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

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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")