美国国家公共电台 NPR Jimmy Kimmel Picture Books Asks Kids To Make 'The Serious Goose' Smile

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Jimmy Kimmel's debut¹ children's book has a straightforward² motive³ - turn a no-nonsense, smile-free goose silly. The comedian⁴ has spent his late night career cracking up adult audiences. But in his new book "The Serious Goose," which he wrote and illustrated⁵, it's the kids he's hoping to entertain - most notably⁶, the two silly geese of his own, his youngest two children - his daughter Jane and his son Billy, who underwent open-heart surgery two years ago. Kimmel has been outspoken⁷ about the American health care system. And all proceeds of the book will go to Children's Hospital Los Angeles and other children's hospitals around the country. And he joins us now from his studio in Los Angeles. Welcome.

JIMMY KIMMEL: Hello. How are you?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I'm great. How did you come up with the idea for the goose? I mean, since this came out of your imagination, what did you want to depict⁸?

KIMMEL: I call my daughter Jane a goose. That's my nickname for her. And so I'd ask her, today, are you a serious goose? Or are you a silly goose? And it was really kind of a way of getting her out of a bad mood. And she would - sometimes, she'd go, I'm a serious goose. And that would be it for the day. But I liked trying to change her from the serious to the silly goose.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You have spent your career making adult audiences laugh...

KIMMEL: Or trying, yeah.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Or trying.

KIMMEL: Trying as best as I can.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: What's harder, adults or kids?

KIMMEL: Oh, adults are much, much harder. I - if I could do a kid's show, I'd be perfectly⁹ happy. Kids are always ready to laugh. And it's an interesting thing. When you host a talk show and you start out, most people don't know who you are. So you can go out on the street. And you can have fun with people. And you can take them by surprise. But when people know who you are, they're expecting something. And you don't get that from kids. Kids are a clean slate¹⁰ when you meet them. And that's weirdly¹² refreshing¹³.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. So the proceeds from this book are going to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. You first went public in 2017 about your son's health. Just for people who may not know, can you remind us of your son's story?

KIMMEL: So my son Billy - he was born with two congenital heart defects, which - Billy had to undergo a heart surgery pretty much immediately and then another one six months later. And then he will have to have another one when he's - in about six or seven years. And it was really a shock. And it went from me sending an email to the family saying, hey, he was born - William John Kimmel. Here's his weight. Everybody's fantastic. To two hours later, hold up on that. I just need to tell you that not everything is great. And please just stand by. And leave us alone for a few hours. And I'll let you know.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I think it is a hard thing to weave - right? - that you have this very difficult thing that you're going through. But you wanted to talk about and engage the public with it. Why did you feel that was important?

KIMMEL: I figured this out once. And I know this is dumb. But I ran out of gas. And I had to push my car the last half mile to the gas station. And I was just thinking, like, oh, this is stupid. How could I have done this? And the next morning, I went on the radio. And I told this story. And it was a funny story about running out of gas. And I realized that one of the great things about being a comedian having a show is when something bad happens to you, you can make something good out of it. And as I was sitting in the hospital, the Affordable¹⁴ Care Act was being threatened. And I decided¹⁵ that instead of just telling the story of Billy and thanking the doctors and nurses, which I definitely wanted to do, I would also tie it to the other families who aren't as fortunate as we are.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: So I'm sure you've noticed that this country is going through a moment. And it seems, you know, like late night was always a place in the past where you could sort of leave those divisions behind and just laugh. But you and Stephen Colbert are overtly¹⁶ political. Are you worried that at a time like this, you're just adding to the us vs. them narrative¹⁷?

KIMMEL: Sometimes, I worry about that. I always used to worry about that. And I never wanted to be the guy preaching to the choir¹⁸. But when I got involved in the health care debate and in the gun control debate, I got branded in a certain way. And like it or not, that's what it is. So I see no reason to be even-handed anymore. I mean, I don't think you can be even-handed. I think we're in a situation - I really think we're being attacked from the inside. And the idea of ignoring it just seems weird¹¹ to me. So, you know, I think we all know there are two things people are talking about - is Trump¹⁹ and what TV show you should be watching.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter). So I want to bring it back to the book. What do you want children and parents to take away?

KIMMEL: Well, for parents, I think most importantly, this book takes about five minutes to read.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: (Laughter).

KIMMEL: Was that the case for you?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: That really was the case for me. And as a bedtime story, that is gold.

KIMMEL: That's number one. I mean, these kids are negotiators right at the outset.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Totally.

KIMMEL: And my daughter's like, I want five books. I'll say, I'll read you two books. She's like, five. I said, all right, three. Five.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Every parent recognizes that negotiation²⁰.

KIMMEL: Yeah. And you never win. But it's fun. The kids enjoy it. And I've had good success with reading it to kids. I think they get a kick out of making funny faces in the little mirror in the middle of the book.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Jimmy Kimmel is the host of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and the author and illustrator of "The Serious Goose." Thank you so much.

KIMMEL: Thank you very much.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLAZO'S "BRISK YELLOW")

1 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

2 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

3 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

4 comedian   

n.喜剧演员；滑稽演员

参考例句：

• The comedian tickled the crowd with his jokes.喜剧演员的笑话把人们逗乐了。
• The comedian enjoyed great popularity during the 30's.那位喜剧演员在三十年代非常走红。

5 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

6 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

7 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

8 depict   

vt.描画，描绘；描写，描述

参考例句：

• I don't care to see plays or films that depict murders or violence.我不喜欢看描写谋杀或暴力的戏剧或电影。
• Children's books often depict farmyard animals as gentle,lovable creatures.儿童图书常常把农场的动物描写得温和而可爱。

9 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

10 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

11 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

12 weirdly   

古怪地

参考例句：

• Another special characteristic of Kweilin is its weirdly-shaped mountain grottoes. 桂林的另一特点是其形态怪异的岩洞。
• The country was weirdly transformed. 地势古怪地变了样。

13 refreshing   

adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的

参考例句：

• I find it'so refreshing to work with young people in this department.我发现和这一部门的青年一起工作令人精神振奋。
• The water was cold and wonderfully refreshing.水很涼，特别解乏提神。

14 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

15 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

16 overtly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• There were some overtly erotic scenes in the film. 影片中有一些公开色情场面。
• Nietzsche rejected God's law and wrote some overtly blasphemous things. 尼采拒绝上帝的律法，并且写了一些渎神的作品。

17 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

18 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

19 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

20 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。