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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In lieu of a famous Thanksgiving picture book (which does not exist) Betsy and Kate decide a good way to go would be to do something food-related. And what's more foodie than food falling from the sky? This one is easy since it had a film of the same name. It's remembered . . . sorta. Due to its length it isn't really performed in storytimes, and affection for it has more to do with nostalgia than anything else. Or is it fantastic? A little gem we've all ignored? The sisters tackle the book head on and find some surprising results. - This Minh Le post on Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs may be 10 years old, but it's just as fresh and clear as it was back in the day: http://www.bottomshelfbooks.com/2007/02/cloudy-with-chance-of-meatballs_11.html - Giant Jam Sandwich! Betsy says "mosquitoes" but it was flies, right? Or was it wasps? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iiv4AbrRsww -Read the #75 post on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/21/top-100-picture-books-75-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-by-judi-barrett-illustrated-by-ron-barrett/ - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUaKcFI4BZY - Accident by Andrea Tsurumi has a very similar tone to this book: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/07/07/review-of-the-day-accident-by-andrea-tsurumi-2/ - For the full Show Notes, visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/11/13/fuse-8-n-kate-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-by-judi-barrett-and-ron-barrett/
After a month of good but relatively obscure titles it's Very Special Episode Day for the Fuse 8 n' Kate podcast. Folks have requested this one since the show's inception and now, for your listening enjoyment, Kate at last meets this infamous title. Will she pull a Rainbow Fish on Betsy and defend it? Will the sisters see eye-to-eye on the matter? Will Betsy bring up the book's complicated backstory or let sleeping dogs lie? Warning: May also include the jazziest version of the Love You Forever song you'll ever hear. Show Notes: - Robert Munsch sings the song from Love You Forever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFX6pdwJWpA - Joey reads the book on Friends to Ross and Rachel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BauEPCnw55Y - Taking the book to a whole other level, Children's Books Made Horrific tackles Love You Forever: http://the-toast.net/2014/09/18/love-forever/ - The trailer for Murder on the Orient Express: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq4m3yAoW8E - Square One and one of their best songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DzfPcSysAg - For full Show Notes, please visit A Fuse #8 Production at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/11/06/fuse-8-n-kate-love-you-forever-by-robert-munsch-a-very-special-episode
Who says horror never wins the big awards? This is perhaps the last time a scary picture book got serious Caldecottian love. It also marks the end of the October spooky books for Betsy and Kate. At least you get to hear them run through a range of Halloween sound effects. Poor ones, granted, but it's the thought that counts. Show Notes: - When the book first came out, this was the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag0LPVYpIu4 - By the way, can YOU name a classic Thanksgiving picture book? You can’t. You can name Thanksgiving picture books, sure, but one that’s massively famous? Not so much. - By the way, the answer to the quiz question this week is COMPLETELY incorrect. Can you guess the right answer? - I wasn’t wrong, as it turns out. From 2002-2003 there was indeed a “new” Twilight Zone: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318252/ - That Creepy Crawlers commercial Kate remembers? It existed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0RK-l97NHY -The Peter Brown book about the dog that I couldn’t remember (and that Jon Stewart’s son loved) was Chowder. - The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs is best described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey%27s_Paw -At this point I wanted to include a video of Aaron reading from this book. Trouble is, I couldn’t find one online. That meant I had to find the next best thing. So, apparently at TXLA they have this lip-synching contest between kidlit vs. YAlit folks. And if Aaron Reynolds didn’t win it for this then what are we even talking about? This is THE best thing you’ll see all day long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPRaQG8Zsz4 - In case you’re curious about the New Yorker piece here it is: Birth of a Supremacist - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/16/birth-of-a-white-supremacist - For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/30/spooky-october-infused-fuse-8-n-kate-creepy-carrots-by-aaron-reynolds-and-peter-brown/
She likes it! She really likes it! Not to give anything away but Kate is fully enamored of The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. And why not? That seductive spider clearly knows what he's doing from the get-go. In this episode the sisters consider killing flying monkeys, Hocus Pocus (it is October after all), and whether or not a book this new really deserves to be called a "classic" quite so soon. Show Notes: - No apologies. Frank Morgan was marvelous in The Good Fairy. Clearly a man that benefited from a good strong mustache. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34pTHbhGaYc - Here’s the link to Tony Diterlizzi’s website, where you can find all kinds of additional information. Scroll down and you’ll see a plethora of Spider and the Fly related links. http://diterlizzi.com/book/the-spider-the-fly/ - Wow! This Go Your Own YA podcast is great! They’re really just starting out but already they’ve covered Patricia McKissack and Lois Duncan. Check them out here: https://www.goyourownya.com/ - Apologies. It’s actually The Apple Dumpling Gang. Please don’t rake us over the coals. - Though there has been much clamor for it, Hocus Pocus has never actually made it to Broadway. It has, however, been made into a parody musical. http://www.playbill.com/article/what-to-expect-from-the-hocus-pocus-musical-parody - The Center for Teaching Through Children’s Books: Here’s a list of resources provided by the recent Indivisible Institute from many of the speakers. One stop shopping. https://padlet.com/berland/8fuf1e39fz18 - For the full Show Notes please visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/23/spooky-october-infused-fuse-8-n-kate-the-spider-and-the-fly-by-mary-howitt-and-tony-diterlizzi/
Spooky October offerings continue with a book that Kate calls "Hunger Games . . . but cats!" Special guest James Kennedy joins us for a talk about cannibalistic kitties, stating accurately, "Of all of the children's books, maybe all the books ever written, this one has the highest body count." Along the way you are privy to an acapella rendition of the theme song, bad John Travolta puns, and lots of Yacht Rock. - Be sure to read The Order of Odd Fish by James Kennedy. SLJ called it "depraved"! How many YA novels can you say THAT about? https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/91572/the-order-of-odd-fish-by-james-kennedy/9780440240655/ - The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is James's baby. Kids make 90-second (approximately) videos of Newbery Award and Honor books and then James travels around the country showing them in his film festival. Honestly, for a kid to see their video up on the big screen, there's nothing to compare to that. Newest and latest submissions are due on January 12th. http://90secondnewbery.com/ - Read the Top 100 Picture Books poll post on Millions of Cats. http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/11/top-100-picture-books-21-millions-of-cats-by-wanda-gag/ - Millions of Cats done in Minecraft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uD6H1O0TRA -The ABC Bunny video of the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leiXQbqAVME - Full full Show Notes: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/16/spooky-october-infused-fuse-8-n-kate-millions-of-cats-by-wanda-gag-ft-james-kennedy/
Sisterhood is stronger than fights over Jawas vs. Ewoks, though in this particular case the two come dangerously close to exchanging blows. In honor of October they decide to tackle some spooky picture book classics. And it's hard to get spookier than Sendak's classic tale of babynapping and ice changelings. Hold on to your horn, your little sister, and your sanity for this crazy ride. Show Notes: - Anyone who puts together a picture book cover involving Jim, the chicken, and the old lady from Good Night Moon for Kate wins Betsy's everlasting love. - Are you fond of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark? Then we highly recommend The 15 Most Disturbing Illustrations From “Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, particularly if your memory needs a jog. https://tuneinrockon.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/the-15-most-disturbing-illustrations-from-scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark/ - This is what Betsy meant when she referenced Rebel Without a Cause: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrkiBCusHs0 - Apparently the German Shepherd featured in this book was modeled after Sendak's dog Max. He would later adopt a different German Shepherd named Melville. - Curious about The Dionne Quintuplets? Here's some background information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_quintuplets - LifeSource: Information on donating blood. http://www.lifesource.org/donate-blood/ - Here is a link to Eddie Izzard's latest book. And, for the record, he was magnificent in person. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318643/believe-me-by-eddie-izzard/9780399175831/ Full the full show notes for this episode, please visit Betsy's blog A Fuse #8 Production here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/09/spooky-october-infused-fuse-8-n-kate-outside-over-there-by-maurice-sendak/
In this episode, Betsy and Kate decide to try to steer clear of Seussian controversy, unaware that even as they record this there is a debacle brewing with a school librarian, Melania Trump, and a host of Dr. Seuss books. Fortunately, while this book has been challenged in a library system (we'll get to that) it was not one of Ms. Trump's donations. Thank goodness for small favors. Along the way Kate identifies the most terrifying person in the book, Betsy has flashbacks to an old Smurfs episode, and the sisters talk seriously about why you can't put a skirt embedded with lights on a blow-up T-Rex costume. Show Notes: - The horrifying Smurf Rage Zombies. ComingSoon.net had exactly the same reaction to the episode that Betsy did and even makes a very strong case for why this story originally (in comic form) preceded George Romero's zombies by years. http://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/749789-terror-tv-gnap-gnap-zombies-vs-smurfs-purple-smurfs - Washington State University says that any spelling of "good-by" is legitimate and that "goodbye" is simply the most popular right now. https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/19/good-by-good-by-goodbye/ - Here, for your reading enjoyment, is a fully written complaint against Hop On Pop: http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2014/04/toronto-library-asked-to-ban-violent-dr-seuss-book-hop-on-pop.html?cmp=fbtl - If you wish to follow The Niblings on our Facebook page you may do so here: https://www.facebook.com/TheNiblings/ - Here is Minh Le's full post on Hop On Pop. http://www.bottomshelfbooks.com/2007/04/hop-on-pop_09.html - All the Dirty Parts by Daniel Handler: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/all-the-dirty-parts-9781632868060/ - Kate's magnificently cool skirt can be purchased here: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/jhsu/?srp=18 - For full Show Notes visit Betsy's blog here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/03/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-hop-on-pop-by-dr-seuss/
We're back! Kate's voice has healed up so the sisters sit down to talk about our first Seuss. And what a Seuss it is too. Just in time for Banned Books Week they consider what should, in many ways, be Seuss's most controversial picture book. Along the way there may also be some talk about Bill Cosby, nerds, and raves. Show Notes: - Here is ALA’s list of Frequently Challenged Books for 2016. https://www.ila.org/content/documents/2016banned.pdf - Like I say, I found nuthin’. So I went to 2015 here. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/2015BannedList.pdf - For further information on the implications behind the most famous of the Seuss books, please see Was the Cat in the Hat Black? by Phil Nel. I highly recommend this 45-minute illustrated lecture on the topic. https://plus.google.com/+PhilipNel/posts/3t6xoesSycm - An interesting recent article from the New York Times on Dr. Seuss, his caricatures of WWII, and how the Dr. Seuss Museum prefers not to talk about any of that (at this time). https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/arts/design/dr-seuss-museum-theodor-geisel-political-cartoons.html - An SLJ article on Read Across America’s recent decision to not highlight Seuss but diverse books instead. http://www.slj.com/2017/09/industry-news/cat-hat-racist-read-across-america-shifts-away-dr-seuss-toward-diverse-books/ - Here is how the official challenge to If I Ran the Zoo reads: “Geisel, Theodor Seuss If I Ran the Zoo RANDOM HOUSE Challenged, but retained at the Vancouver, Canada, Public Library (2014) despite a line in the poem about helpers who “all wear their eyes at a slant,” accompanied by illustrations that are racial stereotypes of Asians. The book is often credited with the first printed modern English use of the word “nerd” in a sentence. The library will no longer read it at storytime or promote it other than as resource material in a study of how the portrayal of other cultures has changed over time.” - Universal Studio’s If I Ran the Zoo portion of Seuss Landing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofyYmAryEus - Video of the woman reading this book. And I was wrong. She totally reads the worst part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azBphmVSUj4 - The Moose Called Thidwick problem can be read more fully here. http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/09/06/gunning-for-your-children-when-picture-book-classics-pack-heat/ - Proof that “Eye of the Tiger” is in Rocky 3. Doggone it. Thanks, James. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27F46WPVJBs - Schweddy Balls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPpcfH_HHH8 - Here’s the link to the Patti LuPone interview. It is WELL worth your time! http://www.wnyc.org/story/269890-patti-lupone/ - This is my favorite thing of ALL TIME!!! It’s actually 13 seconds of delight, not 15. 15 would be too long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z2j6F8fZII - You can find full show notes here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/09/26/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-if-i-ran-the-zoo-by-dr-seuss/
In desperate need to get the taste of The Berenstain Bears and the Bully out of their mouth, Betsy and Kate turn their sights to yet another Caldecott Award winner. This time it's Ed Young's take on the classic Chinese folktale Lon Po Po. Like the Red Riding Hood tale? Then you'll certainly enjoy this lovely tale where a trio of clever sisters break every friggin' bone in a wolf's body. Show Notes: - Pudding is not actually the 10th anniversary gift. But it should be. - This is where Kate couldn't see the wolf in the first two-page spread: http://www.vickiblackwell.com/lit/images/panelpics.jpg - Had the wolf frequented his local supermarket he might have gotten the delicacies another way: http://victor.iwi.com.sg/gjh/product_image/Mili_GingkoNuts.jpg - Some light reading? Try your hand at Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale Book by Catherine Orenstein: - You know I'm desperate when I pull out my old copy of The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales Book by Bruno Bettelheim - Here's Yeh-Shen by Ed Young, which Kate mentions: http://www.mariespastiche.com/2013/07/yeh-shen-chinese-cinderella.html - The truly gorgeous Mighty Moby by Barbara DaCosta is illustrated by Ed Young. Find it. Read it. Love it. https://mightymoby.wordpress.com/about-the-creation-of-mighty-moby/ - The Berenstain Bears picture book The Harvest Festival and, as you can see, there's a little light in the corner. If you know what it means you're fine. If you don't, you end up in Rebecca's position. http://d2qxx3fqcmq0dz.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/7/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/9/7/9780310748656.jpg.1446997872.jpg - The episode of Secrets of Story that mentions us can be found here. This is particularly recommended for fans of Dan Harmon as well. https://soundcloud.com/matt-bird-35537727/secrets-of-story-episode-6-raiders-of-the-story-circle - A little information on The Good Place. I will say it again. This. Show. Is. A. Delight. https://www.nbc.com/the-good-place?nbc=1 - For the complete show notes, visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/09/11/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-lon-po-po-by-ed-young/
Our tenth episode and what a splendid one it is too. Killing two birds with one stone, Betsy and Kate wrestle to the ground a listener recommendation AND a series title. Between speculating about alternate realities, corporal punishment, and baby wigs (which are apparently a thing) the sisters come to a mutual understanding on a title for once. Show Notes: - Yeah. We know King Lear doesn't actually get his eyeballs removed. That was Gloucester. Our bad. - Different Lllama Llama rapper videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFtHeo7oMSU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX7JAHddY84 -Back in 2006 Leila Roy at bookshelves of doom was the first person I knew to encounter this book. At a garage sale, no less. Please read her hilarious post on the matter. http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2006/08/quick_quiz_for_.html - The original Berenstain Bears theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjXiIZYsGJY - You can read about the alternate reality theory about the Berenstain/stein Bears here: http://news.avclub.com/how-you-spell-the-berenstain-bears-could-be-proof-of-1798282836 - By the way, after Kate and I finished recording this episode we consulted with the resident Network Administrator and Cannon Ballast who mentioned something called "The Mandela Effect". Apparently shared false memories are a known phenomenon. Listen to the podcast Stuff to Blow Your Mind and the episode Shared False Memories and the Mandela Effect to learn more. http://www.stufftoblowyourmind.com/podcasts/shared-false-memories.htm - Kate's recommendation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWF3YT8sRH8 - Betsy's top recommendation: http://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/mamie-till-mobley.htm -And finally, want to read the book yourself but want someone else to do it for you? Maybe the most fascinating video on the subject. Note the Play-doh version of Sister -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIvRXBsEP1M - For the full list of show notes, please visit A Fuse #8 Production here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/09/04/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-the-berenstain-bears-and-the-bully-by-stan-and-jan-berenstain/
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