Fuse 8 N' Kate

Betsy broke the rules. Under normal circumstances she won't consider a children's book for this podcast unless that title is less than 20 years old. But since she made that rule in the first place, I guess she's the one who gets to break it. And today's book is, in its blood, a rule breaker. In the course of this episode Betsy attempts to encapsulate all of Jacqueline Woodson's major awards (this is a difficult thing to even try, by the way), Kate and Betsy honor Juneteenth, and they try desperately to figure out why this book never won any Caldecott love (to add to its Newbery Honor love). Show Notes: Here's the interview with Jacqueline Woodson about the background to Show Way on Reading Rockets with Carole Boston Weatherford: https://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/woodson/transcript Toshi (Jackie's daughter) was friends with Trixie from the Knuffle Bunny books. This fact was confirmed by Jackie herself at the blog The Happy Nappy Bookseller in 2011: http://thehappynappybookseller.blogspot.com/

In honor of Pride this month, we figured it would be a good idea to check out one of the first big-time LGBTQIA+ picture books published in America. We've already covered Heather Has Two Mommies in a previous episode, so what's left? Well, if Heather Has Two Mommies came out in 1989, Daddy's Roommate followed just a year later in 1990. It was on ALA's top 10 banned list from 1990-1999. Researching it, we had no idea this would be such a fruitful book to explore. Above and beyond little things like the details Willhoite is just throwing in there there's the fact that Sarah Palin hated it and it was brought up during the 2008 presidential campaign. Plus Betsy gets to tell her Jon Waters purple velvet fainting couch story (which so rarely comes up). Show Notes: If you would like to see the video that Kate was critiquing from, you can watch it here: https://vimeo.com/304030343 As Lark pointed out the Barnes Children's Literature Festival features, amongst other things, Stanley Tucci reading The Tiger Who Came

Kate gave Betsy a tricky challenge this week. She wanted her to find a book worth discussing that was pertinent to the times in which we live. So, after a great deal of soul searching, Betsy decided to focus on a book by a Black author. Even better, a book that was ahead of its time when it came out and may only find its true audience today. And few books for kids tackle the issue of police brutality as honestly as this one does. Reprinted two years ago, James Baldwin's 1976 title (the only book for children he ever made) feels both timeless and in desperate need of a new illustrator. Show Notes: The book Betsy alludes to at the start is Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children's Literature, edited by Julia L. Mickenberg and Philip Nel: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2009/02/16/review-of-the-day-tales-for-little-rebels-by-julie-l-mickenberg-and-philip-nel/ If you want additional information on Little Man, Little Man, Betsy wrote about it at length here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8pr

For whatever reason, Kate and Betsy spoke for a whopping 45 minutes about today's book. Somehow, Kate (who is our editor on all this) cut it down to mere 28 minutes, which is a feat worth remarking. The sisters tackle whether or not "Helen Palmer" was or was not Dr. Seuss (the answer is far more complicated than you might think). They delve into what kind of reputation Mr. Carp must have to be on the watch list of both the police and the firemen. And now they have to research when fluoride entered the drinking water and when chlorine entered the public pools. It's important! Show Notes: - As we now know, in its original incarnation, this story began its life as Gustav the Goldfish by Dr. Seuss (originally appearing in Redbook magazine in June 1950). It only became A Fish Out of Water when Seuss's wife Helen adapted it to the easy book format. - Our recent episode about The Cow That Sneezed caused our listener Christine to write in, "Listening to this episode reminded me of Stand Back," Said the Elephant,

Kate and Betsy haven't done a cult classic picture book in a while. Really, the ultimate compliment any book can receive from its fans is that their love allows it to see life once more, decades after publication. This was one of the rare titles from the 1950s republished by the publisher Enchanted Lion. Betsy has always been a big fan of this book, but as we have learned time and time again, just because she likes something, that is NO indication that Kate will as well. Show Notes: Here is the link to the James Flora archives in the Kerlan Collection, should you wish to see them firsthand: https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/4/resources/5433 Curious about Flora's album cover art? You can see a whole slew of it here: https://www.jimflora.com/galleries/flora-classic-album-covers/ And if, by any chance you're interested in seeing Betsy's library's community cookbook, you can find the link here: https://inkie.pressbooks.pub/cozyevanstoncookbook/ For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.

Today's 1981 classic turned out to be a surprise to Kate. She, like many people in America, had no idea that Jumanji was a picture book before it was a movie (or two, or three). Thanks to her read, a lot of questions about this book were cleared up. For example, there is the fact that the parents must be going to a matinee (which explains why the kids eat dinner after their return later). And did you know that the two kids at the end of this book are the ones in the sequel Zathura? But here's the crazy thing. Kate actually managed to find a continuity error in the art. Don't believe us? Check it out. For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/05/18/fuse-8-n-kate-jumanji-by-chris-van-allsburg/

"I'm giving myself extra points for doing this springy book in spring . . . which I did not realize until this moment. Patting on the backy of me!" Prior to today's episode the only Jerry Pinkney title Betsy and Kate had done on the podcast was Sam and the Tigers (as part of their Little Black Sambo round-up). As for Ms. Patricia McKissack, they'd never even done a single one of her books to date. Consider this a wrong now righted. This episode taught us about how folks change picture books to make them readable as ebooks. As for the plot of the story, no one ever talks about the book's traumatized chickens or the fact that you never get to see the cake Mirandy wins. Get ready for an extra deep dive into a book that is still a favorite of teachers nationwide. Show Notes: Initially the cakewalk was created to mock white slaveholders to their faces. They would judge the first cakewalks and have no idea the slaves were mocking them. There's an interesting article about it here at Face2Face Africa: https://fac

Because it was recently Betsy's birthday, she got to choose a book that was her favorite when she was growing up. And let us say this about Tasha Tudor. The Queen of England herself is second only to Tasha Tudor in terms of corgi love. Tasha was the original corgi lover. The sisters spend a great deal of time trying to explain some of the oddities of the book by saying, "It's New England!" Like it helps or something. The best way to put it is that this book is 70s/1870s. Show Notes: If you ever care to show up at the Tasha Tudor website, it's a real class act: https://www.tashatudorandfamily.com/ Is Betsy the only one who makes this association when she sees a monk marionette? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK19zONpd04 For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/05/04/fuse-8-n-kate-a-time-to-keep-by-tasha-tudor/

Seems to us that bats are shouldering a great deal of the blame for our current COVID-19 crisis. Considering the fact that their P.R. wasn't all that great to begin with(Batman aside), Betsy decided this week's episode would combat this problem with the most famous bat-related picture book in America. It doesn't hurt matters any that this entire episode is pretty much just an excuse for her to post cute videos of baby fruit bats in the Show Notes. Show Notes: Betsy mentions that her falcons are currently nesting on her library building right now. Here they are on the live cam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hOZ0BMx12Y Care to be pandered to? Here's the video of the juvenile fruit bat being petted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVz8rvIl_vY And here is a video of a baby fruit bat eating a banana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaPXhYaFReY\u0026t=28s The book came in at #71 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll. http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/21/top-100-picture-books-71-stellaluna-by-janel

True Fact: The longest book written in the English language is the easy book One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss. Other True Fact: That first fact is untrue, but it's certainly what Kate believed in her heart when she finished reading that book during this recording. While many people remember all too well the title of today's book, its plot (such as it is) remains, for many, a mystery. Kate certainly didn't know what to expect and, to be fair, how could she have? Can anyone truly predict Clark or the Ying or Ned? Sweet sweet Ned? We think not. Show Notes: One image in this book was once parodied when Betsy made a post challenging artists to Re-Seussify Seuss. Which is to say, re-illustrate a Dr. Seuss work in the style of another illustrator. And Nathan Hale (of Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales) decided to take on "yellow teeth guy" (as Kate calls him) in the style of Stephen Gammell. You know. The fellow who illustrated Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. And the result is beautiful. Go he

In honor of Tomie dePaola, who left us last week, Betsy wanted to do one of his possible classics. The show had already done Strega Nona, but one other book might qualify for "classic" status. Trouble was, all the libraries are closed and Betsy couldn't get a physical copy of this book. Happily, Overdrive offered this ebook for borrowing. The title totally threw Kate off, and Betsy couched it by saying that it is considered one of the original GLBTQIA+ books created for kids in America. It is by NO means as brave as Heather Has Two Mommies, but it has its place in the culture. Show Notes: If you're interested in the GLBTQ chapter I refer to in this podcast, it's in the book Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature: http://wildthings.blaine.org/?page_id=2 And once again, ladies and gentlemen, The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington D.C. performing this book themselves!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuBA86Ohg94 For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/04/0

For WEEKS Kate has been bugging Betsy to find her a celebrity picture book. The catch was that Betsy was insisting that the book be considered a "classic". So she asked the listeners what the most classicky classic was and they managed to come up with today's book. Published in 1996 this definitely falls within the 20 year rule (a.k.a. don't read anything that's younger .... in theory) so they went for it. But Betsy had no idea Kate would take issue with tons of illustrations that she finds degrading to women. She has a point. This book, you will find, has not aged as well as you may hope. Show Notes: Tis true! This is the second Laura Cornell book on this podcast. Take a listen to the Heather Has Two Mommies episode, because Ms. Cornell illustrated it for the reissue: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/06/27/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-heather-has-two-mommies/ This is the article in Education and Career News with Ms. Curtis which explains why she started writing picture books in the first place: ht

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 Dra

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-

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

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 Challe

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 b

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 ful

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 t