Fuse 8 n' Kate

Her children mocked MOCKED Betsy, I say, when she informed them that she and Kate had not yet discussed Chrysanthemum on the podcast. Why the shock and horror? Well, apparently they've done 176 episodes and yet completely failed to acknowledge what could arguably be called Kevin Henkes's most famous picture book. Why the bold claim? Well, insofar as we can tell, 21st century children find themselv...

St. Patrick's Day comes early this year! Is it the worst classic-picture-book-holiday of all time? That's Betsy's take. But Kate challenged her to find such a beast, so she figured she'd cut her losses and hand over two to choose from. She didn't anticipate that Kate would choose BOTH! Betsy mostly chose one because it was the first time she'd seen that particular author/illustrator pairing. She c...

And to think we had never read this book before. When we heard that the Dr. Seuss estate was pulling six relatively obscure Seuss titles from publication due to offensive content, we thought we might try one on for size. We'd already done the worst of the bunch (inarguably If I Ran the Zoo) but since we just did Eric Carle's very first illustrated picture book last week, why not do the very first...

Our very first screw up! Huzzah! Betsy walked into the recording with Kate safe in the knowledge that they hadn't done Chicka Chicka Boom Boom before. Never mind that they actually did do it almost exactly a year ago. Whoops. So in a pinch Betsy decides the time is right to do a different Bill Martin Jr. It's the very first book that Eric Carle ever illustrated and he's redone it something like fi...

If for nothing else, you should listen to Kate's story at the beginning of this episode because it will be the craziest dang thing you've heard in a while. A truly great story. Now last week Kate challenged Betsy to do something in honor of Black History Month. So Betsy dove deep into the Coretta Scott King winners of the past and discovered a gaping hole in our roster. How we hadn't done this boo...

If one were to attempt a Valentine's Day podcast episode (or, in this case, a day-after-Valentine's-Day-post) involving romance, what picture book would you choose? Or, to be a little more precise, what classic picture book best embodies the spirit of Valentine's Day? We're pretty sure it wouldn't be this book, but that's just because sentient candy oinkers aren't really an American thing. We've d...

In lieu of anything romantic, what with Valentine's Day on the horizon, Betsy thought she'd treat Kate to a wordless picture book chock full of more details than she could ever shake a stick at. Mitsumasa Anno died on December 24, 2020 and Betsy realized they'd never done one of his books on the show. The sheer amount of intricate dots in this title would make Peter Sis blush. Will Kate like it? L...

Are you ready for a thoughtful consideration of some very angry feelings? YES YOU ARE! This week Betsy shows Kate a book that, in many ways, really inspired the plethora of books about strong emotions (and how to deal with them) that so many books replicate today. A lot of us are feeling like Sophie these days. It's funny how you can not think directly about a book for a long time and then see it...

On this most auspicious day in which the Newbery and Caldecott winners are announced (amongst many other fine and wonderful awards), we thought it might be a nice change of pace to do a cult classic. In other words, a book that never had a chance of winning a literary award a day of its life. This book, which Betsy has in her possession was a gift from her friend and fellow co-writer on Wild Thing...

There is a certain type of picture book that can be best described as a Love It or Loathe It title. These are books that some people adore with their whole heart without irony. And there are books that some people loathe deep down to their very souls without apology. It had been a long time since Betsy had handed Kate a Giving Tree or Rainbow Fish. So how would she react to this particular old che...

Betsy already loved all three of today's potential Caldecott Award winners down to the cold cockles of her shriveled little heart. The track record on this show hasn’t been too shabby either. In 2020 Kate and Betsy identified Going Down Home With Daddy as a winner (just don’t ask how they did in 2019). In the course of this recording the sisters discover that the most amusing way to talk about the...

After one of our listeners made the point that the bulk of books we've done on our podcast have been illustrated by male artists we've been trying to make a conscious effort to increase the number of women we read. And WHAT book, I ask you, could have more classic potential than Barbara Cooney's best known? We talk invasive species, seed bombing, how nice it is to read a book that doesn't call a s...

"Christmas was coming, and money was more scarce than ever." How we hadn't thought to do this picture book for the Christmas holiday season yet is beyond us. Betsy simply adores the Jim Henson adaptation of this book . . . and Kate loathes it. Knowing that, Betsy still gave her the book and the two discover that this is the ultimate 2020 COVID Christmas title. I mean, what other holiday book can y...

Happy Hanukkah! Having read the recent PW Children's Bookshelf announcement that a new edition of Latkes and Applesauce by Fran Manushkin is due to be republished in 2022, I thought this might be the perfect time to revisit the old book. The announcement said it was a classic, so we figured we'd check and see how well it had stood up so far. Along the way we also cover how "Big Latke" got to Kate,...

An orange fellow is told to leave over and over and over again. So it clearly has nothing to do with the state of the world today. As we mention on today’s podcast episode, when it finally occurred to Betsy to have Kate read this book, she was slightly worried that maybe it would no longer be timely. HA HA! No worries there! We go through all the political ties it has had to world leaders, and Kat...

We don't care what any of you say. Sweet potatoes shall never cross these Thanksgiving plates of ours. To celebrate the season, though we all know it's pared down terribly this year, Kate requested a Thanksgiving picture book classic. We got some great suggestions from our readers all of which Betsy is placing on the back burner for next year. That's because this year she's doing a book circa 1971...

Last week Betsy gave Kate a book so chock full of details that one listener said it was the literary equivalent of The House on the Rock. In other words, just STUFFED full of stuff. This week, Betsy went an entirely different direction. She'd been avoiding doing Freight Train by Donald Crews on the podcast for a while. Why? Because it is an exceedingly simple title. Almost pure in its limited elem...

Betsy's attempts to break Kate go nowhere this week, even when the book is being discussed is the most detail-heavy title of this podcast to date. Now Kate starts off this episode saying that she does NOT want to talk about the presidential race. Indeed, this was recorded on Thursday, and you all know how different the world was then. Quote Kate, she just wanted to do a book about "cute cats and s...

The first time Kate encountered Madeline, she did not care for her. But what if she encountered yet ANOTHER Madeline title? Would she like it better? Before selecting this week's book, Betsy hadn't remembered that there is significantly less Madeline inside of it. Will that help or hurt the book's chances of becoming a classic? Betsy and Kate spend an inordinate amount of time saying "Lord Cucufac...

I've saved the scariest book this month for last! "I'm not saying that Spooky Old Tree doesn't give you the jim-jams (because it doesn't), but ..." It's our very first Paul Galdone too! Took us long enough to get to him. As Kate says of today's book, "Well, THAT didn't end how I thought it would!" We discuss how this book relates to the film Best in Show, why my Tailypo imitation is a little too G...

Spooky season continues here on the podcast. Interestingly Betsy had never done a Chris Van Allsburg book with Kate for October before. Every year she has to come up with spooky classic picture books, and today's was a recommendation from one of the fans (that would be their mom). It's less spooky than it is autumnal, but that's okay. Show Notes: The 12-foot-tall skeleton that Home Depot was selli...

Not long ago Betsy ran across an article in the Deseret News that was called "How a breakup led to winning a Newbery Honor for this Utah author". It's all about Newbery Honor winning writer Christian McKay Heidicker (who created Scary Stories for Young Foxes and this year's Thieves of Weirdwood by "William Shivering"). In the course of the article it mentions that Mr. Heidicker has been and contin...

The spooky season begins with our first October surprise! Kate points out that this book is definitely relatable in 2020. "I'm tired of living in a hole." Aren't we all? Who wouldn't want to escape to a tropical isle? This is the book that also contains the world's saddest sentence: "I decided it was better to be alone than to be afraid." Oh, honey. Kate and Betsy talk about everything from how a...

Good Yuntif! The show has never celebrated this holiday on the show before, but this week Kate and Betsy decided to do something extra special. That something special comes in the form of special guest star, Erica Perl! And when it came to suggesting a book, the answer was this 1977 Caldecott Honor winner a.k.a. The Official Picture Book of 2020 (we hope). Show Notes: Alas, TeachingBooks.net didn'...

Another book by the man who spit in the face of the House of Un-American Activities Committee (not literally, pretty close). Our love of P.D. Eastman continues. Kate delves real real deep into the marital status of dear Mr. and Mrs. Bird here (including Mr. Bird's "extracurricular activities", if you get my gist). The women discuss how this is like a "very small version of Alfred Hitchcock's The B...