In this informal interview, adult interviewer SPEAKER A chats with 10‑year‑old Alana about her recent reading habits and her thoughts on literature and moral concepts. Alana reports reading the Chronicles of Narnia (currently on the fourth book), Robinson Crusoe, and several Roald Dahl titles. She prefers the books over their film adaptations, explaining that reading lets her imagine characters and settings. The conversation shifts to a philosophical discussion where Alana defines "smart" and "wise," explores their opposites, and distinguishes them from "foolish." She suggests that foolishness is making bad decisions, often due to lack of knowledge, and that even smart people can act foolishly. Alana reflects on how mentors and personal experience with bad decisions can teach better decision‑making. Specific examples from Narnia—Aslan, the White Witch, and Edward’s brief turn to evil—illustrate her points. The interview concludes with Alana naming her favorite Roald Dahl books (The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and expressing a preference for the books over movies.
Chapters
Hey Alana, how are you?
I'm good, how are you?
I'm well. Thanks for being patient. I was traveling to New Mexico and I had terrible internet while I was there. How have you been? I can't hear you. Is your volume on?
Yeah, my— yes, my volume's on.
Okay, now I can hear you. So tell me what you've been reading first. What have you been reading since we spoke last?
What I've been reading? I've been reading Chronicles of Narnia, some Robinson Crusoe. I've been reading sometimes random books off of my bookshelf, some Roald Dahl books.
Oh, marvelous.
Yeah.
Those are all great. Those are all great. Um, so first tell me what you think— how many of the Chronicles of Narnia— aren't there like 7 volumes, 7 books or 8?
Yeah, yeah, I think there's 7.
How many have you read?
I'm on the 4th book.
How are you liking it?
It's pretty good.
Okay.
I really like the second book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Why? What do you like about that book?
I think it's really interesting because they have to— they go into Narnia in a magical wardrobe in a professor's house. He probably knows about it but never told anybody. Then they have to fight the White Witch when Lucy's only about like 4 years old. In the movie. Um, that's pretty interesting.
So did you see the movie before you read the books?
Um, no, I read the book before the movie.
You've also seen the movie?
Excuse me?
Did you also see the movie?
Yes, I did.
Okay, and the old question: which did you like better, the book or the movie?
I kind of like the book better. It's because like I could like imagine my own scenery and imagine my own characters' faces and like what they looked like and how they were and where they were. That's why I like the books more.
So I don't remember the books very well, but Wasn't there a lion? Have you met the lion yet?
Yeah, the lion's in every book. Aslan?
Aslan, that's right, that's right. And so what do you think of the lion?
I think he's really smart, really— wait, no, that's the same thing. I think he's really smart, brave, Um, and fierce.
And fierce. Now, were you going to say smart and wise?
Yeah, but that's basically the same thing.
What makes you think smart and wise are the same thing?
Um, for me, because I think smart and wise are basically— is basically just like, you know, a lot of stuff. Like, maybe I Aslan knows what 1 2 is. He's wise and smart if he knows that.
What would the opposite of smart be?
Maybe if he didn't know anything, like he didn't even know what 1 1 is, or maybe how, how you make masks or how you sew.
Mm-hmm. How about what is the opposite of wise?
Um, I think that's basically just like you don't know anything. It's like the opposite of smart.
Have you ever heard people called foolish or doing certain things are foolish to do?
In real life or just books?
In real life?
People really don't say that word to me or other people, like if I hear them. I never really hear it other than in books or movies.
Okay, that's interesting, and I guess in some ways I'm both surprised and not surprised. But in books and movies, what does it mean to be foolish?
Foolish maybe means like you're doing something that's not right, like for example, maybe you're helping the bad guy and you don't even know it. That's foolish.
Do you think that a smart person could be foolish?
Probably. Maybe they could be fooled and then they do something foolish.
Do you think that a wise person could be foolish?
Very low chances, but maybe.
Let's see. That's the reason I would differentiate between wise and smart, because I think you're correct. A smart person could be foolish. A smart person could be tricked. What if we said being foolish was making bad decisions? Does that seem like a reasonable working definition of foolish?
Yeah, I think that's a reason.
So do you think you could be smart but make a bad decision or make a bunch of bad decisions?
I, yeah, I think you could because like maybe if you're smart and you're going into like a business plan and you think it's really good, or you're going into a company and you think it's really good, but it's really, but it's really, but it's really bad, it's really bad, basically just feeling bad for other people, maybe.
So, um, I guess I'm thinking Is the process— so would you say if you make good decisions, you're probably wise, or at least wise people are more likely to make good decisions?
I think so, yeah.
So how do we learn to make good decisions as opposed to bad decisions?
Maybe over time, maybe you have a mentor, or maybe just over time you keep making bad decisions and then you finally get to realize, like, hey, um, I'm doing the bad, I'm doing a bad thing, please, I'm getting out of this. And then you decide, hey, I'm going to go into this clinic because I think it's really good and it's good.
So I think you mentioned two approaches. One is have a mentor and then the other is you make bad decisions and learn from those bad decisions.
Yeah.
How can a mentor help you from making bad decisions?
Maybe you could watch the mentor make good decisions and say, hmm, well, maybe I wanted to try that, or I'm doing something not like that, maybe I should try that.
I don't remember the kids very well from Chronicles of Narnia, but do you think they make good decisions most of the time?
In the second book? Because in each book there's different kids.
Oh, I see. Totally. Aren't there some kids that go all the way through?
Yeah, there are. Lucy, Peter, Edward, and Susan. They're in the second book and they go and they're in all and they're in the book that I'm, that I'm on, which is the fourth.
So do you think that most of them mostly make good decisions or do some of them make bad decisions sometimes?
I think only one of them made a bad decision in the whole book. That's what I think. It's when Edward met the White Witch and then went to her palace and started turning evil.
Wow. Again, I distantly, distantly remember this. Did he turn full-on evil or just a little bit evil or evil for just a little while?
He turned a little evil for just a little while. For just a little while.
So what kinds of evil things did he do?
He tried to lure his brothers and sisters into the White Witch's palace so she could turn them into servants. Um, he— yeah, I think that's it.
How did he escape the White Witch?
And then the White Witch Aslan and the White Witch made a truce, or he just escaped. I forget which one. I think he escaped and then the White Witch and Aslan made a truce so they wouldn't kill him.
Wow. Wow. Now, isn't there one of the books called The Dawn Treader?
Yeah, that's the next book that I'm going on to.
Okay, yeah, I just— believe it or not, I read these books when I was just a little bit older than you are, but I really loved them. I remember really loving them. So next time we can talk about other books and also the writing you're doing. Just out of curiosity, what Roald Dahl books are you reading?
I'm reading things like maybe George's Marvellous Medicine, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach. The Witches. Kind of into the BFG. I'm just not reading it right now.
Which of the Roald Dahl books is your favorite so far?
I have to say one of my— two of my favorites is The Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
All right. Have you seen the movie for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
I have. I've also seen a little, maybe a little more than half or like to like 1.5 quarters of the original.
And which do you like better, book or movie?
I kind of like the book because everything seems a little better in the book for some reason.
I like the movie, but I love the book, so I think the book is way, way, way, way, way better. Yeah. Okay, well, we want to keep these short, so I'll let you go off and have a fun day, and hopefully we can get back in rhythm and I can catch up on all the books you're reading. Sound good? Okay, good to be talking again. Bye-bye, Alana.
