Max Greenfield's New Book "Good Night Thoughts" - Library of Congress National Book Festival 2024

[Music] books are definitely meant to be a performance piece um I love I've given some of the greatest performances of my life in my son and daughter's rooms at night when I'm like you know really into a book and the ones that you can sort of get into and be big with and have fun [Music] with hi I'm Heather Marie montia and you are watching PDS Books thank you for joining us for the 2024 National book Festival author talk series PBS books in collaboration with PBS soal is pleased to host a conversation with actor and award-winning author Max Greenfield children's author of good night thoughts as well as many others since 2015 PBS books has shared with audiences across the country the voices of dynamic diverse authors PBS books is proud to partner with the Library of Congress to promote their 2024 National Book Festival let's take a moment to hear from the librarian of Congress Dr Carla Hayden greetings from Washington to all fellow Book Lovers I'm librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and I want to thank you for your support of author events here on PBS books we hope you can join us on Saturday August 24th at the Washington Convention Center for the 2024 National Book Festival we'll have an amazing lineup of authors including Doris Karn Goodwin James McBride Sandra cnos Tamarind Hall and many more and if you can't make it to DC you can watch the live stream or videos of the festival online hope you have a wonderful summer and happy reading thank you Dr Hayden the 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival will occur on Saturday August 24th from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. the festival is free and open to everyone focusing on books build us up the complete schedule for the 2024 National Book Festival can be found at loc.gov bookfest but if you can't be there on August 24th you can stream it live and curate your own experience PBS books and PBS stations are hosting a series of seven virtual events with seven authors they will also be available on demand on PBS books and the national Book Festival website today's conversation will be led by PBS SoCal senior director Maria Hall Brown welcome thank you heather it is absolutely spectacularly fabulous to be here so glad to have you and enjoy the conversation I am so excited to introduce to you someone who we all know and love from screen and television but is now a remarkable children's book author please welcome Max Greenfield who is here to talk about his wonderful book good night thoughts hi Max hi Maria thank you for having me you know if I fan girl out here on you you have to at least give me a little bit of forgiveness okay take take your time okay all right well you're I'm sure very very used to being introduced as an actor and all the wonderful work you've done on St on stage and screen but how does it feel now to be introduced as an author wonderful I mean I love I love I so love these books and um they happened in such a organic surprising way that um that to now be on our fourth and to see the ones that have already been written you know that have been out a few years now to see the impact that they've had specifically in schools to have people come up to me and know me from the books now um is is very very rewarding okay so the whole conceit was literally a pandemic baby I mean you you were home with the you were home with the kids you were Professor Greenfield and then you started thinking about what this whole parenting thing is like and you know then an offer came across your desk table phone whatever and you decided a children's book did you ever think that that was even part of your career trajectory no no no no I don't think I I haven't thought anything that I've done is a part of career trajectory but um yeah you know we were doing these videos during the pandemic as as a way to sort of just connect with other people and and both my daughter and I were were terrified by the IDE aidea of the two of us sitting in a room and trying to move through a curriculum um during the pandemic and uh and it it it caught some sort of momentum and people really connected to it and they were reaching out to us and and um all all on Instagram and uh and I had someone from from United talent agency read out who was my agency at the time uh they uh they reached out and said hey we think this could be a book or a podcast I said I can't talk for that long it's too much I can't do a podcast I said maybe it's a book and uh and I thought well I can't write an like a you know an adult book um it would take me far too long I be stuck on the first chapter for many many years um and then the idea of writing a children's book a picture book came about and I thought maybe I could do that and I love reading them so much um and I and I immediately thought well if I were ever going to do one it would be it would be called I don't want to read this book and it would be all the reasons why somebody doesn't want to read a book and by the end of the book that child has read the book um because that was my experience not only as a reluctant reader as a child but also with my own kids um I would sit in their rooms and we would go through you know the shelf of books and I would say what about this one what about this one what about this one and there would be a reason why she wouldn't want to read each one of them and by the you know a half hour and you're like well you have to go to sleep now and we've just we've had an argument for the last 30 minutes and so I was like what if you could put that argument into a book um in just a different attempt to try and get someone to read um and so that was the pitch and and amazingly uh we were then able to write that book shortly after and there were so many more thoughts and ideas that we had while we were writing it that didn't make the initial one that we then put into this book is not a present and then ultimately I don't want to read this book aloud which is really fun to read aloud okay you keep saying the word we is are are you really talking about working with your daughter um well I it's hard for I I get this question a lot because I I I tend to always use the word we no matter what but you know I guess yes my name is on the book um and I will say that uh I I don't know I feel like these are such collaborative experiences you know had such a wonderful experience with people of penguin Jennifer konky who's pished all of the books at this point I feel like might as well be credited as a co-author um everyone a penguin you know having conversations with my daughter and and my wife Tess and and my other child Azie our son who's younger now um yeah they just don't feel singular uh and it's so it's I I I always find it odd when people are like my you know even if like my show I'm like really you work on that alone well that's very nor I do I also I very much confuse people too though because they will go what do you mean we okay then I can join that list but having said that the voice within the books are very much yours I mean I think we can hear you we can hear you know Max Greenfield we can hear the characters we've loved over the years years we can hear you because as a I think these books are designed to be enjoyed almost as a performance as well as a book uh thus of course leading to I don't want to read this aloud which then kind of wrapped up the trilogy did you know did you feel it okay I have this Trilogy done now I have I don't want to read this book I don't want this book is not a present and now I don't want to read this book aloud did you feel okay we've wrapped up the trilogy let's move on to something else yeah uh it's a great question um to go back a little bit defin the def the books are definitely meant to be a performance piece um I love I've given some of the greatest performances of my life in my son and daughter's rooms at night when I'm like you know really into a book and the ones that you can sort of get into and be big with and have fun with um the book with no pictures uh the day the crayon quit I love I love those books and you can really like there's a lot of intention and emotion in those and uh and they're fun and so I really wanted um all of these books to be that way and essentially they're just long monologues um and you can really have fun with it and also what what I've noticed is teachers and Librarians um Educators being able to read those books and share ideas that you know are not commonly talked about in the classroom for them to do it and for them to have fun with it and for the kids to then see that it opens up a discussion and becomes one of the most rewarding aspects of any of these books uh yeah but when I got to this book uh I don't want to read this book aloud it definitely did feel like that was that was the end of of of this sort of of this tone of this I think we had sort of said everything we needed to say about reading and and the fears that go along with reading uh you know I think I don't want to read this I don't want to read this book is about not wanting to read and being genuinely afraid to read and I think you know this book is not a present it discusses you know people who learn in a different way and I don't want to read this book aloud it's pretty self-explanatory it's about the fears of being up in front of people and reading aloud um and what's nice about the book is I you know I've taken a stab at a couple different ones I keep trying to break a math one I haven't been able to do it um but I'll sit down and I'll write them and I'll go is this a book or is it not um and sometimes you know I'll start it this book is uh I don't want to read this book aloud took a minute to sort of crack exactly where we were going to go I'll write the full book and then if it feels good then I'll talk to penguin about it and if not I'll go all right well it's not really one and there isn't M there wasn't much else that I wanted to explore and that's space and had a wonderful conversation with with Jen Jennifer klansky again over a penguin about what we wanted to do next and the idea of tackling a a more traditional children's book uh was was something we both were were really excited by and the Genesis of this is is profound and poignant at the same time uh Obviously good night thoughts you know I don't know if you had nightmares growing up as a child or growing up as a child that doesn't make sense if you had nightmares as a child today I know exactly um but the thing that you said about the fear of reading or the fear of reading aloud you're really tapping into things that children experience and perhaps we've not necessarily supported them enough and now you're getting into anxiety um and having these dreams or having these fears and good night thoughts also was inspired by somebody who you love very much and who you lost yeah yeah you know we were uh I gosh I think we were probably out with um we're doing some promotional stuff for this book is not a present at the time um and uh but I don't want to read this book aloud had already been written and the conversation about doing a more traditional book came up uh and it was it was it coincided when uh a a friend of mine Leslie Jordan who I'm sure many of you know who who was at the national book fair with his book um a few years ago and uh he had just passed on um and so he was obviously top of mind and and the two I don't know his passing and and and this idea of writing a traditional children's book because I think you know in knowing him very well and obviously knowing the two of us in our relationship I think you know we very much were children um and we had had we had had these discussions a lot about about fear um and and one way that one anecdote that he had shared with me that we both found a lot of meaning in um sort of shaped the the the foundation of what good night thoughts and ended up being ultimately um it was not a nighttime it was not a bedtime book uh we were more discussing fears just that we would wake up with um but most kids don't read books when they first wake up in the morning maybe they should but so we switched it to a nighttime story but I mean basically the anecdote you know that we would share with one another is is he would name he had someone in his life that said I want you to write down all the things that you're afraid of and so Leslie would write down all the thing and he was so funny about it he'd be like I don't know I write down all these things sharks and uh being attacked by bees and the dentist and a man write all these things and uh and then he would he would let him write it for a few days and then he would come back to him say have you written your list yet and Leslie would say yes I I wrote it he goes okay well I'd like for you to Now read it to me and you so he read all these things and he's sweating and losing it you know he's all uncomfortable and all these things that make him scared and and his friend would look at him afterwards and go okay well name all of the things that are on name the things that are on that list that are in front of you right now and let well none of them are in front of me and uh he goes okay well well then why are you carrying this fear around with you then oh and andless he be like oh shoot and it was an interesting and you know obviously Leslie tells it in a way where um you have immediate relief because he was so wonderful and he was the best Storyteller he was so funny um but that really shaped the idea of this book you know these things that we all afraid of um well you've answered the dentist question because that was one of the things it's like what's up with with Max and the dentist don't it came from it came from lesie we can say that no the dentist actually is mine I just threw it in there a bit because it's always top of mine for me um yeah no the dentist maybe the next book will just be about the dentist but uh but yeah that's really that's what B I'm sorry what's that I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt you but at least it would be Conquering the fear of the dentist because that's that's kind of what you do is you're really good at right I mean what I love about this book is it's it's really not about conquering any fears um it's more about accepting the fears for what they are and and knowing that they exist but also being able to build a different relationship with them in the moments where they're not in front of you and so bedtime was the perfect place to set this because when you're laying in bed and and you know your parent is reading you a book um and you're trying to fall asleep most of those things if not all of those things are don't actually exist in that moment right and so how do we sort of allow ourselves to accept that and be okay with it and put ourself at ease so you mentioned that lesie would love the book but he would have wished that he was on the cover I'm wondering is he the teddy bear maybe that's a James by the way I have to say you know it's it's so funny you write these books specifically this book um having done the first three books I I you know which are all just um are so much about words I really wanted to in this book up an illustrator to make to create a beautiful world and so everything that's in the book not only are are very real fears and and and are very specific but were designed in a way and and articulated in a way for a for a an illustrator to really play and have fun and and make create beautiful images um and my God did we get lucky with James seraphino Holy Moly I mean I I like to take credit for this book and I will but really is it is so much of his creation and the images in this when you know when you when you make a children's book they send you images throughout and penguin is making notes and giving you know James and the and the illustrator uh direction throughout um and you just kind of sit there and go oh my God this is but as soon as we got the first images in I I I I was so blown away and and realized oh my God this book is going to be incredible and and I really believe that that it is and what he did with what he did with the words on the page and this thing is truly remarkable it is it is breathtakingly beautiful I've seen the preview copy so congratulations so this whole world of being um a children's author how has the experience been for you because you are now at festivals and you're at the Library of Congress Book Festival I mean that's heady stuff you're in your featured author with some pretty rarified air Doris Karns Goodwin James Patterson well now I'm nervous no you should be excited how has this been what's the what's the relationship been like for you stepping out of the world of you performing and then you being the Creator and seeing how that work is impacting an audience of a very different kind yeah it's I mean it's I don't know that I it's been it's been a lot of things um you know I'm so used to stepping into somebody else's words someone else's story someone else's material and putting my own experience into it but it's it's always always been in service of you know honoring somebody else's story um and uh and these have been very very personal and and and my own story and uh and they were ALS they they've also been very specific in terms of what we had hoped they would connect with or who they who who we hoped that they would connect with um and ultimately you know the first three have found their way into into schools and libraries um I'm so excited to be speaking uh and going down to Alla this year um to see all the Librarians um but you know to you you social media is wonderful in the sense that you will get sent pictures from teachers and and from librarian who whomever it's just showing you the impact Little People yeah yeah and the use of these books and then when you go to the fairs and you're and and you know the people who it's interesting you know the first when the first book came out you go to a fair and all the people who line up for for a book or want a book or want a book signed by you you know I a bunch of them know you from TV and are kind of there for that and you go okay well they all look like me at that stage and that but you know as we've as the books have been out there for a while and we've done these for a few years now so many of the people are there because of the because of the books and they really want they love the books and and and to see the impact that they've had in the classroom and on students and on students with learning differences um it's been so wonderful and and exciting and um and rewarding and now this book which I think is this book is a lot simpler I mean we could talk about it forever but the idea of this book is really really simple and I and I think that's kind of the beauty of it and hopefully the connection point that I'll have with hopefully a lot of people um and so I'm I'm I'm really excited to see how good night thoughts having seen how the other books have connected with people and teachers and and uh and Educators to see how good night thoughts connects with an audience is going to be really really exciting have you had a comment from a little guy I mean not a teacher or a librarian but just a little person that you've actually had an interaction with that like took you back in a good way that you were like oh okay yeah a lot of you know what the best experience is being in a classroom which I've had you know the opportunity to be uh in and and and watching seven eight niney old pick up one of the books and read them you know you sometimes you get a child who's like right on the precipice of of really breaking through as a reader and they'll read the book and it is just there is nothing better and you could see like they get the intonations they get the rhythm of the book they get the jokes in the book and so they get excited about M taking that voice and making it their own which it's set up to do and so to watch these kids move through that in this in the exact space that they're supposed to be at when they find these when when when they find these books is the greatest and they get you could see like they and and there's specifically words es in that you know in the first one and and all of them that are supposed to be difficult and supposed to be tongue twisters and supposed to be big for a young child and to see them like be okay with knowing that this is not necessarily a word I'm supposed to know and I'm gonna just go at it as hard as I can um is so rewarding and then to watch you know kids read the allowed book um up and in front of people is uh is about as good as it gets well it's a pretty wonderful thing that you've done the question is and we're going to have to wrap up which is making me sad but the question is are you continuing are you going to continue with this I mean your children are getting older um and you're writing for particular age are you hooked you're not I'm not unfortunately I I'm not get I mean I guess physically I'm getting older but mentally I don't know yeah but you're gonna yeah I would love to you know I yes I I I think so if the stories keep you know I know what the books look like now and I and I know what they need and and I think and you know should you find the stories and the right moments that that match up and it feels like a book then definitely um if there's a story to tell I'd love to keep doing it well sadly we've run out of time next time we'll talk about your potential guitar career but great to hear that you're going to continue writing thank you for all of your talent both on screen um as well as with these remarkable books we are very lucky that you are in our world and thank you for being a part of PBS books and sharing all of this with our members and the behind the scenes of good night thoughts let's bring back our wonderful friend Heather well Maria thank you so much for leading this fabulous fun conversation and Max thank you so much for your insights into your book uh Max's new book good night thoughts comes out on September 3rd so please go to your local library your independent bookstore or wherever you get books to get that new book I'd also like to thank everyone out there for joining us make sure you like And subscribe so that you never miss any of the 2024 National Book Festival author talks to hear more from Max Greenfield and from the full schedule of featured 2024 Library of Congress National Book Festival author talks you can go to the PBS books website at pbsb org and don't forget you can be part of the festival virtually or in person on Saturday August 24th from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. this event is free and open to the public you can visit loc.gov bookfest for all the details until next time I'm Heather Marie montia and happy reading [Music]