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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If you looked at the title of this week's podcast book and thought to yourself, "I've never even heard of that one before" then you may know what time it is . . . IT'S CULT CLASSIC TIME! With periodic regularity Kate and Betsy will discuss on Fuse 8 n' Kate those picture books that are, as they like to call them, "cult classics". That means that they are popular with some segment of the audience, if not the entire world. Today that "segment of the audience is" [checks notes] Germany. Yup. Germany once again. We've already talked about illustrator Wolf Erlbruch in our episode on Death, Duck and the Tulip. Germans aren't afraid to tackle death in picture books. Nor are they afraid of excrement. This book is ample proof of that (though it's the English that are the true fans). Bonus: By the end, we discover the International Rule of Anuses in Picture Books. It's the line the Europeans will not cross! Listen to find out why! Show Notes: And now, two videos that may be of particular note in this case. First, a bit of animation of the book: https://youtu.be/oG0KzxVoTI8 Second, a bit of what can happen when schools get creative: https://youtu.be/6gOwDmpxvnU For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/11/14/fuse-8-n-kate-the-story-of-the-little-mole-who-went-in-search-of-whodunit-by-werner-holzwarth-ill-wolf-erlbruch/
We heard the call and we have responded! It was noted by more than one reader that we've done very few nonfiction picture books on our podcast. We did do So You Want to Be President earlier this year back in February but that was pretty much it. So today, we consider a book produced back in 2001. We know that the standards to which we hold nonfiction picture books has changed in the intervening 21 years. So how does this particular title stand up today? Spoiler Alert: Surprisingly well! Betsy told the story of the goose puppet and Brian Selznick on her blog here back in 2011: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2011/05/18/saracen-selznick-and-the-goose-that-almost-wasnt/ And you can find information on the upcoming celebration at The Rabbit Hole in Kansas City on November 18th here: https://www.rabbitholekc.org/thisisnotarabbit For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/11/07/fuse-8-n-kate-the-dinosaurs-of-waterhouse-hawkins-by-barbara-kerley-ill-brian-selznick/
Happy Halloween! It's the last day of October and that means a final spooky scary picture book is up for discussion. Hat tip to Stephanie Lucianovic for suggesting today's title. Kate and Betsy learn that apparently Judith Viorst is a big time fan of extra long titles (something that was hinted at when she created Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day). In today's book they see some seriously fashion forward footwear and hats, the true horror of cream cheese sandwiches, and why this book should actually be called MY MOM IS GASLIGHTING ME. Show Notes: Kate Recommends: Halloween Deviled Eggs, seen here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci-81rHAUXT/ Betsy Recommends: Everything Everywhere All At Once which, in turn, has inspired her favorite Halloween costume of the year: Raccacoonie (note the bagel with everything purse): https://twitter.com/GeneHa/status/1566871379923943425 For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/10/31/review-of-the-day-may-mama-says-there-arent-any-zombies-ghost-vampires-creatures-demons-monsters-fiends-goblins-or-things-by-judith-viorst-ill-kay-chorao/
"It's like Candyman if instead of saying his name three times you just called into existence each of his bodyparts." Man. Insult upon injury, today's book. Does the reader really have to call Big Green Monster's hair "scraggly"? That's just wrong, dude. Today Betsy introduces Kate to her very first Ed Emberley book. Sure, it's not terribly Halloween-ish, but it's not NOT Halloweenish, amiright? They consider the ways in which Emberley both invokes a scary monster without making it too scary along the way. So he'll follow up sharp white teeth with "little squiggly ears". It's a fascinating duality. They also talk paper texture, hair shaming, and why the cartilage in monsters tends to be a different color than skin. Show Notes: Here's the Grinch horror movie Kate references. And we didn't even DISCUSS the upcoming horror film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. See what happens when books enter the public domain? https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a41597592/the-grinch-horror-movie-first-look/ For the full Show Notes, please visit https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/10/24/fuse-8-n-kate-go-away-big-green-monster-by-ed-emberley/
As Halloween draws closer and closer, we delve deeper and deeper into the macabre. We kicked off the month of October with Edward Gorey. Now we're following him up with his spiritual cousin, none other than Hilaire Belloc himself. We're looking at two different editions of the Struwwelpeter-inspired (surely) poem Matilda, Who Told Lies and Was Burned to Death. One edition, illustrated by Steven Kellogg, was produced in 1970. The other, created in 1991 (and originally published in Great Britain), illustrated by Posy Simmonds, is the far tamer titled picture book Matilda: Who told such Dreadful Lies . . . (note that the original title is on the title page, not the cover). A lot can change in the intervening 20 years, and so we compare the two editions, their oddities and similarities, and come to the almost certain conclusion that Hilaire Belloc was . . . quite the interesting fella. But are these good books? That is the real question. Show Notes: Here's where Betsy will be interviewing Tom Felton. If you'd like to attend and you live in the Chicago area, you can go here and do so: https://northshorecenter.org/event/tom-felton/ For the full Show Notes, please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/10/17/fuse-8-n-kate-matilda-who-told-lies-and-was-burned-to-death-by-hilaire-belloc/
Proof positive that not everything found in a trunk is gold. Kate's on the hunt for books for Halloween so we took a suggestion and delved into this "lost treasure" from the trunk o' manuscripts of the late Margaret Wise Brown. Betsy will confess to you right here and now that she's kinda out of good Halloween titles to do, so if you have ANY suggestions of other picture book Halloween classics, please oh please suggest them now. We discuss a gender-bent version of Wizard of Oz, why Margaret Wise Brown missed out on calling the mom "Scarecrone", why all these scarecrows are white, and more. Show Notes: You can read the L.A. Times article A Treasure-Trove of Children's Stories here, if you like: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-26-vw-4107-story.html Kate Recommends: Hocus Pocus 2 - https://www.disneyplus.com/welcome/hocus-pocus-2?cid=DSS-Search-Google-71700000100365913-&s_kwcid=AL!8468!3!625379239143!e!!g!!hocus%20pocus%202&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4omaBhDqARIsADXULuVAZaA8xjqRXbgtKtbBt8LRjhKcwPJRoqskch8gs4Rvs1mu9qM9KlQaAkVZEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds Betsy Recommends: Hello, Dolly -https://www.marriotttheatre.com/show/hello-dolly For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/10/10/fuse-8-n-kate-the-little-scarecrow-boy-by-margaret-wise-brown/
"I'm Benjamin Buttoning over here!" When they're not talking about crystal flutes and harmoniums, Kate and Betsy discuss their very first Halloween-seasoned title on this week's episode of Fuse 8 n' Kate. Betsy was charged with coming up with another potential classic for the Halloween season, and now she has located an illustrator who may honestly be called "the granddaddy of haunted books". He didn't do many picture books . . . for children. But occasionally he did one or two when someone else was doing the writing and today's title, The Shrinking of Treehorn is an exemplary example. The sisters talk about what it takes to name your kid "Treehorn", what to do when you're caught in a Jumanji-type situation, and why this book made Betsy think of Jeffrey Dahmer. Show Notes: For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/10/03/fuse-8-n-kate-the-shrinking-of-treehorn-by-florence-parry-heide-ill-edward-gorey/
Banned Books Week may have happened last week, but sadly that doesn't mean that the nationwide scourge of banning has ended. Far from it. As such, we felt like consideration of this, "the granddaddy of the book banned", was long overdue. Interestingly, even though Kate hadn't seen the book before, she took one look at it and said it was "the gay penguins book". So it's clearly in the cultural zeitgeist. We talk Happy Feet, whether or not Tango was actually named after Tango & Cash ("if she'd been a boy, he totally would have named her Cash"), and why baby penguins that break the 4th wall are unspeakably awesome. Show Notes: Betsy talks about this on the show, but in April of 2022 she conducted an interview with the authors of this book in a piece called And Tango Gets Banned Again? Book Banning Perspectives from Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. There's a lot of good history information about the book there, so feel free to check it out: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/04/26/and-tango-gets-banned-again-book-banning-perspectives-from-peter-parnell-and-justin-richardson/ Betsy loved the image of the statues at the entrance to the Central Park Zoo because she regularly collects children's literature statues from around America. You can check out one of those posts here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2019/07/09/the-complete-listing-of-all-public-childrens-literature-statues-in-the-united-states-2019-edition/ And, once again, Kate recommends Queer Ducks by Eliot Schrefer, which makes it very clear that this is hardly uncommon in the animal world: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/queer-ducks-and-other-animals-eliot-schrefer?variant=39684198563874 Interested in the latest Henry Cole picture book that features two dads? Then check out his wordless 2022 title, Forever Home: A Dog and Boy Love Story: https://shop.scholastic.com/parent-ecommerce/books/forever-home-9781338784046.html And just for fun, check out this recent LeVar Burton video from The Daily Show that features this beloved title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QQU_2f_HoA Here is Don't Be Afraid of Robert Munsch's Love You Forever. An article that was very strange, since it sure sounded from the outset like it was about the scarier elements of the title. Thanks to Amy Rooks for the link: https://www.cbc.ca/parents/learning/view/dont-be-afraid-of-robert-munsch-love-you-forever For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/09/26/fuse-8-n-kate-and-tango-makes-three-by-justin-richardson-and-peter-parnell-ill-henry-cole/(opens in a new tab)
Though normally we limit ourselves on the Fuse 8 n' Kate podcast to books that were published at least 20 years ago, we look at a book today that is (restrain your gasps) 19 years old. Worth it. I mean, who could possibly fault us? Ashley Bryan was a living saint of children's literature. Kate points out that with the current racist responses to the Black Little Mermaid, our choice of book today is timely in its cry of "Black is beautiful!" We get into a discussion of what can be considered assimilation or cultural appropriation and things get interesting. Give it a listen! Show Notes: Betsy Recommends: Bluey - https://www.bluey.tv/watch/ Kate Recommends: Harley Quinn - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7658402/ For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/09/19/fuse-8-n-kate-beautiful-blackbird-by-ashley-bryan/
Having failed to secure a THIRD strawberry-related picture book this week (not for lack of trying) we turn to a heroine we've only seen once before in our previous Olivia episode. The first time Betsy introduced Kate to Olivia shje was shocked by how much Kate liked the little pig. Recall, if you will, that Kate has a tendency to dislike bratty heroines. Olivia, by some unexpected roll of the dice, apparently passes muster. Today's book includes one of our favorite exchanges between a student and a teacher in the picture book form, and is filled with small details you may have missed back in the day when the book was first published. Things like why, precisely, the cover image was significantly changed from its interior original. Or why Olivia is like Moira Rose/Meg White! Show Notes: Hat tip to Lark for bringing us to the Independent article, Animal discovered with ‘transient anus’ that only appears when it is needed. This may explain a lot about how anuses appear in European picture books but seemingly disappear when the books are published here in the States: https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/comb-jelly-anus-jellyfish-transient-gut-study-a8810526.html Kate Recommends: The Great British Baking Show Game - https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/363252/great-british-baking-show-game Betsy Recommends: That she's on TikTok now! https://www.tiktok.com/@fusenumber8 For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/09/12/fuse-8-n-kate-olivia-saves-the-circus-by-ian-falconer/
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