Pod Fifteen: Telling Other Peoples’ Stories and Interviewing Best Friends

Note: In Pod Fifteen, Grammy talks about her work, helping people publish their own stories in the form of books. She reads poems about friendship, and then Grammy interviews Eli and his best friend, Miggz; they talk about what they look for in a friend and why friends are important. The activity is to write a story about your good friend! Please share this post! Click here to start at the beginning of the Poem Pod series.

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Grammy: Hi everyone, Eli and I are here, bringing you Poem Pods—fun poems for fun people. We are still smiling under our masks, and so is Miggz, Eli’s best friend, who is here with us today!

Miggz: Hi, everybody.

Eli: Hey, Miggz.

Grammy: Welcome to Poem Pods, Miggz. This is a good day for you to visit us because the poems today are about friendship! Miggz, every day, I start off the Poem Pod by talking a little bit about my writing background. Today I’m talking about the work I do through my business Janice Beetle Books, helping people get an idea for a book, or a book they have written, into print.

I have helped lots of people publish books now, including several memoirs—which are books about peoples’ lives. I also edited a mystery for a client, and that was super fun to read and fun to guess what the ending might be before I got there! And I edited a book of love poems and I wrote a work of fiction that was based on fact. I love helping people finish their book. It’s fun to see the looks on their faces when they hold their book for the first time! When you guys are older, you would like reading some of these books. So far, I think Flight of Integrity is the one I think you’d like best.

Eli: What’s it about?

Grammy: People who work at an airline and fight a lot. 

Eli: Ah, that sounds pretty cool. 

Grammy: Trust me. I think you’d really like it. I’ll save you a copy! 

Eli: Oh, okay.

Grammy: Hey Miggz, do you have a favorite book?

Miggz: I don’t have a favorite book, but I have a favorite series, and it’s Dog Man.

Grammy: Dog Man! What is the genre?

Miggz: Graphic novel, and I like that series because I really like graphic novels.

Grammy: And also, does it make you laugh? Is it kind of funny?

Miggz: Yeah.

Grammy: So, you’re a humor kind of guy?

Miggz: Yeah.

Grammy: Eli, what about you? What’s your favorite book?

Eli: I don’t really have a favorite book. I have a favorite series, and it’s Five Nights at Freddy’s. They’re like murder mystery books. They’re like a thriller. They keep you on edge, wondering what’s going to happen next.

POEMS

Grammy: I like that. I can see that you would like that kind of book. I can see that Eli would like mysteries and Miggz would like to laugh. I know you guys didn’t ask me, but my favorite books now are books about women who are friends, and one that’s my favorite, favorite, favorite of all time is called The Red Tent. And that is a segue—a segue is a link—so that is a link to today’s poems, which I said are about friendship. This first one is called:

Friends

Friends can be a lot of fun.
A friend can be the only one.

Friends can cry and make you sad.
A friend can really make you mad.

Friends can be just what you need.
Be a good friend. That’s good, indeed.

A friend can be your girlfriend.
A friend can be your cat.
A friend can be anyone.
It’s as simple as that.

A man you love can be your friend.
Your mother can befriend you, too.
A friend is just somebody
Who puts their faith in you.

The next poem is called:

Being We

I see you there, my friend.
And I that see you see me.
I’ll take care of you, my friend.
And together we can be “we.”

INTERVIEW

Grammy: I’m not going to ask you boys what you think of my poems because I think they’re a little too serious for you! But, they are about friends, and I know you understand friendship. Normally, Eli interviews our guests. But today, I’m going to do the interviewing, and I’m going to interview both of you. OK?

Miggz and Eli: OK

Grammy: Miggz and Eli… Let’s start with Eli. Name three friends who are in your life.

Eli: James, Javian, and Miggz.

Grammy: And Miggz, you name three friends.

Miggz: Well, let’s start off with Eli, and Carter, and my neighbor, Xavier.

Grammy: Excellent. I like how you are each on each other’s lists. That’s a good starting point! Eli, what do you look for in a friend?

Eli: What I look for in a friend is somebody who is nice and helpful and who will always be there for you.

Miggz: I agree with Eli with the part that will always be there for you, and looking for a friend who is funny and doesn’t get me mad a lot.

Grammy: Right? That’s important. Doesn’t get you mad a lot… So, what is your favorite thing to do with a friend?

Eli: I like to play video games with my friends.

Miggz: I like to play outside or go on walks with my friends.

Grammy: I’m biased to the outdoor activities. I like doing things with my friends outside too. How long have you two been friends?

Eli: Like six years.

Miggz: Since we were in kindergarten.

Grammy: And Miggz, you’re more than just friends. What else are you?

Miggz: We’re cousins.

Grammy: Cousins. That’s cool. And what do you both like about hanging out together?

Miggz: That we play video games together.

Eli: And how we’ve been friends for so long, we kind of know what the other one is going to say, like about the game or something.

ACTIVITY

Grammy: Right, like when you’ve had a friend for such a long time, you know each other and what is going to make them mad and so maybe you don’t do it—or maybe you do—and you know what each other likes, and you’re just in a groove. You get in a groove. I think you guys are really fun to be with. I love watching you play together and listening to you talk, and I love that you’re good friends with each other. So, Eli, do we have an activity today? I bet we do.

Eli: So, today’s activity is to think of one special friend and write about what you like about that person.

Grammy: Please share it on my blog or Facebook page. Post a photo of you with your friend. We would really like that! 

Eli and Grammy: That’s the end of the fifteenth Poem Pod. We’re still smiling under our masks here with Miggz, and we hope you’re still smiling under yours. Have a great day!