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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Since Betsy's library is all closed up and she has no access to the books inside, she wasn't able to do a celebrity picture book with Kate this week. Such is the state of the world in which we live today. Not to worry! In this episode you will find a multitude of plover adjacent ideas, thoughts about developmental issues and when it's right to seek help vs. let things work out on their own, and why it's weird Leo isn't a lion. Like, not even a little bit.
Show Notes: Betsy happens to mention right at the top of the show the book Sick Simon by Dan Krall. If you want the ultimate title showing why you should wash your hands, VERY few books cover the information as well as this one. If there were any justice in this world, sales of this book would be currently through the roof. Here's the obit of Jose Aruego via Phil Nel's Nine Kinds of Pie: http://www.philnel.com/2012/08/14/aruego/ For a full accounting of the Ariane Dewey controversy, please check out this excellent piece on Dewey, created by Lisa Von Drasek at the Blue Ox Review: https://www.continuum.umn.edu/2018/06/women-artists-ariane-dewey/ This is the Muppet Show rendering of Danny Boy that we keep referencing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCbuRA_D3KU Let the record show that we recorded this long before the episode of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me that ALSO happened to mention the Cats butt cut. We talked about it first!! https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/cats-movie-butthole-cut/ Kate mentions a show that she's enjoying. If you didn't catch it, it's called Letterkenny: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/10/11/20909844/letterkenny-hulu-review-pitter-patter Here's that Today Show post "How to homeschool during the coronavirus crisis with free resources". It's a shockingly useful collection of links: https://www.today.com/parents/how-homeschool-during-coronavirus-crisis-t176020 And here is Betsy's BYU Radio interview with the show Constant Wonder where she discussed Anne Carroll Moore: https://www.byuradio.org/episode/a5f07ed4-819f-4027-b5bb-590606625488/constant-wonder-no-children-in-libraries For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/03/23/fuse-8-n-kate-leo-the-late-bloomer-by-robert-kraus-jose-aruego-and-ariane-dewey/To help out families stuck in their homes with small children, avoiding COVID-19, people have been creating videos of people reading picture books. And WHAT, I ask you, is a better readaloud than this storytime classic? Nothing, I tells ya! Nothing! Kate gets introduced to Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury for the very first time. Imagine showing someone, who has never seen this story performed for small children, encountering this book without that context. We spend a bit of our discussion considering the bear's motives here. Maybe the bear has come out of hibernation is starving. Maybe it's lonely. And maybe this is just a great book through and through. Maybe. Show Notes: You probably won't be able to read it in full but here is the 2014 Telegraph article about the book, but it's there in case you need it: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/10879290/Going-on-a-bear-hunt.html This book made #12 on my Top 100 Board Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/08/09/the-top-100-board-books-poll-countdown-15-11/ Here is Michael Rosen performing this book by his very own self: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gyI6ykDwds And here is the video that Kate recommended. I present to you, Black Violin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYerKidQGcc For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/03/16/fuse-8-n-kate-were-going-on-a-bear-hunt-by-michael-rosen-ill-helen-oxenbury/
Having survived a bout of pestilence and plague (read: lice and flu), Betsy was still in an oddly upbeat mood in this week's episode. And why not? Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is, by its very definition, an upbeat book! It is also one of those rare "classic" picture books where the author(s) and illustrator are separate. Kate, as is expected, finds a 100% legitimate mistake in the art that nobody in the history of the world has ever noticed before. Also discussed: what the Cyrillic edition of this book might look like, the great shame of the book, and (for some godforsaken reason) Love Is Blind. For complete Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/03/09/fuse-8-n-kate-chicka-chicka-boom-boom-by-bill-martin-jr-john-archambault-ill-lois-ehlert/
Were you British, you might find it downright odd that Betsy and Kate have chosen to do Raymond Brigg's wordless picture book in March. That is because in Britain this title is generally considered a Christmas classic. Here in the States not so much. You may also not expect that Betsy's conversation with Kate about this book will devolve into a very long and intense argument over whether or not Frosty the Snowman dies at the end of his song. Betsy says he doesn't, Kate says he does. Who is right? Show Notes: We are so happy to report that Betsy's new show, The Story Seeds Podcast, is up and running! More about the show in the future: https://www.storyseeds.co/ Kate challenged Betsy to bring her a celebrity picture book, but Betsy found the request too difficult. Seriously, folks, if you can think of a "classic" celebrity picture book that people ACTUALLY LIKE, let us know what it is at FuseKate8@gmail.com. Well worth reading today: The Guardian article, "Raymond Briggs: Don't call me the king of Christmas. I don't like children, I try to avoid them": https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/20/raymond-briggs-christmas-fungus-bogeyman-television Here is the short film based on this book that they run in England every year around Christmas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A3THighARU And here is the advert (if you will) that made fun of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yZOab5gl-4 For the full Show Notes, please visit us at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/03/02/fuse-8-n-kate-the-snowman-by-raymond-briggs/
Betsy was wracking her brain to figure out what the best possible candidate might be as a contender for classic picture book status with an #ownvoices Indigenous creator. Generally speaking, when fishing for classics, Kate and Betsy like to look at books that have been out for 20 years. Today's title was published in 2000. Now the question of the day with this podcast is whether, in light of the truly magnificent children's books coming out from Native and Indigenous authors, Jingle Dancer still stands up. Show Notes: - You can find more information about The American Indian Youth Literature Award here: https://ailanet.org/activities/american-indian-youth-literature-award/ - Referring back to our previous episode, are you curious about the good work Peggy Rathmann is doing these days? You can check out the New York Times article on her as of 2018 here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/18/magazine/dirt-save-earth-carbon-farming-climate-change.html - Feel out to sea about the Oh Na Na Na TikTok Dance Challenge? Here's a quickie compilation of the latest dance Betsy hadn't heard of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHBwE7h8plE - For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/02/24/fuse-8-n-kate-jingle-dancer-by-cynthia-leitich-smith/
Generally speaking Kate and Betsy prefer dead people. Dead authors. Dead illustrators. But boy howdy do they like it when they have them come on as guests, so put a hash mark in the "Live" column. Back on October 30, 2017 Betsy made Kate read Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds (listen to it here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/30/spooky-october-infused-fuse-8-n-kate-creepy-carrots-by-aaron-reynolds-and-peter-brown/). With this episode, Aaron comes on the show, marking this as the first time a creator of a book covered on the show has made a guest appearance. When asked what book he'd like to do, he suggested this Peggy Rathmann classic. Kate would like me to state, for the record, that the Penguinologist was out of town, which is why the sound is a little funky. Show Notes: Here is Aaron performing Ms. Spears at TLA. Best dang thing you'll see all day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbwZ1o2gOME You can find Peggy Rathmann's website here: http://www.peggyrathmann.com/. Like we say, pretty bare bones. As far as we can tell it hasn't been updated since 2004. Impressive, actually. For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/02/17/fuse-8-n-kate-the-day-the-babies-crawled-away-with-special-guest-star-aaron-reynolds/
With the full and present knowledge that monkeys in children's literature are problematic to the extreme, Kate and Betsy tackle a book that involves a kind of animal that is professed to be a monkey but is, in fact, an ape, much like the problematic-in-his-own-way Curious George(seen on a previous episode). When Betsy was a new mom, she used today's book endlessly with my kids. Yet it was only recently that she realized that she knew next to nothing about either Mr. Perkins or Mr. Gurney. Kate gets to do her Beatnik imitation again (you'd be amazed how often it comes up on this show) and later brings up Silent Bob. Show Notes: The site Dadwagon screetched to a halt in 2015, but if you're curious about Al Perkins, check out the comments on this post. It'll clear a lot of information for you: https://dadwagon.com/2010/06/02/the-mystery-of-al-perkins/ As is I mentioned on the show, The Rabbit Hole in North Kansas City should be opening some time this year. Check 'em out! https://www.rabbitholekc.org For full show notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/02/10/fuse-8-n-kate-hand-hand-fingers-thumb
Having successfully predicted one of the Caldecott Honors in a previous episode, Kate is quick to pop Betsy's puffed up ego right from the start of this week's recording. And good thing too, since the book being discussed is none other than that Reading Rainbow classic A Chair for My Mother. Betsy talks about some of the good narrative choices made by this book, while Kate talks about some of the very strange illustration choices. Show Notes: As is mentioned at the start, Caldecott Honor winner (for Three Jovial Huntsman) Susan Jeffers passed away recently. You may read more about her life here: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-authors/article/82277-obituary-susan-jeffers.html Read the obituary for Ms. Williams in The New York Times which reads Vera B. Williams, 88, Dies; Brought Working Class to Children's Books: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/books/vera-b-williams-who-brought-the-working-class-to-childrens-books-dies-at-88.html How lucky we are that Horn Book makes their Horn Book-Boston Globe Book Award speeches available for free on their site. Please read Vera B. Williams' discussion about the origins of this book here: https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=a-chair-for-my-mother-vera-b-williams-boston-globe-horn-book-award-acceptance-speech For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/02/03/fuse-8-n-kate-a-chair-for-my-mother-by-vera-b-williams/
"I have a big red dog. Accept the reality in which I live." Betsy had been avoiding Clifford all these years. Why? Because she always remembered the book as dull. So you've gotta hand it to Kate. Thanks to her the two find far more to talk about concerning Clifford than you ever thought possible. From Emily Elizabeth's fashion sense to why you wouldn't want to camp under his jowls to the logistics of pouring hot tea on your dog's tongue, this book is rife with possibilities. Show Notes: Betsy managed to find an image of the stuffed Clifford at NYPL here: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-clifford-the-big-red-dog-display-childrens-library-new-york-public-138133333.html And because we simply cannot resist, here is some Clifford fan art by sandra that you may purchase here, if you're so inclined: https://www.deviantart.com/sandara/art/Clifford-the-big-red-dog-329256590 For the full show notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/01/27/fuse-8-n-kate-clifford-the-big-red-dog-by-norman-bridwell/
If you get your kicks out of Kate and Betsy disagreeing about books, today's episode may not be for you. Each year Betsy presents Kate with 2-3 Caldecott contenders. Which is to say, they discuss books that may or may not win the Caldecott Award (which will be handed out a week from today on Monday, January 27th at 8:00 ET here: http://ala.unikron.com/). This gives the two of them a chance to discuss the art and, to a lesser extent, the books' chances. There were actually a fair number Betsy wasn't able to get my hands on for today's recording, but happily two of her favorites WERE available! Show Notes: When discussing the idea of opening the Newbery and Caldecott Awards to artists from other countries the articles, Betsy refers to Leonard Marcus's piece in the New York Times called The Caldecott Medal Needs an International Makeover and found here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/12/books/review/make-caldecott-medal-international.html - She also discusses The Horn Book editorial Bordering On the Absurd by Martha Parravano here: https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=jan-feb-20-editorial - You can read Betsy's official review of Going Down Home With Daddy here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/06/06/review-of-the-day-going-down-home-with-daddy-by-kelly-starling-lyons-and-daniel-minter/ You can read Betsy's Caldecott thoughts on A Stone Sat Still here: https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=a-stone-sat-still For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/01/20/fuse-8-n-kate-2020-caldecott-contenders/
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