- 0:43Speaker 1: Yes, I think we've only ever done one other children's
- 0:48Speaker 1: illustrated book. Yeah, the Girl who gave Note?
- 0:53Speaker 2: Was that the only one? Because I thought we did
- 0:54Speaker 2: another one because we don't even though it is like
- 0:58Speaker 2: children's end quote book, the Girl who gave No. We
- 1:01Speaker 2: knew it wasn't a children's right, but I felt like
- 1:04Speaker 2: we had done another one as well. Am I confused?
- 1:07Speaker 2: I might be confused. Did a lot of books?
- 1:10Speaker 1: We have said, a lot of books.
- 1:12Speaker 2: I love this.
- 1:13Speaker 1: I do too. I hope you listeners love it. I'm
- 1:16Speaker 1: always I'm happy with things I would have I would
- 1:20Speaker 1: never have read right, not for this segment, So I do.
- 1:25Speaker 1: I do appreciate it. I wish we could read. We've
- 1:28Speaker 1: said before, sometimes we are limited, and because we do
- 1:32Speaker 1: this once a month how long the books can be.
- 1:36Speaker 1: And there are plenty of books you listeners have sent
- 1:38Speaker 1: in and I'm like, yes, that one oh five hundred
- 1:40Speaker 1: pages that but please know, we do take your suggestions,
- 1:47Speaker 1: and some of them I've been like, I'm going to
- 1:48Speaker 1: read that se lately like it won't be an episode
- 1:51Speaker 1: on here, or maybe it will be, but I'm just
- 1:53Speaker 1: going to it's not I can't do it in like
- 1:54Speaker 1: a week, right, So.
- 1:57Speaker 2: One day I think this is the main of his
- 2:01Speaker 2: existence when we're a six days a week podcast in
- 2:05Speaker 2: trying to stay up on top of things. The amount
- 2:07Speaker 2: of research that we have to do is because we
- 2:09Speaker 2: are our own researchers and all of that that we
- 2:11Speaker 2: don't have the hours in the days to do like
- 2:16Speaker 2: big projects like that unless we let split it up.
- 2:19Speaker 2: But one day, if we actually see that somehow for
- 2:23Speaker 2: some week reason that we are ahead, we will tackle
- 2:26Speaker 2: those books.
- 2:28Speaker 1: Yeah, So don't stop sending the suggestion because again, even
- 2:32Speaker 1: if maybe we don't do them on here, I love
- 2:35Speaker 1: getting a book suggestion, and there are plenty that you
- 2:38Speaker 1: all have sent in. I'm like, oh, yes, yes, yes, yes,
- 2:42Speaker 1: But because the chaos of the previous month, the ongoing
- 2:46Speaker 1: Chaos and the Holidays. We did want to choose a
- 2:50Speaker 1: shorter book, but as I said, we also like doing
- 2:55Speaker 1: a bunch of different things. So today we were talking
- 2:58Speaker 1: about the twenty nineteen Canadian children's picture book The Girl
- 3:02Speaker 1: and the Wolf, written by Catherina Vermetz and illustrated by
- 3:06Speaker 1: Julie Flett. It is beautifully illustrated and it's a lovely story.
- 3:11Speaker 1: Vermet is a may te writer from Treety One Territory
- 3:15Speaker 1: in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Flett is a Red River may
- 3:19Speaker 1: tea and Swampy Cree artist and author. And Samantha, you
- 3:24Speaker 1: got this from your local library, did you not?
- 3:28Speaker 2: Well no, no no, So I cheated a little bit and
- 3:30Speaker 2: I bought it. But it was about as a used
- 3:32Speaker 2: book and is from a library, not our local library,
- 3:36Speaker 2: so it was in libraries, and you know how they
- 3:38Speaker 2: sell off their books. I got it that way because
- 3:41Speaker 2: I wanted a hard copy because I love a good
- 3:43Speaker 2: children's book anyway, so having this as a children's book
- 3:48Speaker 2: was fantastic because the art is gorgeous. I think we've
- 3:52Speaker 2: talked about this a lot in the past few episodes,
- 3:54Speaker 2: but I just really love when we have tales especially
- 3:58Speaker 2: like Native indigenous tales Nation tells that are so folkish
- 4:02Speaker 2: obviously traditional. This is not. I don't think this is
- 4:04Speaker 2: not traditional. I think she created this one correct. Yes,
- 4:09Speaker 2: but it feels as if it has a lineage to
- 4:13Speaker 2: the story. And I love the art that often is
- 4:16Speaker 2: depicted with it, especially with like the newer artists who
- 4:18Speaker 2: are translating what they hear. I love that. So having
- 4:22Speaker 2: that an actual hard copy that was from a library,
- 4:24Speaker 2: it felt very nice. It smelled like a library do Yeah, yeah,
- 4:28Speaker 2: that is nice. It is.
- 4:30Speaker 1: It is really beautifully illustrated. And when I was reading it,
- 4:36Speaker 1: I kind of immediately was like, is this it's just
- 4:39Speaker 1: like Little Red writing Hood kind of sort of an
- 4:43Speaker 1: inverse because the main character the girls in Red, it's
- 4:47Speaker 1: a wolf. And the author did say in a short
- 4:52Speaker 1: interview at the back of my copy that European fairy
- 4:56Speaker 1: tales of the big bad wolf just didn't make sense
- 4:59Speaker 1: to her, that they were in fair to the wolf,
- 5:01Speaker 1: which I love. I also thought of the Boy who
- 5:04Speaker 1: Cried Wolf. But yeah, it's really I like the contrast
- 5:09Speaker 1: of the colors and it just paints like a really
- 5:13Speaker 1: good moving It does feel very like this is a
- 5:16Speaker 1: story you would tell your kids, and I think it's
- 5:19Speaker 1: a classic bound to be yes, but yeah. The author
- 5:23Speaker 1: did make clear that the story is inspired by other
- 5:27Speaker 1: traditional stories, but she made it up yes, so quite quickly.
- 5:34Speaker 1: The plot is that it follows a young girl in
- 5:38Speaker 1: a red cloak who is running in the woods, and
- 5:40Speaker 1: it ignores her mother's request to stay close. She gets
- 5:44Speaker 1: lost as the sun is going down. She starts to
- 5:47Speaker 1: worry when a wolf approaches her and ask her what's wrong.
- 5:52Speaker 1: He asked her what she's going to do, and she
- 5:55Speaker 1: responds she doesn't know. The wolf counters that you do know,
- 6:00Speaker 1: in fact, and instructs her to close her eyes and
- 6:03Speaker 1: think of what she does know. And the girl does,
- 6:07Speaker 1: and the wolf waits patiently, and the girl realizes she
- 6:11Speaker 1: does know that she can eat nearby berries and drink
- 6:14Speaker 1: the nearby water. The wolf ask her again what she's
- 6:18Speaker 1: going to do, and again the little girl says she
- 6:21Speaker 1: doesn't know. The wolf points out once again that she does,
- 6:25Speaker 1: and the girl thinks for a moment before realizing she
- 6:28Speaker 1: does recognize where they are. She starts running again until
- 6:32Speaker 1: she finds her mother, and she tells her mother about
- 6:35Speaker 1: the wolf, and her mother tells her that there are
- 6:37Speaker 1: legends about wolves helping those in need. The little girl
- 6:41Speaker 1: leaves a gift of tobacco for the wolf and thanks,
- 6:45Speaker 1: and tobacco is one of the four sacred medicines traditionally,
- 6:51Speaker 1: and that's it. It's a really impactful story in terms
- 7:05Speaker 1: of the empowerment of it of like the girl taking
- 7:13Speaker 1: that breath and thinking and realizing, yes, she does know,
- 7:18Speaker 1: she knows what's to do. Yeah, I'd say that that's
- 7:23Speaker 1: probably the biggest theme of this book, is doing it
- 7:29Speaker 1: for yourself, relying on your own knowledge and experience. And
- 7:37Speaker 1: when she's scared and she's sad, but she problem solves
- 7:42Speaker 1: and she doesn't let it overwhelm her. And I think
- 7:45Speaker 1: that's a really great powerful message for kids, right for adults.
- 7:51Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie moments of like with everything being
- 7:55Speaker 2: chaotic and feeling like you're alone and feeling like you're
- 7:58Speaker 2: in darkness and it's gonna consume you. Taking the time
- 8:02Speaker 2: to breathe and like like assess the environment. I think
- 8:05Speaker 2: that's a big conversation that we don't have enough of
- 8:08Speaker 2: of actually observing to figure out your solutions. In often times,
- 8:14Speaker 2: the solutions are there if you will think go through
- 8:16Speaker 2: it calmly, which is not an easy desk.
- 8:21Speaker 1: No, and especially in the context of this story, like
- 8:24Speaker 1: the sun is going down, she just has kind of
- 8:28Speaker 1: this this timeline of oh, I've got to figure this
- 8:32Speaker 1: out or it's going to be dark and more dangerous.
- 8:35Speaker 1: And I do like that about it too, is that
- 8:38Speaker 1: the wolf is a friend to her. But it's also
- 8:40Speaker 1: not painted as like the safest thing, like the breath,
- 8:44Speaker 1: like she smells meat on the breath, like it's not sanitized,
- 8:48Speaker 1: I guess, and like the dangers you know of Okay,
- 8:52Speaker 1: if I'm in the dark by the time, like when
- 8:55Speaker 1: the sun goes down, what am I going to do?
- 8:57Speaker 1: But she takes that and she concentrates, and she does
- 9:01Speaker 1: have this knowledge or these memories that help her help herself.
- 9:07Speaker 1: And I think, going back to your pointsman, that is
- 9:11Speaker 1: very It is difficult to do when you're panicking or
- 9:18Speaker 1: just overwhelmed, but it's something that we've learned in like
- 9:24Speaker 1: when we've talked in our trauma episodes are even our
- 9:28Speaker 1: meditation episodes of observing, Yeah, like taking in like grounding
- 9:37Speaker 1: yourself and here and now and what can I do
- 9:40Speaker 1: here and now? Even if it is I can take
- 9:45Speaker 1: this next breath and I can like try to focus
- 9:48Speaker 1: and try to do this. I would say another big
- 9:52Speaker 1: theme is respecting nature, because a lot of it is
- 9:59Speaker 1: about nature. Like she knows about the berries, she knows
- 10:05Speaker 1: about the water. She finds the way back to her
- 10:09Speaker 1: mom based on some trees, and like her memories and
- 10:13Speaker 1: the wolf, the wolf being there, and I love that
- 10:17Speaker 1: her mother believes her, and it's like, yes, right, I've
- 10:21Speaker 1: heard the tales. The wolf helps sometimes of need. I
- 10:25Speaker 1: like that. It was just like, I'm glad you're back.
- 10:28Speaker 1: I believe you made it back.
- 10:29Speaker 2: She did a small like I told you not to
- 10:31Speaker 2: work play, I'm glad you made it back. I think
- 10:34Speaker 2: it's interesting because as much as I love these tales
- 10:37Speaker 2: and such, it's not necessarily for us. It is an
- 10:40Speaker 2: indigenous tale and in First nations, and I think it's
- 10:42Speaker 2: also the conversation of them understanding. And again this is
- 10:47Speaker 2: just me kind of like interpreting in my own way
- 10:50Speaker 2: of like this is a tale that she knows the
- 10:53Speaker 2: author and the illustrator in that they have been taught
- 10:57Speaker 2: through their culture and they're truly seeking their culture. That
- 11:00Speaker 2: all of these things are very important, which is not
- 11:02Speaker 2: always taught to us. Who are not a part of
- 11:06Speaker 2: the indigenous culture about the importance of nature and seeing
- 11:11Speaker 2: around your surroundings and appreciating your surroundings and instead of
- 11:15Speaker 2: seeing horror or chaos or threats, seeing that as attributes
- 11:21Speaker 2: to finding your way. And I think it could be
- 11:24Speaker 2: a part of that conversation is that we also know,
- 11:26Speaker 2: and we've talked about many times, especially with like activists
- 11:29Speaker 2: around the world, when we talk about the fact that
- 11:32Speaker 2: when it comes to indigenous people, First nations people, they
- 11:35Speaker 2: are intersectional because one of the biggest things that they understand,
- 11:38Speaker 2: beyond anything else, is that earth nature is a gift
- 11:43Speaker 2: and it is not being honored enough. And I think,
- 11:46Speaker 2: like we know that is their first point of understanding,
- 11:51Speaker 2: that this is a living, breathing thing that needs to
- 11:53Speaker 2: be respected and so if you truly respect it, it
- 11:57Speaker 2: will help you in return. So I feel like it's
- 11:59Speaker 2: a very indigenous tell in that way as well.
- 12:01Speaker 1: Oh yeah, totally. Like so many times when we do
- 12:07Speaker 1: those episodes are over on the other show, I do
- 12:10Speaker 1: savor when we talk about indigenous food ways, it's almost
- 12:15Speaker 1: I mean, no surprise, but it's almost always like there
- 12:19Speaker 1: was never a problem with this until colonizers came in
- 12:23Speaker 1: and now, guess what, it's almost extinct. Like it's almost
- 12:28Speaker 1: always they add an understanding and a balance and a
- 12:32Speaker 1: respect for this is how much we can take and
- 12:36Speaker 1: that's it, and it more replenish. And then colonizers came
- 12:41Speaker 1: in and we're like, but I want more and more
- 12:43Speaker 1: and more and more and more, and then it's just depleted.
- 12:47Speaker 1: Now we have organizations and projects you can look up
- 12:51Speaker 1: that are really great that Indigenous people are doing to
- 12:54Speaker 1: try to bring back these lost foods that went almost
- 13:01Speaker 1: went extinct, or even the ways of cultivating them right.
- 13:05Speaker 1: And so it is like when you're talking about respecting
- 13:08Speaker 1: the nature and taking in your surroundings, that is a
- 13:13Speaker 1: very very indigenous story of actually paying attention right, actually
- 13:23Speaker 1: being in tune with things and using that knowledge and
- 13:30Speaker 1: understanding the truth of it. Because like I said, I
- 13:33Speaker 1: kind of love that the wolf is helpful, but it's
- 13:37Speaker 1: also clear that it is dangerous in a way like
- 13:42Speaker 1: you respect it, like okay, I just I love that
- 13:48Speaker 1: aspect of it. It didn't feel at all threatening, where
- 13:52Speaker 1: it's like you've got like the little red riding Hood
- 13:57Speaker 1: very threatening the wolf.
- 13:59Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie. There are a couple of moments
- 14:00Speaker 2: of like, is this gonna turn scary? Like I was
- 14:03Speaker 2: waiting for just a few seconds, Like when he's like
- 14:06Speaker 2: closing your eyes, I was like, oh no, we don't
- 14:08Speaker 2: close your eyes. There was a couple of moments of like, no,
- 14:13Speaker 2: don't do that. Oh okay, okay, this is good, this
- 14:15Speaker 2: is all right, all right.
- 14:16Speaker 1: I got you.
- 14:27Speaker 2: Another big part of I think indigenous culture is wisdom
- 14:31Speaker 2: and being led. And even though she was the one
- 14:34Speaker 2: that made the choices and she was the one that
- 14:36Speaker 2: really had to cipher through her understanding and her knowledge,
- 14:40Speaker 2: it does still lead her and it does still kind
- 14:43Speaker 2: of guide her. And I think that's like a conversation
- 14:46Speaker 2: about ancestral teachings and about respecting ancestry as well as
- 14:53Speaker 2: respecting your elders in some respect. And I think that's
- 14:56Speaker 2: that conversation too with to see that in indigenous people,
- 14:59Speaker 2: which is how they keep their cultural alive, and which
- 15:02Speaker 2: is how they're keeping their culture alive, is to remember
- 15:05Speaker 2: and to respect the ancestral ways and traditions. And I
- 15:09Speaker 2: think it kind of represents that in that manner because
- 15:12Speaker 2: we know wolves can be cunning and whys and all
- 15:15Speaker 2: of those things, but also dangerous, like it is unpredictable sometimes. Yeah,
- 15:20Speaker 2: But with that though, if you truly lean on it
- 15:22Speaker 2: in the correct way with respect that it does, it
- 15:25Speaker 2: will lead and guide you. Like there's this level of
- 15:28Speaker 2: understanding and importance in that as well, like as a
- 15:33Speaker 2: combination of both reliance on yourself but also remembering and
- 15:38Speaker 2: learning from tradition, which is not a bad thing.
- 15:42Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, And that's one of the reasons I love
- 15:46Speaker 1: when she gets back and she tells her mom, and
- 15:48Speaker 1: her mom is like, yeah, I believe you, but she
- 15:51Speaker 1: also does do that like, yes, you shouldn't have run away,
- 15:54Speaker 1: but it's like a it's like a good she learned
- 16:00Speaker 1: this lesson and she did take into account those traditions
- 16:06Speaker 1: that maybe she's heard growing up and just this respect
- 16:10Speaker 1: for nature. And because of that she was able to
- 16:14Speaker 1: get out of this situation and get back and get
- 16:17Speaker 1: a little talking to from her mom. But like, I
- 16:21Speaker 1: like that mix of don't do that again, but you learned,
- 16:28Speaker 1: You learned, and you were able to get out of
- 16:31Speaker 1: that situation because you listened and you learned. And that
- 16:35Speaker 1: is a big part of a lot of indigenous cultures,
- 16:37Speaker 1: is that like telling of stories and listening and taking
- 16:39Speaker 1: that in and then also how she gives the gifts
- 16:44Speaker 1: at the end to the wolf, like a very traditional
- 16:48Speaker 1: powerful gift showcases this listening to the earth, respecting all
- 16:59Speaker 1: of that stuff, like I know, I know what the
- 17:03Speaker 1: value of this was, and I'll give back in this way.
- 17:06Speaker 1: And that's another thing going back to our current issues
- 17:11Speaker 1: around climate change and all of the damage that's been
- 17:15Speaker 1: done of like having this knowledge of I realize, like
- 17:24Speaker 1: I realize what nature has given me and I respect it,
- 17:28Speaker 1: and here's a gift of my acknowledgment. I think that's
- 17:33Speaker 1: that's a great lesson too, And especially I don't have
- 17:37Speaker 1: talked about food a lot, but this just comes up
- 17:39Speaker 1: a lot and savor. But like you know, where a
- 17:41Speaker 1: lot of us are cut off from where our food
- 17:44Speaker 1: comes from, a lot of us are cut off from nature,
- 17:48Speaker 1: and so having this moment of like recognizing nothing comes
- 17:54Speaker 1: without any price, and we need to respect that and
- 18:01Speaker 1: take that into account when we're moving about in the
- 18:05Speaker 1: world and trying to survive in the world. Right.
- 18:08Speaker 2: I wonder too, if like the author was trying to
- 18:11Speaker 2: kind of give a perspective as some of the cultural
- 18:14Speaker 2: aspects of like you know, tobacco being very important to
- 18:18Speaker 2: the Metese people, and feeling as if like she kind
- 18:22Speaker 2: of wanted to sneak that in for those who aren't
- 18:25Speaker 2: aware of that culture, because she doesn't really talk about
- 18:29Speaker 2: when this tale would have taken place or what culture
- 18:31Speaker 2: is taking place in it. She just like kind of
- 18:33Speaker 2: generically makes it a children's tale until the end and
- 18:36Speaker 2: you figure out her origins in her background and then
- 18:41Speaker 2: the illustrator's background, then you're like, oh, okay, Like if
- 18:44Speaker 2: you just walked in on it with just like, oh,
- 18:46Speaker 2: this is a nice children's tale, and of course expecting
- 18:49Speaker 2: like maybe it's a like a rendition of little Red
- 18:51Speaker 2: riding Hood, and then seeing what it was like, I
- 18:54Speaker 2: think it's nice to add those kind of elements to
- 18:57Speaker 2: that and making sure that it is a shown as
- 19:00Speaker 2: separate than a European tale.
- 19:05Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean I certainly was like
- 19:10Speaker 1: I immediately looked at the colors of the Little Red Road,
- 19:17Speaker 1: But then I really loved this take on that clearly
- 19:23Speaker 1: acknowledging that a lot of us might think that first, right,
- 19:27Speaker 1: And I like this take on. At the end, she
- 19:30Speaker 1: thanks the wolf for the knowledge and for the help
- 19:33Speaker 1: and for showing her for reminding her that she she
- 19:38Speaker 1: had the tools she needed because she has listened, she
- 19:42Speaker 1: has paid attention. I really enjoyed it. I thought it
- 19:45Speaker 1: was a great story. I wish I had read it
- 19:48Speaker 1: when I was a kid.
- 19:50Speaker 2: Right. It was one of those moments I did pick
- 19:53Speaker 2: up the picture book and I was like, I'm gonna
- 19:54Speaker 2: read a lot of peaches like she's a child, because
- 19:58Speaker 2: I felt like I needed to do that. Yeah, I didn't, Listeners,
- 20:01Speaker 2: I didn't, but I really wanted to. And then just
- 20:07Speaker 2: showed her all the pretty pictures. Do you want me
- 20:11Speaker 2: to read? You tell? She did not care. Oll, she
- 20:14Speaker 2: was not appreciative, she was not the wolf for me.
- 20:19Speaker 1: Not helpful anyway, there's a lesson to be learned from
- 20:24Speaker 1: that as well.
- 20:26Speaker 2: She does have the meat breath though, so there's that.
- 20:29Speaker 1: There we go, there we go. Well, yeah, listeners, I
- 20:34Speaker 1: highly recommend checking it out. And if you have any
- 20:39Speaker 1: suggestions for books of any type, because yes, we do
- 20:43Speaker 1: like to do all kinds of things on this on
- 20:46Speaker 1: this segment, please let us know. You can email us
- 20:50Speaker 1: at Stephanie momstephan atiheartmedia dot com. You can find us
- 20:52Speaker 1: on Twitter at Momsta podcast are on Instagram and TikTok
- 20:54Speaker 1: at stuff I Never told you for using on YouTube.
- 20:57Speaker 1: And we have a tea po bookstore and we have
- 20:59Speaker 1: a book. We have a book you can get wherever
- 21:01Speaker 1: you get your books. Thanks as always too, our super
- 21:04Speaker 1: producer Christina, our executive producer Maya and Atriver Joey, thank
- 21:07Speaker 1: you and thanks to you for listening. Steffan Never Told
- 21:10Speaker 1: Me was production of by Heart Radio. For more podcasts
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