Fuse 8 N' Kate

Lists of "classic" picture books are often white white white, with the occasional racist inclusion. That's why I'm always on the lookout for picture books from the past that could be deemed "classic" and come from a variety of different perspectives and voices. When it occurred to Betsy the other day that she and Kate hadn't done Stevie yet on this show, she was a little mad at herself. It wasn't that the show hadn't done a Steptoe before (see: Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters) but this was the book that put the man on the map. And, as you will see, it became a huge deal. Show Notes Here is the editorial in Horn Book where Linda Sue Park points out that people have been doing the work to bring out children's books from a wide range of points of view for decades. https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=editorial-try-to-remember-july-august-2019 Merriam-Webster defines "hobbledehoy" as "an awkward gawky youth." Nailed it, Betsy. What are mickies and marshmallows in the park? A little help, folks. You can read the

Meet this week's special guest star, Lucy Knisley! To our infinite delight, when asked what book she'd like to do for the podcast she selected one we'd never done. Today's magnificent title is Shrek! We get to talk about whether or not Shrek is actually Superman, how the succulent wedding bouquet was ahead of its time, and what this book has in common with the film US. Show Notes: Here is the Salon article "Shrek" Is Not Shrek: https://www.salon.com/2001/05/24/anti_shrek/ While we were unable to find the 1996 Children's Circle Video "The William Steig Library", we were able to find this brief interview with the man in which he says he's not a good illustrator. Suuuuuuuure, buddy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k8TiUftKF0 Extra points to Macmillan for getting Stanley Tucci to do the audiobook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmUC7nsrzlg The two ramen related books that are out in 2019 that are mentioned on the podcast are Let's Make Ramen by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan and Magic Ramen: The Story of Momo

At last. After 93 episodes, Kate and Betsy have finally come face-to-face with the great Sendak masterpiece. Why did we decide to do the book today, rather than wait until we hit the 100th episode mark? Because, my friends, today is an auspicious day in and of itself. Today Fuse 8 n' Kate the podcast officially becomes a School Library Journal property. You won't see any changes on your end, but believe us, we've been cleaning up our act a bit. Our episodes, you may have noticed, are now a tight 30 minutes. We'll be having more guest stars as well, which should be fun. But for today's book, we finally hit the title that appeared at #1 on Betsy's Top 100 Picture Books poll, both times that she conducted it. Does it deserve its everlasting fame and glory? Find out for yourself as Kate and Betsy pick the darn thing apart. And believe us, there is a special kind of challenge in finding new things to say about this old chestnut. Show Notes: - Here is something Betsy wrote up when this book appeared as #1 on her

While normally the podcast posts its episodes on Mondays, it seemed that for this book, of all books, a Tuesday debut was the most appropriate. When our hosts' mother suggested they do a David Wiesner title, specifically this one, Betsy pooh-poohed her. Silly mother. Surely they'd already done it. Turns out, not so much. So it was with great joy that Betsy handed it over to Kate. In this episode you'll get to hear Betsy's dead-on theremin imitation (which sounds oddly similar to her playing-the-saw imitation), as well as discussions of whether or not these are frogs AND toads, what happens if you loose your lilypad, and the sad fate of the little old woman in front of the TV. Show Notes: Go to David Wiesner's site for further Tuesday information here: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/wiesner/books/books_tues.shtml# Read his Caldecott acceptance speech: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/wiesner/bio/bio3_cald.shtml It came in at #24 on the Top 100 Picture Books poll: http://blogs.slj.co

Betsy's question, walking into this podcast, was to figure out whether or not this book has anything to actually say to the 21st century child. Is it still pertinent or is it like some kind of archaic Kids Say the Darndest Things? Betsy and Kate talk about the historical view of American childhood and how it might have affected this book's popularity in certain decades. As you might expect, the book also causes them to get a little philosophical at times. "This is like Schrödinger's 's Cat. The hole both is and is not there when the digging takes place. Right. Okay. As long as we're clear. This is complex physics." Kate discovers that the absolute best way to read this book from 1952 is as a Beatnik. Oh, and I hope you like terrible terrible British accents, because we have lots and loads to give when quoting a discussion of The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Show Notes: The Ruth Krauss book coming out later this year is Roar Like a Dandelion, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier. We would be amiss in not mentioning, on

Once an author up and dies on us, it's the perfect moment to attempt a read of that writer's best known picture book. So it is that Judith Kerr was the perfect subject to consider for this episode. This is a book that ignores the rather good advice that, "If you're in a picture book and a tiger says he's hungry, run the other way." Kate discovers that this may well be one of the MOST English picture book the show has ever encountered. She also identifies this tiger as a brat as a cat and you KNOW how Kate feels about brats. Meanwhile, Betsy shares her Jeopardy suspicions, my goodness Daddy's Guinness is gone, and the sisters get to say the phrase "there is nothing Nazi about this tiger." Here is an obituary for Judith Kerr for those of you with an interest in her life : https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/obituaries/judith-kerr-dead.html No. Really. What exactly IS "tea"? Here is the wacky Wikipedia entry I refer to. Clearly this is my favorite found about a children's author thus far: https://en.wikipedia

Under normal circumstances, the entire premise of this podcast is that Betsy will present Kate with a picture book "classic" that she has never seen before and she will read it for the first time. To change things up, Kate suggested that Betsy bring a picture book that neither of them had read. At the same time, she mentioned in a previous episode that when it comes to classic Jewish picture books, the only ones the show has ever done were Hanukkah based. Add in the fact that this is a cult classic that came back in print two years ago, and you've got yourself a heckuva show. Show Notes: - Betsy keeps quoting from a Marjorie Ingall article in Tablet Magazine that was called Lore Segal's Warm and Weird 'Tell Me a Mitzi'. We highly recommend that you seek it out for even more background information: https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/193108/lore-segals-warm-and-weird-tell-me-a-mitzi -Lore Segal's family's story was told in the Academy Award winning documentary Into the Arms of Strangers. You can see the traile

Kate gave Betsy a challenge to go out and find a picture book that the two of them hadn't read. And in the end . . . Betsy completely and utterly failed to do honor the request. She decided to do Pete instead. So it goes. With this entry, Kate makes a VERY strong case for why this book missed an opportunity involving the color wheel. Kate also points out that the actual moral of this story is, "Watch where you step." Meanwhile, Betsy gets to riff on James Dean the actor (if he were ever to make a picture book), Kate tells Betsy that hedgehogs are super smelly (who knew?), and the two dive deep into Pete's confusing lineage. Show Notes: Here is Eric Litwin's interview with Line Up the Books: https://www.lineupthebooks.com/an-interview-with-ny-times-bestselling-author-and-former-special-ed-teacher-eric-litwin-2/ How do you sing this song? Here's how Litwin would do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUubMSfIs-U Here’s the Pete the Cat website in case you want to check out all those Pete videos: http://

"It's like the Where's Waldo of literature!" This week we're celebrating another cult classic picture book (the last one we did was The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright). There aren't a ton of them out there, but this one certainly does apply. The timing of this podcast has much to do with the fact that Mr. Stamaty has just released MacDoodle Street, a collection of his adult strips. In the course of things we discover that this book has 27 pipes, we discuss whether or not Mr. Stamaty really does suffer from horror vacui, and how you would sing the line "Who needs donuts when you've got love?". It fails the stranger danger test magnificently, sure, but we can all get behind its "inspired sense of the absurd." Want to read the original New York Times review of this book by Barbara Bottner? Go no further than here. I think it was keen of them to tap Bottner for this: https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/14/archives/who-needs-donuts-by-mark-alan-stamaty-illustrated-by-the-author.html Has anyone ever combined a donut a

"Folktales! They don't end the way you expect 'em to . . . if they're authentic." If you are familiar with #ownvoices children's books, then you know that these are titles where a book is written by someone with learned experience from the culture they are representing. We might have quite a debate over what the oldest #ownvoices picture book published in America is, that is arguably famous to this day, and that also is written by someone who wasn't white and European. Our vote goes to today's book circa 1932. Sadly, it appears to be out of print. For that matter, ALL of Pura Belpre's books look like they're out of print, with the possible exception of Firefly Summer. Something wrong with that, people. In this episode Kate and I get to do all kinds of fun animal sounds. Particularly "Borom". We're very fond of "Borom" Lots of books get mentioned in this show. One of them that is discussed right at the top is the upcoming Goodnight, Bubbala by Sheryl Haft and Jill Weber. Coming this fall. Here's a link to t

Ramona's not the only one calling aspects of Mike Mulligan into question anymore. Kate and Betsy already tackled Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House, so now the two cover another story of the fast moving world and how it leads to obsolescence. In this tale of "a man obsessed with his steam shovel," they discuss muffs, dabbing, how precisely a steam shovel would work, and the weird placement of the acknowledgement to Dickie Birkinbush mid-book. As we mentioned, Kate and Betsy made a Randolph Caldecott music video about 10 years ago. That second pair of heels? That's Kate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMIjWQQavcY And here is Kate's Kei$ha video. She's one of the mohawked ladies walking behind the singer lady: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXvmSaE0JXA Kate looked up what a "selectman" is. It is, "a member of the local government board of a New England town." Who knew? For the full show notes, please visit us at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/05/06/fuse-8-n-kate-mike-mulligan-and-his-ste

We're not entirely certainly why Betsy selected this as today's book. Maybe she wanted a book that was merely 20 years old. Maybe it was the fact that earlier in the day, before we recorded, she had read this book to her son's preschool class. But it may be because, and we don't think we're spoiling anything here, it is one of the world's greatest readaloud picture books. And there are so many things to talk about here. Spontaneous interior canine generation. The doctor's disappearing/reappearing latex gloves. Why no one assumes that there isn't another dog inside of George at the end. Whether or not George has eaten the vet at the end. The list goes on. Show Notes: The documentary The Phantom Tollbooth: Beyond Expectations, A Documentary About the Classic Children's Book has been mentioned on this podcast and blog before. Buy it for the Tollbooth fan in your life: http://phantomtollboothdoc.vhx.tv/ The term Betsy was having a hard time thinking of is "spontaneous generation". That's right, folks. This b

It's time for another update in one of our favorite series on this podcast: Classics From Other Countries. Normally on this show we like to consider children's picture books from America, determining if they deserve their "classic" status. But how fair is that? Why not consider picture books deemed classics in other countries? We did Duck, Death and Tulip via Germany. We did The Gruffalo via the U.K. So let's jump on a plane and fly ourselves to Australia for our first Mem Fox classic. What will Kate think when she encounters a book with a title composed entirely out of names? And how many children's librarians out there can remember the full name at all times? Inquiring minds want to know. To get a full dose of info on this book, there is no better place to go than Mem Fox's own website. Here's the Wilfrid page, chock full of fascinating info: https://memfox.com/gossip-behind-mems-books/wilfrid-gordon-mcdonald-partridge/ Bradley Whitford, everyone! Reading this book! Why? No idea! But it's there: https:/

Kate set Betsy up with a challenge. They've been deeming too many books as "classics". What book could I produce that would engender more of a debate? Well, after all these episodes (82!) Betsy thinks she's figured out Kate's least loved genre. It involves childlike art. It involves kids who aren't entirely saintly. Really, it was just a matter of time before they got to this one. They've not done a David Shannon book before. Ultimately they determine that the fault at work here is not that of David, but the inattentive parents. Happily, Kate has provided the "Partysaurus Rex" video link. It is a delight: https://vimeo.com/51194871 And the Etch a Sketch is from 1960, if that helps date the kid in the book. Yes, Betsy. It was Hiawatha and the Peacemaker. For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/04/08/fuse-8-n-kate-no-david-by-david-shannon/

Tomi Ungerer died just this past year on February 9th so it seemed logical to us that we should try to do one of his books on the show. This begs the inevitable question, which one should we do? After all, there are so many to consider. Crictor? The Beast of Monsieur Racine? Moon Man? We decided to go with the only one Betsy ever saw adapted by Weston Woods. In the course of our talk we discuss whether or not giving birth is an adequate excuse for saying you have a "connection" to someone, who invented the name "blunderbuss", and why this book is like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Plus, isn't it interesting that all these kids may be attending a robber school by the end of the book? Show Notes: - Is a pepper blower actually a thing? Betsy did a bit of research on her end, and she doesn't think that it is. As far as she is concerned, Ungerer made it up. - "When is there ever a fun aunt?" in a children's book. Okay, people. Lay 'em on me. Who's the coolest of them all? - Our hero, ladies and germs: The Castle

How crazy is it that Betsy and Kate have never done a Lucille Clifton book before? Nor a Brinton Turkle, but that's a little more understandable. Lucille Clifton was one of the most prolific Black picture book authors in the 70s. Spring has officially sprung and Betsy realized that today's book (which New York schoolchildren are read and given to read every single year around this time) would be the perfect way to celebrate not just the season but Clifton herself. But would Kate like it? Stay tuned, gentle listeners. In the meantime, those of you thinking yearningly of Spring will find much to love in this episode. Show Notes: - The best reading that you will encounter all day long is this June Jordan New York Times review. "Really okay book" she raves! https://www.nytimes.com/1973/11/04/archives/the-boy-who-didnt-believe-in-spring-by-jeannette-caines-illustrated.html - The books Jordan read and didn't like were Black Is Brown Is Tan by Arnold Adoff, Abby by Jeannette Caines, with pictures by Stephen Kello

Today, to make up for the missing episode last week, you get a twofer. You see, there’s a bit of a problem with old Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Most people remember the title of the second book in the series, but are we to ignore Book #1? Betsy gave Kate the chance to decide which one to do, so what did she decide? To do both, of course! In the course of things the sisters discuss alligators vs. crocodiles, who exactly this “Salt Bae” person is, the interior decorating schemes of the early 60s, and (they can both agree) the fact that Hector P. Valenti is a serious jerkwad. Show Notes: – Betsy should have mentioned to Kate, when we were debating the location, that this has to be NYC because you see ice skating at Rockefeller Center in Lyle, Lyle. – Here are the two 2019 crocodile/alligator books Betsy has read this year and has particularly enjoyed: The Truth About Crocodiles by Maxwell Eaton III and Beware of the Crocodile by Martin Jenkins, ill. Satoshi Kitamura. – How big are a crocodile’s feet and could yo

Kate got a dog! A doggy dog of her very own. And you know what goes together well, like peaches and cream? Dogs and picture books. So Betsy had to figure out a classic dog picture book. And lo and behold she realized that in spite of its relative fame the show had never done a book about this particular dirty dirty dog. In the course of things Betsy and Kate solve the mystery of why Harry never rolls in mud. Meanwhile, this is a VERY springtime-related book. We hope you appreciate the robins and the daffodils. Here in February, our eyes are hungry for any and all spring things. Show Notes: - Here's an obit for Margaret Bloy Graham: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/29/books/margaret-bloy-graham-harry-the-dirty-dog-illustrator-dies-at-94.html - And another article about her from WBUR: https://www.wbur.org/artery/2015/04/17/margaret-bloy-graham - The book was #43 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/29/top-100-picture-books-43-harry-the-dirty-dog-by-gene-zion-illust

"If you've got a Leo Lionni book you're not going anywhere very fast, but you're gonna get there eventually." The old Ant and the Grasshopper fable got the Lionni touch back in 1967 when the four time Caldecott Honor winner chose to put a new spin on an old classic. So how successful was this book in the end? Is it a product of its age (the tune in and drop out 60s) or something that stands the test of time? In the course of things the sisters discuss the fact that Frederick would have made a fantastic lawyer, how he progresses from emo to hipster, and whether or not that poppy on the cover has a special significance. Plus they get to mention Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and that ALWAYS makes for good podcast talk. Show Notes: - Yay, Cybils! We're so pleased with the winner of the Picture Book category. Here's the full list of Cybils winners, if you're curious: http://www.cybils.com/2019/02/2018-cybils-winners.html - Regarding the Leo Lionni sculpture housed at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, t

This week, Betsy found a nice calm little book and discussed it in a nice calm little way. Fear not, though. There is PLENTY to pick apart. The fact that a Dude In Distress can be simplified to: "The D.I.D." Who you would cast as the dragon in the movie of this book (which, let's admit it, it's a little weird that it HASN'T been turned into an animated full-length feature film yet)? And how exactly do you pronounce "Munsch"? All will be made clear. Show Notes: - Kudos to Mr. Munsch for including all kinds of wonderful information for each of his books on his website. With that in mind, here's his page for The Paper Bag Princess: https://robertmunsch.com/book/the-paper-bag-princess - I think we had the image of the princess punching Ronald in the nose in an early draft of Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature: http://wildthings.blaine.org/?page_id=32 - We dunno. We think we kind of want to see the version of this where the princess takes Ronald's clothes when he criticizes her. - This is