Fuse 8 N' Kate

What better time to introduce Kate to the work of Dave McKean than when it's almost Halloween! Betsy tries to give her sister a good dose of nightmare fuel, but somehow the two just end up talking about what an old wolf melody would sound like and whether Dave McKean has ever drawn a bunny (he has... and it's weird). Source Notes: - There was indeed a virtual reality version of The Wolves in the Walls. Variety Magazine had the scoop, and they even made a trailer for it. Behold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLp07Grch-o - The video quality is not the best, but this will give you some sense of the stage production of The Wolves in the Walls that occurred: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_P4AxAagHU - As Betsy mentioned, this past weekend she interviewed Adam Gidwitz at SLJ's Summit. His new podcast Grimm Grimmer Grimmest is more than a little delightful. Do check it out: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/grimm-grimmer-grimmest/id1436651521?mt=2 - For the full Show Notes, please visit us at http://blogs

If you've ever listened to this podcast then you'll know that when it comes to readalouds, that particular kind of a picture book is a little difficult to convey. Fortunately, Kate immediately interprets the cover of today's book, before reading it, as a story about a gigantic, 24-ft tall pumpkin rolling towards a little old lady, Indiana Jones boulder-style, and everything takes off from there on in. In the course of our conversation, Betsy reveals who actually made this book (not something widely known), the problem of naked ghosts, suits of armor fighting Nazis, and something that at one point causes Kate to say, "You are an idiot. I hope the gloves choke you to death!" Source Notes: - Is Betsy the only who truly, and honestly, loves the ending of the film of Bedknobs & Broomsticks? Let's watch it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0rRPU_cvGg -Kate's been kind enough to share her rum cake recipe with us all. It did look amazing, sitting there on her counter when I arrived. I was very good. I didn't even

Older holiday books for kids have a tendency to be a bit on the white side. So Betsy was thinking she was pretty slick when I came up with A Tiger Called Thomas for today's discussion. But here's the thing; she thought the version illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal was the only one out there. She was unaware that this book hadn't just been re-illustrated once but has FOUR different artists! Just to make all of this clear from the start, the four versions discussed on this podcast are: A Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Kurt Werth (1963) A Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Catherine Stock (1988) A Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal (2003) A Tiger Called Tomás by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Marta Alvarez Miguéns (2018) - This is not the first time Betsy has gone into a full-blown William's Doll rant. It's not mentioned in the podcast but the real difference here is publishers. William's Doll came out with G

We're killing two birds with one stone this week (pun reluctantly intended). A reader suggested today's book a long time ago. Add in the fact that it's October and we should be doing some Halloween-themed titles and you've got yourself today's latest edition of International Classic Picture Books. Take a trip to Germany to visit one of the loveliest, softest books about life and death out there. Maybe it's not classic Halloween fare, but we like it. Source Notes: - For the curious, here is the video of the weatherman's map going crazy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0jOen1G-E8 - There really are countless videos about today's book. Here are some of the standouts: First, the quiet animated short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd5Y2xj71f0 Next, a trailer for a rather lovely version that played in Edinburgh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueQ2glggAX0 And finally, one from a country we've yet to identify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrqB64E6roA - The Romper article in question was called Why

Happy October! We open this month of hauntings and spirits with a book about a terribly frightening monster! And by "terribly frightening" I mean "terribly frightened". Inspired by their discussion of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Betsy pulls out the 4th wall breaking title that started the whole American genre in the first place. Consider too the fact that this is a Sesame Street book and Mo Willems, who would later write that pigeon book, used to work for Sesame Street. By the way, let us just say this before you listen: If you are unfamiliar with Sesame Street in any way, this may not be the episode for you. In the course of things Kate and Betsy get into a very heated discussion about whether or not grouches are monsters, typography, hidden frustrations with Little Golden Books, and whether or not this book reveals "Grover's truth" (how self-reflective is Grover, really?). Show Notes: - For those of you keeping track at home, the sequels to this book have included the titles Hide and Seek with Lov

Kate worried that there wouldn't be enough to talk about with this week's podcast because the featured book is so simple in both text and image. Little did she know!!! What happens when an adult woman reads this book for the first time and is told that many consider it a modern day classic? Oh. Let's find out. Along the way Kate questions the shenanigans (her word) of the bus driver, why the pigeon never has eyelashes (does Mo have something against them?), whether or not the bird is Slytherin, and Betsy begins to focus on what the prior relationship between the driver and the pigeon is exactly. Source Notes: - The Ray Bradbury story referred to about the girl who misses the one day of sun on her planet was "All Summer In a Day": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Summer_in_a_Day - If you'd like to see the precise words of what the Caldecott criteria is, you can go here: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecottterms - While Betsy could not find the locker room

This week Betsy and Kate have pretty much found the bloodiest Caldecott Honor winner out there (though you're allowed to try to find one bloodier if you'd like to prove them wrong). Technically blood never mars the pages, but you can pretty much assume what's happening off-screen, as it were. And it's a fantastic introduction to the autumn season! Win-win! In the course of things, Kate and Betsy debate the degree to which Mr. and Mrs. Fox are starving their children, what precisely is going on with the Giggle-Gaggle household, and what a "skulk"/"leash" is. Show Notes: - The Burl Ives version of the Fox song is slightly different from the one Betsy is accustomed to, but it's clearly the same thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=jSaTOI7u8Ds - - The Peter, Paul, and Mary version is the one Betsy's actually working off of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4mwg40c2SU - Good news! On teachingbooks.net you can find a lot of children's author and illustrators names and their pronunciations. Her

Didn't Kate and Betsy just do a Robert McCloskey book? They did, but it was not his most famous work. In spite of the fact that Betsy springs the tale of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard on her poor unsuspecting sister the two somehow manage to say a LOT about it! Vicious egg-eating turtles and all. Show Notes: - Just in case you're curious, the Twitter handle for this show is @fuse_kate and on Instagram at fuse8kate. - You can visit sculptor Nancy Schon's website on the ducklings here: http://www.schon.com/public/ducklings-boston.php - A bit of a correction here. Betsy got her story COMPLETELY mixed up. The true tale is that McCloskey saw Nixon somewhere (this being 1941 we've no idea where), noted his profile, and decided to use it for the book. So the theory that it's one of the kids was way WAY off. Read more about this at the ALSC blog: https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2012/10/wheres-dick/ - It came in at #6 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/20/top-100-picture-books-6

Fiiiiiiiiiish . . . An aquatic creature that has absolutely NOTHING to do with this week's book! So first and foremost, we are happy to announce that we now have our very own Twitter and Instagram accounts for this podcast. Woot! So tune in on Twitter @fuse_kate or on Instagram at fuse8kate. As for the podcast itself, Kate was semi-familiar with this book already. But did she remember anything about it at all? No, sir! As it turns out, we were able to really dive into some of the details. Will we determine it's a classic? Time will tell! Source Notes: - How much sugar does it take to can blueberries? The internet has many opinions on the subject but generally speaking it appears that you want to add 1/2 Cup of sugar for each quart of berries. That's not a ton of sugar. I guess Mom really worked double time while Sal was AWOL. - How fast can a little bear run? Hard to say. A grown bear can get up to 40 miles an hour. We have to assume that a baby bear just wouldn't have that kind of speed. So even if it

I think this is the clearest case of Betsy pulling out a book for Kate that is well-known amongst children's librarians and is pretty obscure when you talk to your average layperson on the street. If for no other reason, you should listen to this episode of our podcast to hear Kate's exclamation of pure confusion and tiny squeaks of bafflement when Betsy mentions how well it did on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll (it was #14). So sit back and enjoy as the sisters discuss the logistics of how exactly one would get a blue cap off of this guy, where his fingers suddenly emerge from, how exactly you pronounce, "Tsz, tsz, tsz," and why anyone, anywhere would put on a hat previously worn by a monkey. Show Notes: - Gentle listeners and readers, we really do want to know. How do you pronounce, "Tsz, tsz, tsz"? - Since this book was influenced by the work of Henri Rousseau, why not check out this picture book biography of him, The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau? http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/11/06/

Thanks to a listener suggestion, Kate and Betsy finally crack open the Henkes box. And when you're talking Henkes, there's only one place to start. Now I should warn you right from the start that Betsy makes an egregious error in this podcast. That's right. She makes the claim that Julius, Baby of the World was published AFTER Purple Plastic Purse. On the flipside, this podcast may be the first time anyone has ever noted the presence of Ignatz Mouse from Krazy Kat in this book. And as Kate says about the story, "It's not about the purse". Show Notes: - We believe Kevin Henkes ran into Susan Hirschman when he traipsed in as a stars-in-his-eyes teen. You can read a rather lovely remembrance of this moment in this Horn Book article Kevin Henkes - Twenty-Five Years: https://www.hbook.com/2005/07/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/kevin-henkes-twenty-five-years/ - Betsy and Kate are happy to hear any alternate titles to this book. The two they've come up with so far are, "Mr. Slinger's Revenge" or "Lilly Undone

How do you follow up The Giving Tree? Well, that's a tricky one. We don't know why Amelia Bedelia occurred to Betsy. She's so ubiquitous that no one ever really questions her presence on classic book lists. Still, the more we thought about her, the more we wondered if she really warrants inclusion in the "canon" of children's literature (howsoever you define that). Show Notes: - Here is her fantastic statue, located at the Harvin Clarendon County Library in Manning, South Carolina. This was sculpted by James Peter Chaconas: https://scpictureproject.org/clarendon-county/amelia-bedelia-statue.html - Sometimes the best thing in the whole wide world is getting to see a group of boys reenact Amelia Bedelia without the one playing the lead feeling at all embarrassed about his awesome performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uESgbsQAlEI - Here you can find the Daily Dot piece I Accidentally Started a Wikipedia Hoax? https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/amelia-bedelia-wikipedia-hoax/ -And be sure to check out

It's very special episode day today! Kate and Betsy are celebrating their 50th episode (where does the time go?). It seemed fitting that they mark the occasion with an important book. There are so many titles that they still haven't done that could yield wonderful conversations. As such, it seems fitting that they finally do the most requested book of their podcast. In the course of things they also manage to come up with a connection between this and Harold and the Purple Crayon, discuss how this tale may be told in 3rd Tree Perspective, and introduce the world to the medical condition we like to call "Jules Feiffer feet". Source Notes: - For fun, check out the Travis Jonker interview with the photographs of Shel Silverstein. Best thing you'll read all day: http://100scopenotes.com/2017/05/12/a-conversation-with-shel-silverstein/ - Betsy wasn't wrong, by the way. Giving Tree Groot truly exists: https://geektyrant.com/news/guardians-of-the-galaxy-and-the-giving-tree-mashup - Just a plug. Wild Things: Acts

If we are to assume that the point of this podcast is to shine a light on "classic" picture books and ascertain whether or not they deserve that designation, it's a short walk to doing the same for books from other countries. What better then than to consider a picture book that is MASSIVELY successful in England, and only mildly recognized in the States? As a reminder, it was listener Rebekah Harris-Hughes who should receive full credit for suggesting today's book. So thank you, Rebekah! Source Notes: -If you follow no other links in these source notes, you MUST listen to the Deep In Bear Country: Episode 156. I have never heard such insightful discussions of bullying in children's literature: https://berenstainbearcast.wordpress.com/2018/07/14/episode-156-the-bully/ - Do check out the Dean Forest and it's rather adorable Gruffalo Trail: https://www.deanheritagecentre.com/whats-on/gruffalo-trail - Further information on checking out the Gruffalo statues at Kilmardinny Loch: http://www.glasgowwithkids.co.

This week Betsy and Kate decided that scatological was the way to go. And so, they are pleased to announce that this is honestly the first Nonfiction picture book they've done on the show. Thinking about it, this may well be the most famous Nonfiction picture book in America. We'd be interested in hearing your alternative suggestions. The sisters get to talk about all SORTS of stuff too. Square wombat poop. Poor printing jobs on the book. And then there's that mystery animal that they simply could not identify. They might need your help on that one. Source Notes: - Check out Taro Gomi's website here. It's worth a gander to see what Japan's top author/illustrator does on his own website: http://www.gomitaro.com/ - Well done, Kirkus Reviews! Best professional review of this book to this day: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/taro-gomi/everyone-poops/ For the full listing of Source Notes, please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/07/16/fuse-8-n-kate-everyone-poops-by-taro-gomi/

Hope you like Kathleen Turner, because in this long delayed episode Betsy is clearly doing her best rendition of her. Apologies for the gap in the episodes. Fortunately, Betsy and Kate are back in style. This week they discuss a book that has a complicated history. It would be easier if this were a more straightforward case of racism. Along the way they also discuss the Wilder Award's name change, whether people care more about animal cruelty or corporeal punishment, and the names of Kate's blisters. Source Notes: Here's the Wendy McClure thread about the Wilder Award that Betsy referenced: https://twitter.com/Wendy_Mc/status/1011625742201950209 In terms of the cormorans, this is indeed a legitimate fishing method: https://en.wi David L. Ulin wrote a very interesting piece for the L.A. Times called The Story About Ping and the Invention of Nostalgia: http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-the-story-about-ping-and-the-invention-of-nostalgia-20130730-story.html If you're curious about The Good

The name of the game here is A Break From Brats. Betsy wanted to get Kate out of the realm of bratty children's book protagonists, so she thought the world's greatest friendship pair was the way to go. But before we get to that, the sisters do a rundown of the best and worst picture books they've ever looked at. As for the rest of the show, Kate writes down morals for every story in this book, and her interpretations aren't entirely canon. For Betsy's part, she gets to wax loquacious on her horizontal pupil theory of children's literature. Could you ask for anything more? Show Notes: - The Eric Carle exhibit was turned into a catalog, available for purchase. You can find Seeking a State of Grace: The Art of Arnold Lobel at the Eric Carle Museum's bookstore: https://shop.carlemuseum.org/seeking-state-grace-art-arnold-lobel - We just want to say with sadness that apparently with the publication of The Merry Spinster, The Toast no longer hosts Daniel Ortberg's magnificent Children's Books Made Horrific. So we

It's very special episode time! Very special for a number of reasons, not least of which is the fact that Kate took five hours to edit this episode down from two and a half hours to a svelte, sleek 47:41. It was also special because it features two guests from fellow podcast Go Your Own YA. So a big time thank you to Carey and Marie for taking time out of their schedules. Finally, it was special because Kate and Betsy finally got to tackle one of the big books they've been skirting around for months. That's right. Eloise is in the house and the results are priceless! Along with a bit of random Eloise trivia, I hope you're prepared for a surprise fact. The four women were actually able to locate a joke in the original book that was excised from editions printed today. And it involves dragging a fellow children's book character through the mud. See if you can guess who it is. Source Notes: - Here's a link to the Go Your Own YA podcast which you most certainly must search out: https://www.goyourownya.com/ - T

I don't think Kate and Betsy expected to get into an in-depth conversation about Miss Nelson's cosplay as Viola Swamp, and why precisely she chooses to do so, but that's the kind of podcast this is. Along the way the sisters get into what the Wicked Witch of the West might have been wearing under that dress, the fact that butterflies were angry about the gas crisis in the 70s, and whether or not Viola Swamp talks like Katharine Hepburn (special bonus: Kate and Betsy may do the worst celebrity imitations of all time). Show Notes: - Here's a link to the website that discusses James Marshall's gravestone. https://wandervogeldiary.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/james-marshall/ - Betsy and her co-writer Julie Danielson spoke about it at length at the Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature website here: http://wildthings.blaine.org/?p=157 - The Reading Rainbow episode is completely available here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5laqhx -Here's the New York Times review of There's a Mystery There by

Betsy and Kate would like to offer a word of warning to their mother with this one. Somehow, this ended up being their longest episode. If she listens to this on the treadmill, she might do herself a serious injury. It's a whopping 48:17 (and that's edited down!). I guess it's not surprising when you do a book as long as SCM. And boy howdy do they come up with all kinds of stuff to discuss here. A smattering includes . . . Source Notes: - Here's the Children's Book-a-Day Almanac link from Anita Silvey that discusses The Stinky Cheese Man: http://childrensbookalmanac.com/2011/10/the-stinky-cheese-man-and-other-fairly-stupid-tales/ - This is the ridiculous Stinky Cheese Man stuffed toy. Betsy loves him so much! He is, as she suggested, from YottoY: https://www.yottoy.com/collections/the-stinky-cheese-man - And here's a video of someone making it run: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV_7KfCt5AE - Here he is at #91 on the second Top 100 Picture Books poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/16/top