Fuse 8 n' Kate

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 bo...

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 pictu...

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...

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, "Wa...

"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 th...

"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 thi...

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...

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 thi...

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...

Kate set Betsy up with a challenge. They've been deeming too many books as "classics". What book could I produce that would engender more of a debate? Well, after all these episodes (82!) Betsy thinks she's figured out Kate's least loved genre. It involves childlike art. It involves kids who aren't entirely saintly. Really, it was just a matter of time before they got to this one. They've not done...

Tomi Ungerer died just this past year on February 9th so it seemed logical to us that we should try to do one of his books on the show. This begs the inevitable question, which one should we do? After all, there are so many to consider. Crictor? The Beast of Monsieur Racine? Moon Man? We decided to go with the only one Betsy ever saw adapted by Weston Woods. In the course of our talk we discuss wh...

How crazy is it that Betsy and Kate have never done a Lucille Clifton book before? Nor a Brinton Turkle, but that's a little more understandable. Lucille Clifton was one of the most prolific Black picture book authors in the 70s. Spring has officially sprung and Betsy realized that today's book (which New York schoolchildren are read and given to read every single year around this time) would be t...

Today, to make up for the missing episode last week, you get a twofer. You see, there’s a bit of a problem with old Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Most people remember the title of the second book in the series, but are we to ignore Book #1? Betsy gave Kate the chance to decide which one to do, so what did she decide? To do both, of course! In the course of things the sisters discuss alligators vs. crocod...

Kate got a dog! A doggy dog of her very own. And you know what goes together well, like peaches and cream? Dogs and picture books. So Betsy had to figure out a classic dog picture book. And lo and behold she realized that in spite of its relative fame the show had never done a book about this particular dirty dirty dog. In the course of things Betsy and Kate solve the mystery of why Harry never ro...

"If you've got a Leo Lionni book you're not going anywhere very fast, but you're gonna get there eventually." The old Ant and the Grasshopper fable got the Lionni touch back in 1967 when the four time Caldecott Honor winner chose to put a new spin on an old classic. So how successful was this book in the end? Is it a product of its age (the tune in and drop out 60s) or something that stands the te...

It just seemed to make sense to do a book this week that could kill two birds with one stone. Betsy and Kate haven't done any picture books by Muslim-American (or, in this case, Muslim-Canadian) authors. So Betsy took a look at New York Public Library's 100 Children's Books, 100 Years list and selected Big Red Lollipop. And who did the illustrations? The latest double Caldecott Award winner, Sophi...

It's the Memento of the 1980s! Take a trip back in time with us to 1980 on the nosey. An era when children apparently eschewed backpacks for satchels and school lunches were just as elaborate as those in Bread and Jam for Frances. Don't believe me? Then you haven't taken an up close and personal deep dive into one of Kellogg's most famous stories. Kate had never seen a Steven Kellogg book on the s...

And we're back to the classics. So far on this podcast, Kate and Betsy have tackled only one William Steig (Sylvester and the Magic Pebble). As per usual, Kate notices things. She notices that the initials of Doctor De Soto are DDS, which is a dental detail Betsy had never thought of before. She notices a rather lovely umbrella stand bedecked with dragons. She notices mouse dentures (and how creep...

Last year Kate and Betsy discussed three potential Caldecott winners, and two would later receive medals. This year, the two discuss Dreamers by Yuyi Morales, Blue by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, and We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins. And, as per usual, Kate brings up stuff Betsy never considered before. Questions like, how exactly does Penelope Rex eat her classmates so quickly (does she un...

Hungry? With the new year comes a whole set of resolutions. Not knowing that Kate is on the Whole30 again, Betsy forces her to read a book where bread plays a major role. Bread, heck. This is a book that could turn children into bonafide foodies. In spite of the fact that all badgers are born in February, we've decided to do this book in January. And then, in the course of things, Kate starts look...

"I can always be called upon to remember a Snurp". Merry Christmas! Let's celebrate with a book that has absolutely nothing to do with the day in question whatsonever. So I know you're all wondering what elements Kate chose to focus on with this book. Would she like it more than Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus? Less? Well, we'll sum it up for you. We discuss at length the proper way to wash a p...

The last time Kate and Betsy saw a Dr. Seuss book they were reading If I Ran the Zoo. Not an auspicious beginning for the usually good doctor. In the course of this particular book, Kate manages to locate a place where Seuss got lazy and Xeroxed one of his two-page spreads (something Betsy had never noticed before). There is also talk about Thurl Ravenscroft (and how dead he is), odd Grinch theori...

After doing Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins last year, Betsy was having a devil of a time (no pun intended) figuring out another Hanukkah classic. After some serious consideration, she decided that this book would give us, as she says on the podcast, a little meat. A little fodder. Something to discuss. What she didn't see coming, though, was how timely this story truly was. How does it feel to l...

Truly a book for our times. Is there any other picture book out there that causes kids to question what they've been told right from the start, more than this one? This book is timely. It prepares children, in an era of news that is not always reliable, to not take everything at face value. Warning: At one point during the end of the podcast Betsy does briefly mix up Zul and Zod. Children of the 8...

Let's see. After Tikki Tikki Tembo and Little Black Sambo, it seems like Arrow to the Sun is the natural complement to those two, don't you think? Kate and Betsy haven't dug deep into a book with racist issues in a while, and they've never done any books where white folks told the stories of American Indians. In this post-Thanksgiving episode the sisters give as much of the history of this book as...