Fuse 8 N' Kate

"I can always be called upon to remember a Snurp". Merry Christmas! Let's celebrate with a book that has absolutely nothing to do with the day in question whatsonever. So I know you're all wondering what elements Kate chose to focus on with this book. Would she like it more than Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus? Less? Well, we'll sum it up for you. We discuss at length the proper way to wash a pure white bra, the genetic dominance of a character's eyes (or lack thereof), and the proper way to pick up a sack of screaming, flailing meat when it is your child. Show Notes: - Came in #7 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/19/top-100-picture-books-7-knuffle-bunny-a-cautionary-tale-by-mo-willems/ For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/12/25/fuse-8-n-kate-knuffle-bunny-by-mo-willems

The last time Kate and Betsy saw a Dr. Seuss book they were reading If I Ran the Zoo. Not an auspicious beginning for the usually good doctor. In the course of this particular book, Kate manages to locate a place where Seuss got lazy and Xeroxed one of his two-page spreads (something Betsy had never noticed before). There is also talk about Thurl Ravenscroft (and how dead he is), odd Grinch theories, like the fact that his heart may expand and shrink regularly, and are these chimneys essentially pneumatic tubes that suck up the bags? One of our favorite episodes in a long time. Show Notes: - This book appeared at #61 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/23/top-100-picture-books-61-how-the-grinch-stole-christmas-by-dr-seuss/ - Ask and the universe will provide. Here is Zero Mostel reading The Grinch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hts_sj-0_14 - And heck. While we're on the subject, here's Walter Matthau reading The Grinch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuq3A

After doing Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins last year, Betsy was having a devil of a time (no pun intended) figuring out another Hanukkah classic. After some serious consideration, she decided that this book would give us, as she says on the podcast, a little meat. A little fodder. Something to discuss. What she didn't see coming, though, was how timely this story truly was. How does it feel to live in a society that is constantly pummeling you with religious messages that are not your own? Little wonder the latke screams. Show Notes: - Betsy mentions Funny Girl. Golly, that would make a swell gift for people to give to their 9-12 year old loved ones. Check it out here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318948/funny-girl-by-betsy-bird/9780147517838/ - Interested in getting your own full series of Baby Be of Use? I am pleased to announce that they are for sale on Lisa Brown's website: http://www.americanchickens.com/baby-be-of-use/ - A staged production of this book, eh? Here's an ad for one that w

Truly a book for our times. Is there any other picture book out there that causes kids to question what they've been told right from the start, more than this one? This book is timely. It prepares children, in an era of news that is not always reliable, to not take everything at face value. Warning: At one point during the end of the podcast Betsy does briefly mix up Zul and Zod. Children of the 80s, please forgive her. Show Notes: - Here is the highly strange Wikipedia entry for this book. Once the entry goes on to 1993 it gets highly confusing. Yet another example of not believing everything you read? Considering that we're talking about Wikipedia, that would follow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mysteries_of_Harris_Burdick - The website for this book is called Who Is Harris Burdick? Highly worth your time. It's filled with so much fun stuff! It may not have been touched since 2011, but it's still fun and fantastic. Educator guides, tips for writers, tips for teachers, kids stories, etc. http://

Let's see. After Tikki Tikki Tembo and Little Black Sambo, it seems like Arrow to the Sun is the natural complement to those two, don't you think? Kate and Betsy haven't dug deep into a book with racist issues in a while, and they've never done any books where white folks told the stories of American Indians. In this post-Thanksgiving episode the sisters give as much of the history of this book as possible, all thanks to the work of K.T. Horning and Debbie Reese. Meanwhile, Kate gets confused about the actual storytelling itself, and Betsy cannot get over how a book from 1974 looks this much like a video game. Show Notes: - Behold and marvel at the lack of information on the Wikipedia entry for this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrow_to_the_Sun - K.T. Horning's Horn Book article Arrow to the Sun and Critical Controversies is a piece Betsy cribbed (read: stole) from heavily for this podcast episode: https://www.hbook.com/2013/09/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/arrow-to-the-sun-and-critical-controve

William's Doll: Revenge of the Ascot! The big news of the day is that Kate and Betsy have created a petition. It's the very first they've ever done and its purpose is simple. As you'll hear on today's podcast, they are big time fans of today's book, but they'd rather like it if Harper Collins could publish a re-illustrated edition. The reasons for this are, as you will hear, pretty clear. With different clothing, they think William's story could reach a whole new slew of kids, and really strike the message home. That said, in the podcast Betsy does make one key mistake. She says that this book was published by Greenwillow. In point of fact, it was published by Harper & Row. It is not a Greenwillow book. So ignore that part of the podcast but do NOT disregard the petition. They would love it if they could get you on board so that William can meet a whole new generation of fans: https://www.change.org/p/harper-collins-reillustrate-william-s-doll-for-today-s-kids Show Notes: - William Pène du Bois was from

We're just going to give away the game and break down exactly how this podcast plays out between Kate and Betsy. As you will recall, Bets is a parent of two small children. Kate is not. So when the two sisters read this book, Kate became a full-throated supported of Team Mouse, while Betsy put all of her money down on Team Run-Ragged Kid. Listen and you'll hear how clearly delineated the line is between parents and non-parents. Show Notes: - We were actually able to find the Peanuts strip that referenced this book. And voila. From May 25th, 1995: https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1995/05/25 - Here are the sequels mentioned: If You Give a Moose a Muffin If You Give a Pig a Pancake If You Give a Take a Mouse to the Movies If You Give a Take a Mouse to School If You Give a Pig a Party If You Give a Cat a Cupcake If You Give a Dog a Donut If You Give a Give a Mouse a Brownie "If You Give a Bird a Bundt Cake", Kate's suggestion, is completely up for grabs if anyone wants to writ

Since Kate had such strong feelings about Madeline and Eloise, Betsy figured that they would have to go with what she considered to be the third in the triumvirate of . . . let’s call ’em strong-minded ladies. If ever you’ve wanted to know the difference between miniature pigs, pot-bellied pigs, and razorback pigs, boy, have we got the podcast for you! Kate and Betsy talk about who the most famous female pig in children’s literature is (honestly, we’ve nothing against Peppa, but wasn’t she a television star first?), which book you’d want to club someone to death with (OED for the win!), and whether or not Shel Silverstein had “a treacly streak” (he did). Show Notes: – Here’s the New Yorker series Betsy referred to when she spoke about Ian Falconer. The blog post was called New Yorker/Picture Book Artists: Ian Falconer – Beyond Olivia: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2011/09/08/new-yorkerpicture-book-artists-ian-falconer-beyond-olivia/ – The blog Spirit of the Bees back in 2009 did just the loveliest

What better time to introduce Kate to the work of Dave McKean than when it's almost Halloween! Betsy tries to give her sister a good dose of nightmare fuel, but somehow the two just end up talking about what an old wolf melody would sound like and whether Dave McKean has ever drawn a bunny (he has... and it's weird). Source Notes: - There was indeed a virtual reality version of The Wolves in the Walls. Variety Magazine had the scoop, and they even made a trailer for it. Behold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLp07Grch-o - The video quality is not the best, but this will give you some sense of the stage production of The Wolves in the Walls that occurred: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_P4AxAagHU - As Betsy mentioned, this past weekend she interviewed Adam Gidwitz at SLJ's Summit. His new podcast Grimm Grimmer Grimmest is more than a little delightful. Do check it out: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/grimm-grimmer-grimmest/id1436651521?mt=2 - For the full Show Notes, please visit us at http://blogs

If you've ever listened to this podcast then you'll know that when it comes to readalouds, that particular kind of a picture book is a little difficult to convey. Fortunately, Kate immediately interprets the cover of today's book, before reading it, as a story about a gigantic, 24-ft tall pumpkin rolling towards a little old lady, Indiana Jones boulder-style, and everything takes off from there on in. In the course of our conversation, Betsy reveals who actually made this book (not something widely known), the problem of naked ghosts, suits of armor fighting Nazis, and something that at one point causes Kate to say, "You are an idiot. I hope the gloves choke you to death!" Source Notes: - Is Betsy the only who truly, and honestly, loves the ending of the film of Bedknobs & Broomsticks? Let's watch it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0rRPU_cvGg -Kate's been kind enough to share her rum cake recipe with us all. It did look amazing, sitting there on her counter when I arrived. I was very good. I didn't even

Older holiday books for kids have a tendency to be a bit on the white side. So Betsy was thinking she was pretty slick when I came up with A Tiger Called Thomas for today's discussion. But here's the thing; she thought the version illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal was the only one out there. She was unaware that this book hadn't just been re-illustrated once but has FOUR different artists! Just to make all of this clear from the start, the four versions discussed on this podcast are: A Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Kurt Werth (1963) A Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Catherine Stock (1988) A Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal (2003) A Tiger Called Tomás by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Marta Alvarez Miguéns (2018) - This is not the first time Betsy has gone into a full-blown William's Doll rant. It's not mentioned in the podcast but the real difference here is publishers. William's Doll came out with G

We're killing two birds with one stone this week (pun reluctantly intended). A reader suggested today's book a long time ago. Add in the fact that it's October and we should be doing some Halloween-themed titles and you've got yourself today's latest edition of International Classic Picture Books. Take a trip to Germany to visit one of the loveliest, softest books about life and death out there. Maybe it's not classic Halloween fare, but we like it. Source Notes: - For the curious, here is the video of the weatherman's map going crazy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0jOen1G-E8 - There really are countless videos about today's book. Here are some of the standouts: First, the quiet animated short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd5Y2xj71f0 Next, a trailer for a rather lovely version that played in Edinburgh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueQ2glggAX0 And finally, one from a country we've yet to identify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrqB64E6roA - The Romper article in question was called Why

Happy October! We open this month of hauntings and spirits with a book about a terribly frightening monster! And by "terribly frightening" I mean "terribly frightened". Inspired by their discussion of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Betsy pulls out the 4th wall breaking title that started the whole American genre in the first place. Consider too the fact that this is a Sesame Street book and Mo Willems, who would later write that pigeon book, used to work for Sesame Street. By the way, let us just say this before you listen: If you are unfamiliar with Sesame Street in any way, this may not be the episode for you. In the course of things Kate and Betsy get into a very heated discussion about whether or not grouches are monsters, typography, hidden frustrations with Little Golden Books, and whether or not this book reveals "Grover's truth" (how self-reflective is Grover, really?). Show Notes: - For those of you keeping track at home, the sequels to this book have included the titles Hide and Seek with Lov

Kate worried that there wouldn't be enough to talk about with this week's podcast because the featured book is so simple in both text and image. Little did she know!!! What happens when an adult woman reads this book for the first time and is told that many consider it a modern day classic? Oh. Let's find out. Along the way Kate questions the shenanigans (her word) of the bus driver, why the pigeon never has eyelashes (does Mo have something against them?), whether or not the bird is Slytherin, and Betsy begins to focus on what the prior relationship between the driver and the pigeon is exactly. Source Notes: - The Ray Bradbury story referred to about the girl who misses the one day of sun on her planet was "All Summer In a Day": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Summer_in_a_Day - If you'd like to see the precise words of what the Caldecott criteria is, you can go here: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecottterms - While Betsy could not find the locker room

This week Betsy and Kate have pretty much found the bloodiest Caldecott Honor winner out there (though you're allowed to try to find one bloodier if you'd like to prove them wrong). Technically blood never mars the pages, but you can pretty much assume what's happening off-screen, as it were. And it's a fantastic introduction to the autumn season! Win-win! In the course of things, Kate and Betsy debate the degree to which Mr. and Mrs. Fox are starving their children, what precisely is going on with the Giggle-Gaggle household, and what a "skulk"/"leash" is. Show Notes: - The Burl Ives version of the Fox song is slightly different from the one Betsy is accustomed to, but it's clearly the same thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=jSaTOI7u8Ds - - The Peter, Paul, and Mary version is the one Betsy's actually working off of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4mwg40c2SU - Good news! On teachingbooks.net you can find a lot of children's author and illustrators names and their pronunciations. Her

Didn't Kate and Betsy just do a Robert McCloskey book? They did, but it was not his most famous work. In spite of the fact that Betsy springs the tale of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard on her poor unsuspecting sister the two somehow manage to say a LOT about it! Vicious egg-eating turtles and all. Show Notes: - Just in case you're curious, the Twitter handle for this show is @fuse_kate and on Instagram at fuse8kate. - You can visit sculptor Nancy Schon's website on the ducklings here: http://www.schon.com/public/ducklings-boston.php - A bit of a correction here. Betsy got her story COMPLETELY mixed up. The true tale is that McCloskey saw Nixon somewhere (this being 1941 we've no idea where), noted his profile, and decided to use it for the book. So the theory that it's one of the kids was way WAY off. Read more about this at the ALSC blog: https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2012/10/wheres-dick/ - It came in at #6 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/20/top-100-picture-books-6

Fiiiiiiiiiish . . . An aquatic creature that has absolutely NOTHING to do with this week's book! So first and foremost, we are happy to announce that we now have our very own Twitter and Instagram accounts for this podcast. Woot! So tune in on Twitter @fuse_kate or on Instagram at fuse8kate. As for the podcast itself, Kate was semi-familiar with this book already. But did she remember anything about it at all? No, sir! As it turns out, we were able to really dive into some of the details. Will we determine it's a classic? Time will tell! Source Notes: - How much sugar does it take to can blueberries? The internet has many opinions on the subject but generally speaking it appears that you want to add 1/2 Cup of sugar for each quart of berries. That's not a ton of sugar. I guess Mom really worked double time while Sal was AWOL. - How fast can a little bear run? Hard to say. A grown bear can get up to 40 miles an hour. We have to assume that a baby bear just wouldn't have that kind of speed. So even if it

I think this is the clearest case of Betsy pulling out a book for Kate that is well-known amongst children's librarians and is pretty obscure when you talk to your average layperson on the street. If for no other reason, you should listen to this episode of our podcast to hear Kate's exclamation of pure confusion and tiny squeaks of bafflement when Betsy mentions how well it did on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll (it was #14). So sit back and enjoy as the sisters discuss the logistics of how exactly one would get a blue cap off of this guy, where his fingers suddenly emerge from, how exactly you pronounce, "Tsz, tsz, tsz," and why anyone, anywhere would put on a hat previously worn by a monkey. Show Notes: - Gentle listeners and readers, we really do want to know. How do you pronounce, "Tsz, tsz, tsz"? - Since this book was influenced by the work of Henri Rousseau, why not check out this picture book biography of him, The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau? http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/11/06/

Thanks to a listener suggestion, Kate and Betsy finally crack open the Henkes box. And when you're talking Henkes, there's only one place to start. Now I should warn you right from the start that Betsy makes an egregious error in this podcast. That's right. She makes the claim that Julius, Baby of the World was published AFTER Purple Plastic Purse. On the flipside, this podcast may be the first time anyone has ever noted the presence of Ignatz Mouse from Krazy Kat in this book. And as Kate says about the story, "It's not about the purse". Show Notes: - We believe Kevin Henkes ran into Susan Hirschman when he traipsed in as a stars-in-his-eyes teen. You can read a rather lovely remembrance of this moment in this Horn Book article Kevin Henkes - Twenty-Five Years: https://www.hbook.com/2005/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/kevin-henkes-twenty-five-years/ - Betsy and Kate are happy to hear any alternate titles to this book. The two they've come up with so far are, "Mr. Slinger's Revenge" or "Lilly Undone

How do you follow up The Giving Tree? Well, that's a tricky one. We don't know why Amelia Bedelia occurred to Betsy. She's so ubiquitous that no one ever really questions her presence on classic book lists. Still, the more we thought about her, the more we wondered if she really warrants inclusion in the "canon" of children's literature (howsoever you define that). Show Notes: - Here is her fantastic statue, located at the Harvin Clarendon County Library in Manning, South Carolina. This was sculpted by James Peter Chaconas: https://scpictureproject.org/clarendon-county/amelia-bedelia-statue.html - Sometimes the best thing in the whole wide world is getting to see a group of boys reenact Amelia Bedelia without the one playing the lead feeling at all embarrassed about his awesome performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uESgbsQAlEI - Here you can find the Daily Dot piece I Accidentally Started a Wikipedia Hoax? https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/amelia-bedelia-wikipedia-hoax/ -And be sure to check out