Bianca with Idina Menzel and Cara Mentzel on Loud Mouse

In this episode, I talk with sisters Cara Mentzel and
Tony-award-winner Idina Menzel about their debut picture book
Loud Mouse: How a Little Mouse Found Her Big Voice.


Cara Mentzel's debut memoir, Voice Lessons: A
Sisters Story,  about her relationship with her superstar
sister, Idina Menzel (yes,  they spell their last names
differently), was a Good Reads Choice Award nominee in 2017. Cara
lives in Boulder, Colorado, where she and her husband raised
their Brady Bunch of boys against the beauty of the Rocky
 Mountains. She has a master's degree in elementary
education with an emphasis on children's literacy, and though she
currently spends most of her time writing, she enjoyed teaching
elementary school for well over a  decade and can
occasionally be found back in the classroom talking about books
she loves. Loud Mouse is her first picture book.

Idina  Menzel is a powerhouse: actor,
singer-songwriter, philanthropist,  entrepreneur, and now a
writer. She was Tony-nominated for her Broadway performances in
Rent and If/Then, winning the prize for Wicked's green girl.
People around the world know her as Elsa in Disney's
Oscar-winning  Frozen and Frozen 2. She has performed at the
Oscars and the Super Bowl, and is the co-founder of A Broader Way
Foundation, whose mission is leadership development to amplify
young women's voices through the arts. Loud Mouse is Idina's
latest endeavor to build on the message of empowerment and
finding our voices. Idina's greatest gift is her son,
 Walker.


Order copies:


Loud Mouse on https://bookshop.org/a/2078/9781368078061 or
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xQrnDh.


You can check out the lyric video created using Jaclyn Sinquett’s
gorgeous illustrations at Books.Disney.com/LoudMouse and
download the song from your favorite platform
today.


Transcription:


You can read the transcription on The Children's Book Review.


Resources:


Voice Lessons by Cara Mentzel and a foreword by Idina Menzel


A Broader Way Foundation


Discussion Topics:


About Loud Mouse

Idina Menzel's inspiration for Loud Mouse

Cara Mentzel's drive for co-authoring Loud Mouse

Finding one's voice and celebrating it

Sisterhood—in the story and through collaboration

The illustrations of Jaclyn Sinquett and finding humor in the
little details

The spectacular use of vocabulary—the juicy words

And then the part when Idina Menzel reads (sings) for us.