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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"Distinctive and it always looks like this." That's Betsy discussing the artistic stylings of Jack E. Davis. Published in 2000, this book is pretty quintessentially early 00's. Now we have never done a Margie Palatini OR a Jack E. Davis on this podcast to date. Neither of these two have any currently operating and working websites either, so in some ways we're flying by the seat of our pants in this episode. Happily there is MUCH in this book to capture Kate's attention. An oddly mysterious little title. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/08/10/fuse-8-n-kate-bedhead-by-margie-palatini-ill-jack-e-davis/
Upon hearing that Jon Klassen was hugely affected by this book as a kid (fascinating when you consider how opposite it is from his latest title The House with Nobody In It), we felt it was time to revisit this old 1972 easy book to see how it stands up. Truth be told, we're less interested in the Seuss connection than by the outdated terminology in a supposed book for early readers ("bureau drawer"?!?). "Seuss knew what he was doing with Cat in the Hat. I guess he sort of lost it at this point." We talk about how the book is, at times, "adorably dated," and how this is different from The Cat in the Hat because, at least in that case, the Cat cleans up after itself!!! For the full Show Notes, please read on here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/08/04/fuse-8-n-kate-in-a-people-house-by-dr-seuss-ill-roy-mckie/
Dreamlike and surreal, it may not be as well remembered as some of the other 1980s picture books that typify the era (particularly those written by Chris Van Allsburg) but there's something luminous about this cult classic picture book. Will Kate be drawn to its gentle peculiarities or dislike them entirely? We talk about how gutsy it is to do three wordless two-page spreads, murder hornets, and what Berger owes to Magritte. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/07/20/fuse-8-n-kate-grandfather-twilight-by-barbara-berger/
When you've worked for a system quite as large and vast as New York Public Library, it can be difficult to ascertain scope. Was Library Lion the massive nationwide hit Betsy thought it was when it premiered in 2006, or did her workplace like it only because it featured a library and a lion (two very NYPL-ish things)? To get to the bottom of the matter she brings in Kate, and together they plumb the depths of this sweet tale of feline bibliographic appreciation. This marks our second Kevin Hawkes title on the podcast (the first being Weslandia) and our first Michelle Knudsen.
This week Kate and Betsy take a trip back in time to 1938. We were trepidatious, and can you blame us? Considering the era and the fact that James Daugherty created the first (and only? unclear) Newbery winner to be completely out-of-print due to shockingly overt racism, we entered into Andy and the Lion tentatively. Betsy remembered it as beloved of New York Public Library. Justifiably? This and other questions haunt us as we dive on in. A fascinating take on a book that has lasted far longer than most of its contemporaries to date. For the full Show Notes, please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/07/05/fuse-8-n-kate-andy-and-the-lion-by-james-daugherty/
"The text placing is NOT conventional!" Fresh off the 2026 American Library Association we're happy to discuss our very first Peter Sis title. We're going to begin our Sisification with one of his (relatively) younger books. In its heyday, I recall that New York Public Library absolutely adored this book. They loved its multicultural take and feel. But if we've learned anything from Schoolhouse Rock and other early attempts at diversity, sometimes such things age less well than we'd like. Will Madlenka suffer the same fate? Only one way to find out! For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/06/29/fuse-8-n-kate-madlenka-by-peter-sis/
Sure, we missed it by a couple days, but it's never too late to lift a glass in honor of Juneteenth. Betsy was determined to figure out what the very first Juneteenth picture book published by a major publisher was, and we think we've found our answer. The kicker is that not only did this book come out in 1995, it was the very first picture book by future multi-award winner Carole Boston Weatherford. We discuss double space typing, the "cool aunt" concept, how to design an 80s kitchen, and a lot lot more. See the full Show Notes here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/06/22/fuse-8-n-kate-juneteenth-jamboree-by-carole-boston-weatherford-ill-yvonne-buchanan/
It's PRIDE MONTH!!! And we've done many a fine LGBTQIA+ book during the year. But this book series, while not considered queer during its initial publication, has since been embraced by the gay community and, as such, we seek to celebrate it here today. Of all the Frog and Toad books in the series (there are four) this was the only one to garner a Newbery Honor (NOT Caldecott... and isn't that interesting?). Today, you will witness a veritable plethora of fantastic videos celebrating this book (there will be ninjas). In the course of things Kate determines that, "I am Toad." Ain't we all, kid? We discuss how Frog falls on the autism spectrum and which story is the one I love best of all. For the full Show Notes, read on here. https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/06/15/fuse-8-n-kate-frog-and-toad-together-by-arnold-lobel/
Rambunctious? Bumbling? It's hard to typify the sheep in this Nancy Shaw series (though their publisher has certainly tried over the years). The darlings of the 80s and 90s, "Sheep" appreciation has depreciated significantly over the intervening decades. Today, Kate and I delve into two of the most notable of the sheep book to truly declare whether they deserve a bit of classic status to keep them in the mix, or to be discounted and forgotten to the sands of time. As it happens, it's an ALLLLL Michigan episode here today (Kate, myself, Nancy, and Margot all hail from there). For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/06/08/fuse-8-n-kate-sheep-in-a-jeep-and-sheep-in-a-shop-by-nancy-shaw-ill-margot-apple/
"I don't hate THESE rhymes!" It's a return to New Zealand today with a local classic that has long eluded our particular podcast. Will the little black terrier with the catchy name capture the hearts and minds of these Yankee sisters, or will his charms elude them entirely? On this episode we discuss books that you have to practice reading aloud, why people give their dogs last names, and whether these specific doggy butts in this book were sanitized for American audiences. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/06/01/fuse-8-n-kate-hairy-maclary-from-donaldsons-dairy-by-lynley-dodd/
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