Stay ConnectedTwo sisters, one in L.A. and one in NYC, both move to the Chicago area and start a podcast. The premise? Picture books and are they really that great? Join Kate and Fuse 8 (Betsy Bird) as they track down a picture book “classic” each episode and try to determine if it deserves to remain in the canon of children’s literature.
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Spring has sprungeth! Not that you'd know it looking at Illinois right now, of course, but we're getting close to sunnier days. To celebrate, we've decided to equinox the heck out of this latest podcast episode (I still say it can be a verb). Somehow we've never done this particular Caldecott Honor winner before, so we're going to right a great wrong. We talk epistolary picture books, how clean 1936 New York City alleyways were (we'd love to hear your opinions on needles), Groucho Marx, and more. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/03/25/fuse-8-n-kate-the-gardener-by-sarah-stewart-ill-david-small/
It's the Year of the Dragon and yet so far we've done precisely ZERO dragon books so far. That ends today with our first consideration of Jack Kent. The cartoonist turned picture book author/illustrator may have come to the form late in life, but he cast some indelible images in his time. Surprisingly, this turns out to be one of our more divisive books. We ask what the "Children's Book Clinic" once was, discuss songs stuck in our heads, and talk musical bread. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/03/18/fuse-8-n-kate-theres-no-such-thing-as-a-dragon-by-jack-kent/
If you want something Irish, this book fulfills that desire tenfold. Now, for those of you who listen to the Fuse 8 n' Kate podcast regularly, you'll know that Kate likes three particular things in her picture books: 1. Ireland. 2. Strong women. 3. Lotsa details in the art. With that in mind, is it surprising that she adored this? In this episode we discuss Little Shop of Horrors, the fact that single men have a hard time determining the ages of small children, and why this should really have been called Oona MacCoul and Her Baby Man. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/03/11/fuse-8-n-kate-finn-maccoul-and-his-fearless-wife-by-robert-byrd/
No stranger to controversy, we dive deep into one of Tomi Ungerer's more peculiar picture books. It's all about the consumption of children, but that's not why we get icked out by this particular title. Turns out, it has an ending grosser than anything involving the consumption of kids. Sadly, Betsy was not able to give Kate the blood and guts in a picture book that she so desperately required. In Betsy's defense, she remembered a lot more bloody knives than we see on these pages. Certainly Ungerer was happy to place blood in some of his other stories, but this particular time the violence was more implied than anything else. In this episode we discuss food, food, and more food (guess we were hungry). Show Notes: For the full show notes to this episode please go here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/03/04/fuse-8-n-kate-zeraldas-ogre-by-tomi-ungerer/
Originally released in 2003, Skippyjon Jones is a fascinating study of a picture book that was controversial prior to the rise of We Need Diverse Books. When first it came out, the book received loads of praise and awards ... and then loads of controversy. While still in print today, we identify the probable reasons why this book doesn't have a Netflix show, a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a live-action film, etc. Let's just say there may be a reason why the last book in this series came out in 2014. We discuss what may be one of the oddest Kirkus Reviews ever written, the name "Siamese cats", and why the book is trying to keep the hero "out of the closet". You can find the full Show Notes for the episode here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/02/26/fuse-8-n-kate-skippyjon-jones-by-judy-schachner/
Deep in the heart of February, it's not uncommon for folks to start yearning for warmer days and summer nights. While shivering in Illinois, Kate and Betsy dip into some early award-winning Udry and Sendak. Why did Sendak win a Caldecott Honor for this title? We deign to find out. There are ghosts and giants and a cat with a face Kate would tattoo on her arm tomorrow, if she could. There are also long discussions of how precisely these four children of approximately the same age are all related to one another. Enjoy! For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/02/19/fuse-8-n-kate-the-moon-jumpers-by-janice-may-udry-ill-maurice-sendak/
It's officially the 25th anniversary of No, David! by David Shannon and in celebration Betsy decided to do the second "David" book in the series. Having previously done No, David! before, Betsy figured that the sequel was the right way to go with today's episode. Kate, for her part, experiences a curious form of amnesia, capable of remembering the recording of Shannon's A Bad Case of Stripes, but not the first David book. In that sense she's the perfect person to read this book, unencumbered by memories of its predecessor. For the full Show Notes, please visit here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/02/12/fuse-8-n-kate-david-goes-to-school-by-david-shannon/
"There are fish literally everywhere in this book!" We meant to do an Ed Young title a little closer to his death last year, but life interfered. As a result Betsy has been sitting on this particular copy of Yeh-Shen for a couple months now (sorry, library). You can imagine Betsy's utter delight as she discovers that, like Lon-Po Po, Ed Young hid one particular animal on these pages: Fish! Betsy has way too much fun finding the fishies in these pages, and Kate dives deep into this particular telling. We misidentify Disney songs, and discuss "tattered creatures", and kings that neg. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/01/29/fuse-8-n-kate-yeh-shen-by-ai-ling-louie-ill-ed-young/
It's rare that we do a picture book from Betsy's old Top 100 Picture Books Poll from back in 2012, but today's the day, we guess. This book came in at #96 and reading it today we were surprised at how well it had aged in spite of its 1972 publication date. You probably know Bernard Waber best as the creator of Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. Today we're talking about Joe the Button Pusher, the Irish Republican Army, and where folks stand on the whole teddy bear issue. For the full show notes please find them here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/01/22/fuse-8-n-kate-ira-sleeps-over-by-bernard-waber/
We are so friggin' psyched!! It's not every day that we (A) Celebrate our 300th episode and (B) Have the very first National Ambassador of Young People's Literature JON SCIESZKA as our special guest! We asked Jon what classic picture book he wanted to celebrate, and do you know what he selected? Not one but THREE Grimm Brothers fairy tales. Not the well known ones either. Three short ones. Weird ones. Peculiar ones. Today, we read through the following: - The Straw, the Coal and the Bean - The Three Sluggards - The Mouse, the Bird, and the Sausage "Some of the Grimm Brothers stories you find are a little gross. These are a little... odd!" That's Jon selling today's stories. Today we talk hyacinth beans, subversive stories about the monarchy, and why Kate keeps using the phrase "Sausage McLovin" repeatedly. This may be one of our goofier episodes but it is WELL worth a listen! For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/01/15/fuse-8-n-kate-our-300th-episode-with-special-guest-star-jon-scieszka
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