Fuse 8 N' Kate

A British book just snuck into the pack. When Betsy picked it up from the library for Kate to read, she was positive that what they had on their hands was an American title through and through. Not as such. Mary Hoffman, a white British woman, wrote this back in 1991. It was also a Kate Greenaway Honor book when it was released, which is impressive. This book is not without its controversial elements, but in Betsy's library the only edition available was the reprinted 2015 edition. And, as you will see, that is probably for the best. Show Notes: - For a fun time, Google "Pantomimes about Aladdin" sometime. You will subsequently be taken to a wide world of very British holiday oddities. I love this kid with his hand only partly up. Like he wasn't paying attention and isn't sure what everyone's volunteering for, but he doesn't want to be left out. As mentioned, back in 2015 Amazing Grace was re-released, but the American editions (not the British editions?) quietly excised the illustration of Grace as Hiawa

Summer is almost over, the children are off to school again, and those of us able to take last minute vacations are doing so with gusto. All this is to say that we figured now was a perfect time to release our first "minisode". We came up with the "minisode" name when we thought it would be shorter than our usual length. But then Betsy got it into her head to talk to renowned children's literature scholar Phil Nel for our first minisode and, naturally, it blossomed into a full-blown episode length. Still, when you hear all the things Phil has to say, you'll have to agree that it was worth it. In this episode, Phil and Betsy discuss our previous episode regarding The Cat in the Hat. Phil is perhaps the best person to speak to on the subject, having edited The Annotated Cat in the Hat as well as writing the book Was the Cat in the Hat Black?

It's the 100th episode! Woohoo! After all this time it's finally come. The challenge of this episode of the podcast was to come up with a book for #100 that is widely known but that Betsy and Kate hadn't done already. And this book was waiting in the wings all along. Why? Because thanks to a great deal of scholarship out there on the topic, the "Cat" is no longer the simple beloved character he once was considered to be. This isn't an easy book to do, but Betsy and Kate manage it somehow. Show Notes: - Speaking of Cat in the Hat movies, let us not forget that some brave soul out there combined the trailer for IT with the Mike Myers version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztxEHtrgTRg So what does the mom of this book think of all of this? All is explained in a New York Times piece called The Mom From 'The Cat in the Hat' Finally Speaks: https://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/the-mom-from-the-cat-in-the-hat-finally-speaks/ Books Mentioned on This Episode: The Annotated Cat in the Hat: Under the Hat

This week's challenge from Kate: Deliver unto her a "classic picture book about divorce". So Betsy conferred with her fellow librarians and they all agreed that there is really only one that would fit the bill: A little number from 1986. There's a number of reasons for this selection. The book remains popular to this day. This book is still in print (have they updated the terms since its original publication? This is unclear). And, as Kate points out, this is clearly more a guide than something you might read cover-to-cover. So how has it aged over the years? Show Notes: - Here is the website of Ms. Laurene Krasny Brown. And here are her current and upcoming shows. Check one out if you have a chance: http://www.laurenekrasnybrown.com/ - To answer the question of whether or not divorce is up or down since 1986, we found this article from TIME Magazine, published last year: https://time.com/5434949/divorce-rate-children-marriage-benefits/ Here is a list of Recommended Divorce Picture Books, for those of you

Betsy had been meaning to do this, Eastman's third most famous easy book, and the first one he ever did on his own, for a while. Now, for years Betsy has believed that Eastman has illustrated "night" better than most artists. After this recording she feels justified in having felt this way. Show Notes: If you'd like to see all the ratings of this podcast, they are now avaiable for viewing at https://www.betsybirdbooks.com/lesson-plan Curious about Kate's mention of Can Can Wonderland? You learn a lot more about it at https://www.cancanwonderland.com/ For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/08/05/fuse-8-n-kate-sam-and-the-firefly-by-p-d-eastman/

ALERT! Before we begin, we'd like to make note that this is number 97 of our podcast so far. To celebrate our upcoming 100th we have (A) Created a Facebook page(found at https://www.facebook.com/Fuse8Kate) and (B) On Monday, August 5th at 8 p.m. CST we will record a Facebook Live episode of episode #100. So in case you've ever wanted to see the images of a "classic" picture book as Kate discovers them, now you can. This week, we wonder something. Is Martha the better hippo? Hard to determine with a single George and Martha book, but we have some serious opinions on the matter. This week we discuss methods of hiding food you don't want to eat (when you're a grown-up), how "The Tub" was a pre-#MeToo story, and why Rev. Buck McTooth is truly a Doctor of Divinity. Listen for the great Kate line: "Look the woman may be vain but she makes you food, and she doesn't spy on YOU during YOUR private moments, so let her have her mirror!" She also notices that the book ends with Martha saying that friends tell you the tr

It seems very odd to us that one of the most commercially successful children's books to ever be published in the United States has an almost entirely obscure author to its name. The mystery of Janette Sebring Lowrey hangs over our latest episode of this podcast. Neither Kate nor Betsy had ever read this book before, and yet it bragged back in 2001 of having sold nearly 15 million copies. The illustrator's wife even joked that the artist was pleased that he'd given the Bible a "run for its money". But is it actually any good? We consider The Poky Little Puppy on all his roly-poly glory. Show Notes: You could have a lot of fun reading the Gabriel Roth Slate article Why So Poky? The Scourge of Terrible Canonical Children's Books. Seemed pertinent to our podcast, don't you think? https://slate.com/culture/2015/06/the-poky-little-puppy-and-other-awful-canonical-childrens-books.html For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/07/22/fuse-8-n-kate-the-poky-little-puppy-by-ja

Lists of "classic" picture books are often white white white, with the occasional racist inclusion. That's why I'm always on the lookout for picture books from the past that could be deemed "classic" and come from a variety of different perspectives and voices. When it occurred to Betsy the other day that she and Kate hadn't done Stevie yet on this show, she was a little mad at herself. It wasn't that the show hadn't done a Steptoe before (see: Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters) but this was the book that put the man on the map. And, as you will see, it became a huge deal. Show Notes Here is the editorial in Horn Book where Linda Sue Park points out that people have been doing the work to bring out children's books from a wide range of points of view for decades. https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=editorial-try-to-remember-july-august-2019 Merriam-Webster defines "hobbledehoy" as "an awkward gawky youth." Nailed it, Betsy. What are mickies and marshmallows in the park? A little help, folks. You can read the

Meet this week's special guest star, Lucy Knisley! To our infinite delight, when asked what book she'd like to do for the podcast she selected one we'd never done. Today's magnificent title is Shrek! We get to talk about whether or not Shrek is actually Superman, how the succulent wedding bouquet was ahead of its time, and what this book has in common with the film US. Show Notes: Here is the Salon article "Shrek" Is Not Shrek: https://www.salon.com/2001/05/24/anti_shrek/ While we were unable to find the 1996 Children's Circle Video "The William Steig Library", we were able to find this brief interview with the man in which he says he's not a good illustrator. Suuuuuuuure, buddy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k8TiUftKF0 Extra points to Macmillan for getting Stanley Tucci to do the audiobook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmUC7nsrzlg The two ramen related books that are out in 2019 that are mentioned on the podcast are Let's Make Ramen by Hugh Amano and Sarah Becan and Magic Ramen: The Story of Momo

At last. After 93 episodes, Kate and Betsy have finally come face-to-face with the great Sendak masterpiece. Why did we decide to do the book today, rather than wait until we hit the 100th episode mark? Because, my friends, today is an auspicious day in and of itself. Today Fuse 8 n' Kate the podcast officially becomes a School Library Journal property. You won't see any changes on your end, but believe us, we've been cleaning up our act a bit. Our episodes, you may have noticed, are now a tight 30 minutes. We'll be having more guest stars as well, which should be fun. But for today's book, we finally hit the title that appeared at #1 on Betsy's Top 100 Picture Books poll, both times that she conducted it. Does it deserve its everlasting fame and glory? Find out for yourself as Kate and Betsy pick the darn thing apart. And believe us, there is a special kind of challenge in finding new things to say about this old chestnut. Show Notes: - Here is something Betsy wrote up when this book appeared as #1 on her

While normally the podcast posts its episodes on Mondays, it seemed that for this book, of all books, a Tuesday debut was the most appropriate. When our hosts' mother suggested they do a David Wiesner title, specifically this one, Betsy pooh-poohed her. Silly mother. Surely they'd already done it. Turns out, not so much. So it was with great joy that Betsy handed it over to Kate. In this episode you'll get to hear Betsy's dead-on theremin imitation (which sounds oddly similar to her playing-the-saw imitation), as well as discussions of whether or not these are frogs AND toads, what happens if you loose your lilypad, and the sad fate of the little old woman in front of the TV. Show Notes: Go to David Wiesner's site for further Tuesday information here: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/wiesner/books/books_tues.shtml# Read his Caldecott acceptance speech: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/wiesner/bio/bio3_cald.shtml It came in at #24 on the Top 100 Picture Books poll: http://blogs.slj.co

Betsy's question, walking into this podcast, was to figure out whether or not this book has anything to actually say to the 21st century child. Is it still pertinent or is it like some kind of archaic Kids Say the Darndest Things? Betsy and Kate talk about the historical view of American childhood and how it might have affected this book's popularity in certain decades. As you might expect, the book also causes them to get a little philosophical at times. "This is like Schrödinger's 's Cat. The hole both is and is not there when the digging takes place. Right. Okay. As long as we're clear. This is complex physics." Kate discovers that the absolute best way to read this book from 1952 is as a Beatnik. Oh, and I hope you like terrible terrible British accents, because we have lots and loads to give when quoting a discussion of The Tiger Who Came to Tea. Show Notes: The Ruth Krauss book coming out later this year is Roar Like a Dandelion, illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier. We would be amiss in not mentioning, on

Once an author up and dies on us, it's the perfect moment to attempt a read of that writer's best known picture book. So it is that Judith Kerr was the perfect subject to consider for this episode. This is a book that ignores the rather good advice that, "If you're in a picture book and a tiger says he's hungry, run the other way." Kate discovers that this may well be one of the MOST English picture book the show has ever encountered. She also identifies this tiger as a brat as a cat and you KNOW how Kate feels about brats. Meanwhile, Betsy shares her Jeopardy suspicions, my goodness Daddy's Guinness is gone, and the sisters get to say the phrase "there is nothing Nazi about this tiger." Here is an obituary for Judith Kerr for those of you with an interest in her life : https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/23/obituaries/judith-kerr-dead.html No. Really. What exactly IS "tea"? Here is the wacky Wikipedia entry I refer to. Clearly this is my favorite found about a children's author thus far: https://en.wikipedia

Under normal circumstances, the entire premise of this podcast is that Betsy will present Kate with a picture book "classic" that she has never seen before and she will read it for the first time. To change things up, Kate suggested that Betsy bring a picture book that neither of them had read. At the same time, she mentioned in a previous episode that when it comes to classic Jewish picture books, the only ones the show has ever done were Hanukkah based. Add in the fact that this is a cult classic that came back in print two years ago, and you've got yourself a heckuva show. Show Notes: - Betsy keeps quoting from a Marjorie Ingall article in Tablet Magazine that was called Lore Segal's Warm and Weird 'Tell Me a Mitzi'. We highly recommend that you seek it out for even more background information: https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/193108/lore-segals-warm-and-weird-tell-me-a-mitzi -Lore Segal's family's story was told in the Academy Award winning documentary Into the Arms of Strangers. You can see the traile

Kate gave Betsy a challenge to go out and find a picture book that the two of them hadn't read. And in the end . . . Betsy completely and utterly failed to do honor the request. She decided to do Pete instead. So it goes. With this entry, Kate makes a VERY strong case for why this book missed an opportunity involving the color wheel. Kate also points out that the actual moral of this story is, "Watch where you step." Meanwhile, Betsy gets to riff on James Dean the actor (if he were ever to make a picture book), Kate tells Betsy that hedgehogs are super smelly (who knew?), and the two dive deep into Pete's confusing lineage. Show Notes: Here is Eric Litwin's interview with Line Up the Books: https://www.lineupthebooks.com/an-interview-with-ny-times-bestselling-author-and-former-special-ed-teacher-eric-litwin-2/ How do you sing this song? Here's how Litwin would do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUubMSfIs-U Here’s the Pete the Cat website in case you want to check out all those Pete videos: http://

"It's like the Where's Waldo of literature!" This week we're celebrating another cult classic picture book (the last one we did was The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright). There aren't a ton of them out there, but this one certainly does apply. The timing of this podcast has much to do with the fact that Mr. Stamaty has just released MacDoodle Street, a collection of his adult strips. In the course of things we discover that this book has 27 pipes, we discuss whether or not Mr. Stamaty really does suffer from horror vacui, and how you would sing the line "Who needs donuts when you've got love?". It fails the stranger danger test magnificently, sure, but we can all get behind its "inspired sense of the absurd." Want to read the original New York Times review of this book by Barbara Bottner? Go no further than here. I think it was keen of them to tap Bottner for this: https://www.nytimes.com/1973/10/14/archives/who-needs-donuts-by-mark-alan-stamaty-illustrated-by-the-author.html Has anyone ever combined a donut a

"Folktales! They don't end the way you expect 'em to . . . if they're authentic." If you are familiar with #ownvoices children's books, then you know that these are titles where a book is written by someone with learned experience from the culture they are representing. We might have quite a debate over what the oldest #ownvoices picture book published in America is, that is arguably famous to this day, and that also is written by someone who wasn't white and European. Our vote goes to today's book circa 1932. Sadly, it appears to be out of print. For that matter, ALL of Pura Belpre's books look like they're out of print, with the possible exception of Firefly Summer. Something wrong with that, people. In this episode Kate and I get to do all kinds of fun animal sounds. Particularly "Borom". We're very fond of "Borom" Lots of books get mentioned in this show. One of them that is discussed right at the top is the upcoming Goodnight, Bubbala by Sheryl Haft and Jill Weber. Coming this fall. Here's a link to t

Ramona's not the only one calling aspects of Mike Mulligan into question anymore. Kate and Betsy already tackled Virginia Lee Burton's The Little House, so now the two cover another story of the fast moving world and how it leads to obsolescence. In this tale of "a man obsessed with his steam shovel," they discuss muffs, dabbing, how precisely a steam shovel would work, and the weird placement of the acknowledgement to Dickie Birkinbush mid-book. As we mentioned, Kate and Betsy made a Randolph Caldecott music video about 10 years ago. That second pair of heels? That's Kate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMIjWQQavcY And here is Kate's Kei$ha video. She's one of the mohawked ladies walking behind the singer lady: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXvmSaE0JXA Kate looked up what a "selectman" is. It is, "a member of the local government board of a New England town." Who knew? For the full show notes, please visit us at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/05/06/fuse-8-n-kate-mike-mulligan-and-his-ste

We're not entirely certainly why Betsy selected this as today's book. Maybe she wanted a book that was merely 20 years old. Maybe it was the fact that earlier in the day, before we recorded, she had read this book to her son's preschool class. But it may be because, and we don't think we're spoiling anything here, it is one of the world's greatest readaloud picture books. And there are so many things to talk about here. Spontaneous interior canine generation. The doctor's disappearing/reappearing latex gloves. Why no one assumes that there isn't another dog inside of George at the end. Whether or not George has eaten the vet at the end. The list goes on. Show Notes: The documentary The Phantom Tollbooth: Beyond Expectations, A Documentary About the Classic Children's Book has been mentioned on this podcast and blog before. Buy it for the Tollbooth fan in your life: http://phantomtollboothdoc.vhx.tv/ The term Betsy was having a hard time thinking of is "spontaneous generation". That's right, folks. This b

It's time for another update in one of our favorite series on this podcast: Classics From Other Countries. Normally on this show we like to consider children's picture books from America, determining if they deserve their "classic" status. But how fair is that? Why not consider picture books deemed classics in other countries? We did Duck, Death and Tulip via Germany. We did The Gruffalo via the U.K. So let's jump on a plane and fly ourselves to Australia for our first Mem Fox classic. What will Kate think when she encounters a book with a title composed entirely out of names? And how many children's librarians out there can remember the full name at all times? Inquiring minds want to know. To get a full dose of info on this book, there is no better place to go than Mem Fox's own website. Here's the Wilfrid page, chock full of fascinating info: https://memfox.com/gossip-behind-mems-books/wilfrid-gordon-mcdonald-partridge/ Bradley Whitford, everyone! Reading this book! Why? No idea! But it's there: https:/