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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Having spent ample time in the presence of Jon Agee himself at The Rabbit hOle at the recent Tomi Ungerer Symposium, Betsy determined that we hadn't actually done one of his books on our podcast yet. Today we take on a book that I like to pair alongside Fortunately. As for why we've chosen this particular title, it's all thanks to the suggestion of listener Rachelle Leon Pilarski. Thank you, Rachelle! Will Kate find the title appropriate or will she eschew it entirely? For the full Show Notes, please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/12/08/fuse-8-n-kate-terrific-by-jon-agee/
For the first time we are simultaneously recording alongside another podcast. The podcast in question? The Book of Life, which has been in existence for a good 20 years now (this month!). And let me tell you... when it comes to Jewish children's literature content on a podcast? There really isn't anyone else that can match synagogue librarian Heidi Rabinowitz. She knows what she's doing. Today, she is joining us to talk about a very special book for our Hanukkah episode. Our podcast requires books to be 20 years old and Heidi's podcast is, itself, 20 years old. So we're doing a Hanukkah book that's 20 years old as well! She discusses interviewing Sims Taback, the demystification of Judaism through Jewish children's books, and the dangers of silo-ing Jewish literature. For the full episode Show Notes, look no further than here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/11/30/fuse-8-n-kate-with-special-guest-heidi-rabinowitz-the-borrowed-hanukkah-latkes-by-linda-glaser-ill-nancy-cote/
Oh. Full credit goes to children's book creator Ursula Murray Husted for today's find. You know, we've done a lot of feast-adjacent picture books in conjunction with Thanksgiving in the past (Green Eggs with Ham, for example). But today's book is a bit of an outlier in that respect. Aside from Cranberry Thanksgiving, I can't think of the last time we did a legitimately Thanksgiving-themed picture book. Today we do our first Crescent Dragonwagon title (complete with a marvelous explanation of her name), our second Aruego/Dewey title (after Leo the Late Bloomer) and our latest abecedarian book. Will it pass muster? Only time will tell. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/11/24/fuse-8-n-kate-alligator-arrived-with-apples-a-potluck-alphabet-feast-by-crescent-dragonwagon-ill-jose-aruego-and-ariane-dewey/
New General Rule: When a celebrity promotes an already existing picture book, it is rarely a good thing. I am thinking, naturally, of the episode of Friends where they read Love You Forever in its entirety. But it doesn't just happen on television shows. Recently a Kardashian recommended today's title, and to my horror and delight it's 20 years old (if you go by its original self-published publication date). A self-proclaimed books for parents (rather than children) we have to weigh Tillman's talents as an illustrator against her storytelling choices. The end result is that we have two rather different final scores. Listen and see why that is! For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/11/17/fuse-8-n-kate-on-the-night-you-were-born-by-nancy-tillman/
We don't play this up much, but this actually marks the first appearance of Chris Raschka on our podcast. And WHATTA debut! This taps into my love of all picture books in which the protagonist gets eaten. But for Kate, she hyperfixates on the very semantics of the word "sardine". How can you hope to become the thing that you already are? That little delve into the philosophical underpinnings of edible tiny fish is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to today's discussion. Suffice to say, we diverge WIDELY on our interpretation of this book. In face, we may be as different on our votes for this book as we have ever been. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/11/03/fuse-8-n-kate-arlene-sardine-by-chris-raschka/
What is the most loathed trope in picturebookdom to date? Some might say it's the everyone-forgot-my-birthday plot but we have something even worse in mind. For us, it's the old Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer topic of everyone being mean until you save their butts in some way and now they like you. Little did we suspect that beloved children's author Dav Pilkey, he of Captain Underpants and Dog Man fame, once capitulated to that very idea in one of his books. Behold! Our first Dav Pilkey title on the podcast! And the last? That remains to be seen. Join us then as we discuss rotary phones, trick-or-treating etiquette, and bad puns (that don't even really work, doggone it). You can find the full Show Notes of the episode here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/10/27/fuse-8-n-kate-the-hallo-wiener-by-dav-pilkey/
Anyone who has ever picked up a copy of The Sneetches for their children has probably discovered that The Sneetches does not stand alone. Indeed, it appears in a collection called The Sneetches and Other Stories. Now we've never done The Sneetches on our podcast. That would be an episode for another day. Today, we look at the far lesser-known (possibly for good reason) title What Was I Scared Of? Previously published under the title Pale Green Pants (and I think we can all agree that this title change was a move in the right direction) it follows a pair of disembodied pants straight out of the film Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Today, Kate I consider it as a possible Halloween contender and, in the course of things, discuss the 1977 animated Halloween television special Halloween is Grinch Night, the difficulty of saying the term "anapestic tetrameter" aloud, why the true star of this book should be named "Torselus Todd", and (I won't lie) we may use the term "badonkadonk" more than once. For the Show Notes to this episode please go to: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/10/20/fuse-8-n-kate-what-was-i-cared-of-by-dr-seuss/
As Halloween creeps ever closer (and the weather begins to resemble something somewhat autumnal) we continue to seek out potential seasonal classics from the many books that have come before. Today's suggestion comes to us via Ramarie B. and it's a text based on an old Russian fairy tale. Mind you, in the original, this story featured a turnip (and it says a lot about a culture if a gigantic turnip is someone's idea of a food you'd want in abundance). Today, in spite of the fact that Kate and I have failed MULTIPLE times to successfully grow pumpkins (I have one going right now, but it's green and I don't think it's going to orange up in time for Halloween), we examine this book. Be prepared for discussions of pumpkin sex, vampire fashion wear, and why one might want to garden in their socks. You can find the full Show Notes at https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/10/13/fuse-8-n-kate-big-pumpkin-by-erica-silverman-ill-s-d-schindler/
Kicking off October with Edward Gorey just seems obvious at this point in time. After all, since he died 25 years ago, there are a lot of celebrations happening in his honor this season. Naturally, since he did quite a few "picture books" (a term we use in the broadest sense) it seemed logical to tackle his best known work. Is it for children? Not intentionally, but Betsy makes the case on the show that there are picture books out there that are not intended for children but that kids find anyway and grow to love (Uncle Shelby's ABZs, anyone?). Today's book is a "cult classic picture book" in precisely that sense. This is our fourth alphabet book on our podcast (we forgot we did Eating the Alphabet when we recorded this) and our second Edward Gorey (after The Shrinking of Treehorn). We discuss how this was clearly Wednesday Addams's favorite book when she was little and how Gorey's rhyming is on point! Please note that we do have a trigger warning at the beginning of our discussion. This book does mention children dying. Full Show Notes are visible here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/10/06/fuse-8-n-kate-the-gashlycrumb-tinies-by-edward-gorey/
Going into this episode,Betsy had a lot on her mind. Fancy Nancy is one of those rare 21st century characters with a legitimate shot at picture book classicdom. That said, would Kate find her bratty? One can never predict which literary children show up on Kate's brat-o-meter (Madeline? Really really?), so this was going to be a real question. And if you want to know the answer... yeah. You're going to have to listen to the episode. But don't worry, along the way you'll also hear us talking about the fact that Nancy turns 20 this year, how this is the first time we've done a book with spot glitter on the cover, Sublime references, and font hate. See the full episode show notes here. https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/22/fuse-8-n-kate-fancy-nancy-by-jane-oconnor-ill-robin-preiss-glasser/
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