Fuse 8 N' Kate

"The Secret Garden meets Donnie Darko". Kate would like to warn you that Betsy is a bit of a "Debby Downer" in this episode. This may have something to do with the fact that her immediate family came down with COVID and she had to cancel their trip to DisneyWorld. Of course, you can't keep a good talk about odd picture books of the past down! In the episode the sisters discuss everything from whether or not the bunny in Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present betrays Maurice Sendak's love of Mickey Mouse (and suggests he was more of a Bugs Bunny fan)to his pack-a-day voice. Show Notes: Good old Slap Happy Larry takes a real deep deep dive into Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present discussing everything from whether or not Mr. Rabbit is a Pooka or owes anything to that great big invisible rabbit Harvey: https://www.slaphappylarry.com/mr-rabbit-lovely-present-sendak-zolotow/ Betsy Recommends: The podcast Sawbones - https://maximumfun.org/podcasts/sawbones/ Kate Recommends: Fear City on Netflix: https://www.netflix.c

Merry Christmas Eve! By gum we're going to do at least one holiday book this month, if it kills us. Heck, for that matter, why not go local? You see, Kate and Betsy both live in Evanston, Illinois and it just so happens that one of the most famous Christmas songs out there started its life as a children's book by an Evanston author! Yes indeed, we doing a deep dive into Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer today circa 1939. And not just any book, but a reprint of the original story (pre-song and pre-television adaptation) that was handed out for free in department stores all those years ago. How does it hold up to modern scrutiny? Only one way to find out: Show Notes: Kate would like to correct her earlier statement that this scene is set in Chicago (though Chicago is mentioned). That said, here's the scene she refers to, early on in our show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxtLxqBolJI FURTHER CORRECTION: At one point in the podcast Betsy says that Robert L. May wrote the book for Marshall Fields. She then almo

Hanukkah ends today and do you know what happened? We missed our chance to do a Hanukkah picture book on the show (and I've one on order but it won't come in in time). So, feeling guilty, I thought we should do a good Jewish children's picture book classic. And to my horror, somehow it took us 207 episodes for me to realize that we didn't do today's book. Are you ready to hear us right a great wrong? Because it's Simms Taback time! Yes, the man who designed the world's first Happy Meal is here with a GOLD Caldecott Medal. "Look at how it gleams in all its goldy goldiness!" Kate digs deep into the Sholom Aleichem references and we both thoroughly enjoy how well Simms sticks that ending. Enjoy! Show Notes: Yeah. You know you want to hear the song they sang in the Weston Woods video (which, I should note, according to Kate is NOT the same tune as the one printed on the sheet music at the back of the book): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ37_s7X3jA For the full Show Notes please visit: https://blogs.slj.com/

Starring . . . MOM! Yes indeed. Susan Blackwell Ramsey herself has come to guest star. Thanksgiving arrived and Kate had the brilliant notion that she and Betsy should take advantage of their #1 fan and finally do one of her favorite picture books (the one they've always avoided). So, if you've ever listened to our podcast and thought to yourself, "These two ladies sound too similar. I wish there was a THIRD voice that sounded a lot like both of them to join in," then your prayers have been answered! In short, if you'd like to hear two daughters ribbing their mom, this is the podcast episode for YOU! Show Notes: Mom and Betsy discuss a Slate article that provides a rather magnificent rundown of the history of Donald Hall's poem and its transformation into a book. It does not, however, include the info about his Caldecott Room loo: https://slate.com/culture/2018/07/how-donald-hall-changed-ox-cart-man-from-the-poem-to-the-childrens-book.html Here's the Reading Rainbow episode where Lorne Green reads Ox-C

After his recent death, Betsy wanted to do a book with Kate that paid homage to Jerry Pinkney. But having already done Mirandy and Brother Wind and Sam and the Tigers, why not go in a different direction? Jerry was a huge fan of fairy tales, and Little Red Riding Hood has always stood out as one of his more interesting books. Setting the book in winter was a fascinating choice, maybe even a challenge, for the artist. The storyline is very faithful to the original Grimm tale with some notable changes. This book is peak Pinkney. But is it classic enough in the end? Only one way to find out. Show Notes: Betsy mentions in the course of the show that a big influence on Jerry was cartoonist John J. Liney, who worked on the "Little Henry" comic strips. William H. Foster, author of the book Looking for a Face Like Mine: The History of African Americans in Comics offers this piece Henry: Not Black Like Me to argue that the strip was less racist than its contemporaries. Not sure if the examples he cites completely ba

Thinly veiled racism! Drug-sniffing monkeys (that are actually apes)! Roving hoards of wiener dogs! A Cervantes-esque arc! Oh, we have just loads to talk about in this episode, that's for sure. More questions are raised than answered in this latest episode of Fuse 8 n' Kate and that's okay. We return to the world of Curious George with all its peculiarities. There's a lot to discuss here and we're ready for it. Show Notes: Be sure to check out this year's fabulous picture book, Strollercoaster. Yay, crediting spouses that color! This is the moment when I need to praise Furious George by Michael Rex, which is the only picture book to make perfectly clear what's really going on in this and other Curious George books. We do urge you to seek out and read The Unexpected Profundity of Curious George by Rivka Galchen for The New Yorker which touches on many of the issues we've mentioned here: https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-unexpected-profundity-of-curious-george For the full Show Notes please

Now starring special guest, Ian Lendler!! Author of 2021's new picture book Nia and the New Free Library, and creator of such books I've adored as The Fabled Life of Aesop and the Stratford Zoo comics, to name but a few. Once in a while we'll have a guest on. Of course the challenge is for our guests to come up with potentially "classic" picture books that we haven't done already. But when Ian and I talked about having him on the show, the book he mentioned was Bill and Pete, a.k.a. a book that I myself didn't really know all that well. Now we already did Strega Nona and Oliver Button is a Sissy, so this will make our third Tomie dePaola book to date. But that's okay. We loved that guy. And now we get to talk about the weird dynamic between these two friends, its David Lynch-esque dream sequences, and how this is, as Kate calls it, "Bill and Pete's Excellent Adventure". Show Notes: Here's where you can find the Strega Nona is a Not a Communist post we mentioned: https://www.gawker.com/culture/strega-nona-i

The final Halloween-inspired episode of October is always a bittersweet time. And once more, pity Betsy's sister. Betsy happened to notice that there's a Clifford the Big Red Dog film out in theaters at the moment and it got her to thinking. Clifford = creator Norman Bridwell. And didn't Norman Bridwell do a Halloween book of his own once? One that Betsy happened to remember from her own childhood? Alas for Kate, this means that the show is doing a THIRD witch and broom-related picture book in a row. We're in a witch rut! We can only do witches!! Show Notes: -It's not fancy, but if ever you want to create a Witch Next Door cupcake, here's the recipe: https://sprinklesofhistory.com/witch-next-door-cupcakes/ -Kate Recommends: Muppets Haunted Mansion: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14602326/ - Kate Also Recommends: The Haunted Mansion Game: https://www.funko.com/shop/details/disney-haunted-mansion-call-of-the-spirits-game - Betsy Recommends: Evanston Public Library's 101 Great Books for Kids: https://www.epl.

"If this really is the ghost of the broom, I hope it hacks the men to pieces!" The search for potential Halloween classics continues!! This week Kate and Betsy turned their eyes back to good old Chris Van Allsburg. Previously seen on a Halloween-centric episode of the show with The Stranger, he has returned! This book is from 1992, and it's had a relative amount of success. What Kate and Betsy end up loving about it, though, is how female-centric it is. It's all about women helping women helping women. Look at how the men in the book are even treated. A fascinating tale that passes the Bechdel-Wallace Test with flying colors. Show Notes: Please, if you get a chance, you MUST check out Slap Happy Larry's relatively recent blog post The Widow’s Broom by Chris Van Allsburg Picturebook Analysis. This will occupy you all day, and is a great deep dive into the subject matter: https://www.slaphappylarry.com/widows-broom-chris-van-allsburg-picture-book/ If you're interested in this claim that there's a bog not fa

Poor Kate. All she wanted was a halfway spooky picture book. Instead Betsy gives her a book from Team Gruffalo. This week's choice of book for the Halloween season has appeared year after year on the Bestseller Lists here in America. It's a book that features a kind of Mr. Gumpy's Outing meets There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly energy on its pages. Never read it? Never fear! We've done it for you and found some tidbits worth discussing. Show Notes: You may hear us mention that Julia Donaldson's career in picture books began because of a song she created called "A Squash and a Squeeze". Who are we to deny you a vision of her performing that song herself? https://youtu.be/MXa888kw7GY Once we heard it was turned into a stop animation film, we had to check it out. Here are some scenes. We hate to say it, but this is utterly UTTERLY charming. Better than the source material, perhaps: https://vimeo.com/59083888 Betsy Recommends: The new NPR podcast Book of the Day Kate Recommends: The H.H. Holmes Murder

"Oh no! We don't have a fish to protect us now!" Success! Fuse 8 n' Kate has managed to reach episode' two HUNDRED! Now the topic turns to a famous feline-centric sequel. Betsy and Kate don't shy away from the controversy surrounding Seuss and his cat in this episode. Bonus: They also get to bandy about sentences like, "The chain of signification is interminable and, being interminable, indeterminate." In the end, they realize once and for all that while this cat may come back that doesn't mean they'll ever have to see him again. Show Notes: To celebrate the 200th episode Kate and Betsy did a live recording of this show. Want to see it? Thanks to the power of Vimeo, now you can: https://vimeo.com/621640559 Kate Recommends: The Hulu streaming show Only Murders in the Building Betsy Recommends: 19th century ukiyo-e prints. More specifically Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre or Mitsukuni Defying the Skeleton Spectre Invoked by Princess Takiyasha. It is, definitely, Kate's 12-foot-tall skeleton.

Kate and Betsy are on a perpetual hunt for older children's books that broke new ground, and show that the history of children's book publishing could occasionally incorporate a wider variety of voices and styles. Today they take a trip back to 1973 to a book that was originally released just a year after the final Apollo missions. It has now been reprinted for the first time in years by The New York Review Children's Collection, released just last week. Think that's good? Kate points out that this is a timely choice since the first civilian mission, The Inspiration 4, just returned to Earth recently. After looking at this book, their ultimate conclusion is that this title would make for a good readaloud. They consider this "Seamless amalgam" of the hands of Leo and Diane Dillon and get to talk about Oscar the Grouch, how nerdy Betsy gets on collectionHQ, and a book called Pish-Posh, Said Hironymous Bosh (which we love as a title). Show Notes: For the full show notes please visit: https://blogs.slj.com/afus

Lick lick lick lick lick! Here we have a rare opportunity to examine an old book from 1979 and its 2014 update. Kate challenged Betsy to come up with a dog picture book and Betsy realized that they had never done one of the most fascinating cases in American children's literature. As is explained on the show, Steven Kellogg used to live in Sandy Hook. When the school shooting occurred he was deeply affected. And, in light of objections he'd heard regarding the burglar and his gun in his book Pinkerton, Behave! he agreed to re-illustrate. Kate and Betsy compare both versions of the book and have a LOT to discuss. Consistently they find the changes in the text to be subtle but unpredictable. Bonus: Kate's able to whip out her obedience school knowledge with this one. And, of course, defenestration abounds! Show Notes: Here is the article in Publishers Weekly : Steven Kellogg on Why He Reworked a 'Pinkerton' Scene in Response to Sandy Hook: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-indu

We all we have our pet favorite books for children. Some were the ones we loved when we ourselves were kids. Others are the ones we enjoy reading to our own children. And a few are the ones we enjoy hearing our children read when they're learning how. This book falls into that final category. And part of the reason I love it is how weird it is. Take a trip back in time with us to 1959 where Ball Boy and Stalker Sally go on a series of misadventures as his ball attempts to destroy itself in a myriad number of ways. Show Notes: We mention that SLJ did an article about this podcast and lo and behold it's online as well. Visible here: https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=celebrate-the-200-episode-of-fuse-8-n-kate This is the famous poster created by Fritz Siebel that won the contest that was judged by Eleanor Roosevelt. As we mention on the show, it apparently makes an appearance in The Spanish Prisoner: https://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/files/2021/09/SomeoneTalked.jpg And here is what may arguably be Fritz'

It's been a while since we tackled a book with that awe-inspiring, shiny Gold Caldecott medal on its cover. As such, it seemed wise to break out Paul O. Zelinsky's major award winner. Limiting our Into the Woods quotes to the bare minimum, Kate proves to be the perfect reader for this book, having only seen Tangled once, and that was while drunk and one-eyed. She's practically a clean slate! Plus, it seems appropriate to do a story on a woman attempting (and failing) to enforce chastity at a time when Texas is controlling women's bodies at an increasing rate. For the full Show Notes please visit us at: https://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2021/09/06/fuse-8-n-kate-rapunzel-by-paul-o-zelinsky/

Though today you see books about Black hair pride in a lot of the children's picture books on the market today, we credit Natasha Tarpley for creating one of the very first back in 1998. Betsy will also confess that she did consider doing Nappy Hair by Carolivia Herron, which came out in 1997, but she didn't think she was adept enough to tackle the issues that came up when that book hit the marketplace. Instead, Kate and Betsy kvell at the wonder that is E.B. Lewis, discuss realism in picture book literature, and establish that yes, this book was indeed created in the 90s. Show Notes: A great interview that allows you to recap a lot what we discuss on the show can be found in this interview between Natasha Tarpley and Shondaland called "I Love My Hair" 20 Years Later: https://www.shondaland.com/inspire/books/a22791424/i-love-my-hair-natasha-tarpley-interview/ For those of you who didn't understand Betsy's Moxy Fruvous reference, this is the song she meant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9sYtfepRvc For t

Since we were 98% sure that we'd already done The Kissing Hand, this year's first day of school book came out 21 years ago. This book is huge with teachers and schools but isn't a book that won a lot of literary awards or anything. And with children heading back to school now, the timing could not be better. With its M. Night Shymalan-esque twist and fondness for slips and magenta clogs, this proves to be an excellent peek into the state of picture books circa 2000. Show Notes: So is it a Midwest thing for kids to go to school before Labor Day? Or are we just making this up? Betsy mentions that another book did the exact same twist in its storyline. That book was Back to School Tortoise, which came out in 2011. For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2021/08/23/fuse-8-n-kate-first-day-jitters-by-julie-danneberg-ill-judy-love/

Could you publish a book today where a sibling relationship is anything other than sunshine and roses by the story's conclusion? Betsy says no, and she says the elaborate revenge fantasy of this week's podcast topic, I'll Fix Anthony, is a healthy catharsis for some children. Kate, needless to say, disagrees. Judith Viorst (best known for Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day) and Arnold Lobel (best known for Frog and Toad) got together and created this truly original, one-of-a-kind book. But does that mean it's any good? Our skilled critics take a deep dive into its legacy today (and come up with some pretty different reactions). Show Notes: Kate Recommends: Up to Speed on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/up-to-speed-31eca3f1-0b45-4e07-8e1d-be2b55feece9 Betsy Recommends: Quinta Brunson in the skit If I Won 2nd Place at the Winter Olympics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnLljVxm_0k For the full Show Notes please visit: https://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2021/08/09/fuse-8-n-kat

With the thrall of the Olympics in the air, Kate and Betsy decided to do a sportsy picture book this week. And what they ended up with is arguably the most famous picture book in Canada. How famous is it? It's SO famous that a line from it has appeared on Canadian currency. It's SO famous that it has its own musical. We dodge around topics like Canada's Quiet Revolution (?), books with titles like La Guerre, Yes Sir!, Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, and Betsy mispronounces Tupac. Cause she can. Show Notes: Curious? Here's a glimpse of the musical they made of the book. We highly suspect it had a different resolution from that of the original tale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp3kyfjuELs Betsy Recommends: The podcasts The Plot Thickens from TCM (season 2!) and Still Buffering. Kate Recommends: Schmigadoon on Apple Plus For the full Show Notes please visit: https://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2021/08/03/fuse-8-n-kate-the-hockey-sweater-by-roch-carrier-ill-sheldon-cohen-translated-by-sheila-fischman/

With the recent death of Floyd Cooper, we were inspired to discover which picture book of his could be best considered a "classic" of the genre. It's a hard call, and we're sure you have your own favorites, but we're going with this 1994 release. Plus, it has the extra added benefit of being the first Nikki Grimes title we've done on the show! Show Notes: Here you can enjoy this interview with Nikki Grimes, which delves deep into her life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1evVHnBU5NE For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2021/07/26/fuse-8-n-kate-meet-danitra-brown-by-nikki-grimes-ill-floyd-cooper