Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! - Everyone & A Giant Worm

Episode Date: September 21, 2022

Comedian Karen Chee and Emma meet a giant worm and learn how to write a spooky children's book.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Hi everyone! I'm Emma Choi and welcome to Everyone and Their Mom, a weekly show from Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. This week we're talking about a really big worm. With Wait Wait panelist, comedian, and a woman who I'm almost positive has already used the phrase Jiminy Cricket sometime today, it's Karen Chi. Hey Karen. Aww, nice to see you. Nice to see you too. Am I right? Have you used that phrase today? Yeah, only twice. It does sound like something I would get tattooed on my body. Absolutely. And I pray for that day. Well, Karen, we've got a real fun story for you this week. A boy found a giant worm in his

backyard. That's the whole story. That's awesome. How big was the worm? I can't even wait to tell you about this, Karen. Have you ever wondered to yourself, huh, I wonder if there's a worm out there that's a meter long, bodaciously thick, and absolutely just hanging out in some little boy's backyard? A bodaciously thick worm? Yeah, backyard. A bodaciously thick worm? Yeah, Karen. Oh my god. Nine-year-old New Zealander Barnaby Domigan discovered the worm of worms in his backyard, and we are just like super thrilled for him, okay? And this thing is huge. Imagine the biggest freaking worm you can think of. This worm is bigger than that. That's wild. I know, it's as thick as a garden hose, and not joking, it is actually a meter long. That's like three subway

foot longs back to back. If you stood it up and put a tutu on it, it could probably pass as a skinny eight-year-old in dance class. That's how big it is. Yeah, and probably much better at doing the worm. Yeah. Wait, that's crazy though. I also didn't know that they had such big worms in New Zealand. Is it normal there for worms to be bigger? I think so. I mean, everything's bigger in New Zealand, in Australia, right? But I think this worm was also like egregiously big, you know, because on one hand, it's an enigma, right?

It's the Andre of the giant of worms. But, you know, on the other hand, it's also just a classic worm. You know, it's pink. It's got that weird segmented bendy straw thing near its head. And as Barnaby put it so wisely, it's, quote, cold and squishy. It's a sentient extra long hot dog, Karen. It's basically an intestine with feelings. That's okay. The thing I can't imagine is is like, is it actually the thickness of a garden? Like is the girth of the worm as thick as a garden hose? Or is it just long and still quite skinny?

No, it's quite thick. It's like three of my fingers. In diameter? In diameter. Did they put it in a zoo? No, Barnaby or, you know, we're calling Bee Barnes. He named the worm Dead Fred, which is, you know, a perfect name. And he wanted to keep him in a plastic bag in his house.

But, you know, his parents said no to calling the worm, quote, the stuff of nightmares. And, you know, that was probably the right call. Everyone knows you should store your worms in a reusable tote. Emma, this actually, I feel like, could be a really good children's book. Barnaby and the Giant Worm. Oh yeah, oh my god, the illustrations would be amazing. Karen, how do you think that story would go? Okay, it would be the worm showing up in the house. The worm being like, all my worm friends have never loved me because I was too big. And Barnaby being like, I love you. So they get along. The worm is so was too big and Barnaby being like I love you so they get along the worm is so helpful gives Barnaby a ride to school but then everybody else starts bullying

Barnaby because of the worm so then the worm is like oh no I'm making Barnaby's life harder so he disappears and then Barnaby gets really sad right but Barney's parents are like thank god the worm is out of the house and so the worm worm is like, I did the good thing by leaving. And then one day Barnaby realizes that the worm has left a glistening trail behind him. A worm slime. Yeah, as he wiggles. Wow. So then Barnaby, very excited, goes and finds the worm. I think at some point something really devastating needs to happen. Like the worm gets like part of it run over by a bicycle or something. Because when worms split, they turn into two worms, right? Or is that a myth?

I don't know. I think at least like part of it grows back. Okay. So, well, let's say it's another worm. So Barnaby has a friend worm that are two slightly smaller but still very giant worms. And then they reunite and become friends. That is such a good story. Thank you. One note, can the worm be wearing a top hat? Yeah, I think it must. I think the top hat needs

to be as long as the body. Just to start off, Donna, can you introduce yourself for us? Sure. I'm Donna Barba-Igueda, and I write children's books, middle grade and picture books. Yeah, you do. Yeah. And they're incredible. You are a freaking New York Times bestselling children's book author. You've won a Newbery Award, which is basically like the American Idol of kids books award, right? I never, I haven't heard of it that way, but okay. I'll tell my kids that that will impress them. So cool. Well, thank you so much for being here. We've been talking this week about this boy who found a giant worm in his backyard and we thought it would be a really great idea for a children's book. What do you think? Okay. I feel like anything that you can come up with that makes you

Okay, I feel like anything that you can come up with that makes you give pause for just a moment and ask you, how in the heck did that happen? Or what if? So, yeah, it would make an awesome children's book. Yay. Yeah, it totally reminded us of like, you know, Emily and the Big Red Dog, Clifford and like all these animal-human pairings. You're going really friendly with this giant worm. My mind went to a really dark place. I mean, imagine when you were a kid, the best books were the ones that were really scary

or the ones that made you feel a little bit more grown up or kind of ask yourself those imaginative questions. Totally. That's so funny because we were talking about that too. Like, you know, like what makes a good children's book? Because honestly, it's a little confusing because some of our favorites are like really dark. Like in the Korean Cinderella, the evil stepsister actually drowns Cinderella and assumes her identity or like you know in Hansel and Gretel the kids get like absolutely murked by the witch yeah that's kind of the way I think as well like how much worse can I make it for this character and so you know what like this boy what if he

you know finds this worm and in you know initially he thinks it's a friendly worm and then it goes really dark into a bad place. And then the worm starts to attack his his home and his town and his friends. And then he has to step up and fight and and kill the worm, which, you know, of course, turns out to be a baby worm. And we know that there are bigger worms out there. So I don't know. That's where my mind goes. I love that. Yeah. Do you ever get like feedback from kids like rating your books to your face? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. They'll tell me characters that they like or don't like. And sometimes it's supposed to be that way. Like there's a mean character and they're like,

I really don't like that. I'm like, good. That's what you were supposed to. Do you ever get like, I know that sometimes, you know, kids books are big for bedtime. I've learned. Is it offensive when kids fall asleep during your books? No, I actually, well, I guess it depends on the book. If it's super action packed, and they're snoozing, I would like, oh, maybe I didn't hit the mark on that one. But I think that, you know, picture books, well, books in general can be a really safe place. And I think that, you know, picture books, well, books in general can be a really safe place. And I think that the world sometimes can be kind of scary. And so if a kid can come home and curl up with a book and they fall asleep, then you've hit the goal. Totally. Yeah. I mean, I want to ask you about the like the children's book author community, because that seems interesting.

Like, do you have a conference where there's like a slime machine in a bouncy house? I wish they would be so much better if there was slime in a bouncy house. Okay, I will say though, my best friends in life are writers. And I think that because a lot of us, we are like kids

and we still have our heads in the clouds. And it's like having this secret treehouse of trust where we can talk to one another and speak freely. There are conferences and people are on their best behavior. But then when you get to a table with friends and you're actually sitting around, especially children's writers have the biggest potty mouths. And it's just we're kids in adult bodies. around especially children's writers have the biggest potty mouths and like we'll say and and it's just we're we're kids and adult bodies i have a hard time imagining you with a potty mouth can you can we get a sample oh i can add to anything like oh the lunch like lunch and like you know breakfast oh bagel you know you can just add it to anything.

And it's just the perfect curse word for me. Oh, that's so wonderful to hear. One last question. What question would you want to ask this little worm boy to know more about his story? Okay, first of all, what did he do with the worm? Once he found it, did he keep it? Did he put it back where it was? I'm talking to him later, so I'll get you with some answers.

You are? I know. I'm so lucky. I just got goosebumps. You're meeting the famous worm boy of New Zealand. That's so exciting. I'm Barnaby Dormigan from Christchurch in New Zealand. Yeah, and I mean, you're from New Zealand, but you're basically a worldwide celebrity at this point because you found a really big worm. Congrats, man. That is a huge freaking worm you found. Thank you. Are you the coolest kid at school now that you found this huge worm?

I don't know. I actually don't know. Why don't you tell us what happened from the... Can you tell us the story of how you found this worm from the beginning? Yes, I'd be delighted to. Okay, so you see, we have a riverbed down by our backyard, and I decided to go explore it because I hadn't been in it much. So I went into the riverbed and I walked along the side and then there it was. I saw a giant worm lying in the water. Whoa, oh my gosh. What did it feel like to find that guy?

It was just so exciting because I didn't know if it was like a worm or an eel or they had been in like spray paint or something like that. Cool. And what did it feel like? I mean, it must have been really exciting to see it in your hand, right? It was really, really, really, really, really exciting to see it in your hand, right? It was really, really, really, really, really exciting because I'd never seen a worm that big in my life. So was it alive? No, it was dead because it was drowned in the water when I picked it up. That's pretty sad. Was it heavy then? Because it must have been, it looked big, right? It was huge.

So it was really heavy. What did you do next? So you had the worm on the stick. What comes next? Well, I picked it up with the stick. Then I came over to the fence and I said, Dad, Dad, I found a giant worm. And then he came over and took a photo

and then posted it on Facebook but and then suddenly the whole world wanted to find out about what how I found the worm. So what did you do with the worm after you showed your dad did you give it a funeral? No well I wanted to keep it in like a jar or a plastic bag, but then my dad said that it was like too disgusting and he didn't want a worm in the house. So I had to say goodbye. I put it on the side of the river and I waved. So are you going to keep looking for worms in your backyard after this or are you all done? I'm going to hope for the best and keep looking. I love that attitude. Well, thank you so much, Barnaby B. Barnes. We had so much fun. Is there anything else you want to say to the world about Mr. Dead Fred? No, no, thank you. But thank you so much for inviting me on this call

today. And thank you for coming. This was a lot of fun. Here's my favorite part of the podcast, the credits. This show was brought to you by Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. This episode was produced by Hayley Fager, Zola Ray, and Kelly Wessinger. With help from Oja Lopez, Clyde Robertson, Lillian King, Sophie Hernandez-Semillones, and George Lucas. Not the one you're thinking of, like a separate one. Our supervising producer is Jennifer Mills, and our unproblematic king is Mike Danforth. Once again, Lorna White, thank you for being Lorna White

and for doing our sound. Thanks to Barnaby Dom domington for bringing the joy of deed free to the world did free do i did donna barbara higuera thanks for talking to us about all things creepy and cute we're at a sleepover and we're just making a crazy story her new book the last quintista is out now thank you to my co-host, comedian, WaitWaitPanelist, and someone I'm dreaming of opening a craft store with. It's Karen Chi. Yes, I can do whatever I want. You can find her on Twitter and on Instagram at Karen Chi. I'm Emma Choi, and you can find me at WaitWaitNPR, and talking myself out of piercing my own ears a la The Parent Trap style. They make it look like

very safe and easy, but google says i should not do that okay i'm done this is npr