Navigating Night

**Lisa Bueno** (0:00)
Okay, our friends, so today we have been, well, we've been reading stories about feelings and how sometimes it's hard to know what to do with them. And there are so many different feelings that we can have, but it's hard to navigate them, right? They're big things. So today we're gonna talk about an example of a place where you might have those feelings in your life, things that you might be doing, things that might happen that you think, I would like to be able to talk to someone about these feelings. And so we're gonna watch what happens in this story. Today's story is called Navigating Night. It was written by Julie Young and illustrated by Angie Kang, and it's read today by Mommy and...
Philip. My guy, Philip. Are you ready, bud? Yeah. Let's tell this, let's tell this story, shall we?
So in the picture, we can see a girl and it looks like her dad, and they've got their hands full of something. It's kind of hard to tell because it's raining. What do you think that something is? Food. Food. Bags of food, right? It says, the night places a cool hand on my shoulder, as Baba and I shuttle cardboard trays full of takeout containers from our restaurant to the minivan. Darkness shadows our path. Baba and I, we navigate it together. It is pouring rain and they are taking bags of food to their van.
Steam from the food fogs up the windows, filling the car with the smell of tangy sauces. My tummy grumbles, but the deliveries come first. We pull out from the parking lot and I watch our restaurant shrink away in the rear view mirror. While Baba drives, I look at my notebook full of addresses and the foldout map across my lap. Roads sprawl before me like a spiderweb.
Do you know what a map is?
A lot of people today will just use their phone like a GPS, right? They just put in the address and then their phone tells them which way to go. But before we had phones, people would have to use a paper map and they would have to learn where the streets are and they would have to learn where the houses are, on which streets and which direction to go for which address. It was a lot of work back then. Peach Trees Street, I say, in a mix of Cantonese and English.
Here? Baba asks. I squint at the sign. Yes! Baba turned slowly onto a street lined with homes. I peek into the windows. A brother and sister finish their homework in front of the TV. A family sits down for dinner on a big wooden table. Our first stop is one of our regular customers. When we arrive, an old lady with a cat greets us. She orders the same meal every time. Beef and broccoli cooked extra soft. Baba puts the bag on her table, and then hands her a small glass bottle with a blue label. Then he says something to her that is only in the Chinese language that they are speaking.
Cantonese.

**Philip** (3:57)
What does it say?

**Lisa Bueno** (3:58)
It says it in Cantonese. What does it say in Cantonese? I do not read Cantonese.
I cannot read Cantonese, so I do not know.

**Philip** (4:07)
Oh, no. Yeah.

**Lisa Bueno** (4:10)
He says, pointing to his knees and knuckles.
And the woman doesn't know what he's saying either, because it doesn't look like she knows how to speak Cantonese. So, in the picture, we can see why the little girl goes with her dad, because listen to what she does next. My dad wants to give you this oil for your pain. I translate. The lady smiles at us and says, thank you. What a good kid you are, helping your dad. I don't want to be a good kid. I want to be a normal kid.
Can I ask you a question? Do you think she's a normal kid? No. No? Why not?

**Philip** (5:07)
Because I mean, most normal kids don't get to ride around with their dad.

**Lisa Bueno** (5:12)
No, most normal kids don't get to ride around with their dad. She's extra cool, but you know what else she is? She's very normal, because all kids get to help their parents. It's just the way of life. At our next stop, a man opens the door and turns on his porch light. Baba walks up with a tray, double-checking the order. Large Mongolian beef, large Mughal gai pan, quart of egg drop soup, pork fried rice, four egg rolls. I follow with a big bottle of Coca-Cola tucked under my arm.