New View EDU Episode 55: Creating Bravely

Available April 9, 2024

Find New View EDU on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and many other podcast apps.

Create bravely. That’s the mantra of twin brothers Peter and Paul Reynolds. Together, they have built a life of service to others through creativity as authors, illustrators, designers, educators, bookstore owners, and digital media executives. They share a passion for inspiring others and helping people find their path in life through creativity, kindness, and what they call “hard fun.”

Peter and Paul ReynoldsPeter, left, and Paul join host Tim Fish to talk about how their shared work has led them to become deeply involved in schools, both through working with students and through founding initiatives to uplift and support educators. Starting with their background, the brothers share how their civic-minded parents raised them with the mindset that even when it feels like the world is falling apart, we can make things better by remaining hopeful. That early inspiration led them to look for ways to improve the world through everything they do.

Much of the Reynolds’ work has centered around the importance of storytelling. Peter is an award-winning author and illustrator, perhaps best known for his book The Dot, which has inspired educators everywhere through the annual International Dot Day. Paul helms FableVision Studios, a multimedia production studio in Boston specializing in educational game design and mission-driven digital media projects. Together, the brothers own The Blue Bunny Books and Toys and founded The Reynolds Center for Teaching and Learning. All of these projects, as well as many others, stay true to the ideal of “creating bravely” and “dipping things in story.” Both children and adults, the brothers say, reap the benefits of encouraging messages delivered playfully.

Describing schools as places where “sometimes learning happens,” Peter and Paul share their thoughts on the importance of creating magic in the learning environment. From thoughts on the physical attributes of school buildings (“I could draw you the school. It is called The School, with the front door and the office in the front…there’s a long hallway and there are little rectangular boxes off this hallway”) to their passion for helping students feel more seen, known, and confident, they stress that learning happens in many places and in many ways. It begins with what Peter calls the most important question: Who are you?

Helping people answer that question and find their “North Star” is what the Reynolds brothers seek to do, and to help schools do more effectively. 
 

Key Questions

Some of the key questions Tim, Paul, and Peter explore in this episode include:

  • How has your creative work as authors, designers, and storytellers allowed you to make a broad impact on the world?
  • What are the ingredients of a school environment that helps people—both students and faculty—find their path and learn to create bravely?
  • How does creating bravely and leaning into different ways to tell stories help create schools where students feel they matter?
  • What is the role of creativity, play, storytelling, and gaming in productive struggle?
  • How can schools do a better job of instilling compassion, community, and care through creativity?

Episode Highlights

  • “We're big believers that yes, learning does happen in school a lot of times, and sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes things happen in schools that are sort of counter to the mission. You may have the most important question in your mind, but I think that number one on the list is a really powerful question. It's only three words. Who are you? Who are you? And I think being able to answer that question is hard. It's hard work. And it doesn't take just 12 years. It may take 50 years. It could take 99 years. Who are you?” (7:04)
  • “We've seen, sadly, tragic results where kids just think, ‘I don't measure up. I don't even measure up to my own version of who I think I'm supposed to be.’ So actually, you're not supposed to be anything other than who you're meant to be. And our job is to make sure that you get there no matter what. And so that social and emotional support that we give through the books is really important to have people create bravely. And when we say create, it's, sure, create art and stories, but it's also, I think that learning is self-design. We're creating ourselves every single day.” (18:47)
  • “You know, kind kids are our kind of kids. And kind adults are our kind of adults. And, you know, sadly, that's something that, that fabric, that civic fabric has been fraying in the last almost decade. And that's one of the things we have to all work on collectively. If we can do that with our kids in schools and our colleagues, then that will move the world to a better place, for sure.” (28:29)
  • “So our first answer may be right. Yes, the sky can be blue. But your second answer is going to be more interesting. Your third, your fourth, your fifth. And you can even have wrong answers. And we always say wrong-ish, because it always leads to finding a new discovery. … When we do that deep dive, the answers get more and more interesting. And so that is with life. If you only give something just a cursory think, you may even get sort of a correct answer, but if you really do that deep dive, it's going to get really, really interesting.” (38:12)

Resource List

Full Transcript

  • Read the full transcript here.

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About Our Guests

Paul A. Reynolds is CEO of FableVision Studios, where he oversees creative strategy on all major initiatives, as well as overseeing the many teams that execute on that vision. An educational media/digital interactive developer and publisher, FableVision uses storytelling and technology to create positive programming and products to help all learners navigate their full potential. He also teaches digital media production at Boston College, where he has been inspiring students for nearly two decades to use media, storytelling, and technology to tell “stories that matter, stories that move.” He lives with his family in Dedham, Massachusetts, where they run a book and toy shop called The Blue Bunny.

Peter H. Reynolds is an accomplished writer, storyteller, and illustrator who has received global acclaim for his bestselling “stories for all ages” about protecting and nurturing the creative spirit, including the three books in his “Creatrilogy”: The Dot, Ish, and Sky Color. Scoring prestigious starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and School Library Journal, The Dot has now been published in more than 20 languages, including Braille, and has won numerous awards, including the Irma S. and James H. Black Honor (Bank Street College of Education), Oppenheim Platinum Toy Award, and the Christopher Medal. The film version of The Dot (Scholastic/Weston Woods) won the American Library Association's Carnegie Medal of Excellence for the Best Children's Video, while the film version of Ish was named one of ALA's Notable Children's Videos.  

The brothers also launched the Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning, and Creativity (RCTLC). The center is a nonprofit organization that encourages creativity and innovation in teaching and learning. It is dedicated to ensuring that all learners develop the vision, confidence, knowledge, and skills needed to move their own lives forward, and to use their talents, strengths, and energy to move their communities and the world to a better place.