Fuse 8 n' Kate

Betsy Bird and Kate Ramsey•blogs.slj.com

Two sisters, one in L.A. and one in NYC, both move to the Chicago area and start a podcast. The premise? Picture books and are they really that great? Join Kate and Fuse 8 (Betsy Bird) as they track down a picture book "classic" each episode and try to determine if it deserves to remain in the canon of children's literature. Profile image by Andrea Tsurumi

Last refreshed: July 18th, 2025 at 1:10 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

Episode 12 - If I Ran the Zoo

We're back! Kate's voice has healed up so the sisters sit down to talk about our first Seuss. And what a Seuss it is too. Just in time for Banned Books Week they consider what should, in many ways, be Seuss's most controversial picture book. Along the way there may also be some talk about Bill Cosby, nerds, and raves. Show Notes: - Here is ALA’s list of Frequently Challenged Books for 2016. https://www.ila.org/content/documents/2016banned.pdf - Like I say, I found nuthin’. So I went to 2015 here...

Sep 26, 2017•42 min

Episode 11 - Lon Po Po

In desperate need to get the taste of The Berenstain Bears and the Bully out of their mouth, Betsy and Kate turn their sights to yet another Caldecott Award winner. This time it's Ed Young's take on the classic Chinese folktale Lon Po Po. Like the Red Riding Hood tale? Then you'll certainly enjoy this lovely tale where a trio of clever sisters break every friggin' bone in a wolf's body. Show Notes: - Pudding is not actually the 10th anniversary gift. But it should be. - This is where Kate couldn...

Sep 11, 2017•38 min

Episode 10 - The Berenstain Bears and the Bully

Our tenth episode and what a splendid one it is too. Killing two birds with one stone, Betsy and Kate wrestle to the ground a listener recommendation AND a series title. Between speculating about alternate realities, corporal punishment, and baby wigs (which are apparently a thing) the sisters come to a mutual understanding on a title for once. Show Notes: - Yeah. We know King Lear doesn't actually get his eyeballs removed. That was Gloucester. Our bad. - Different Lllama Llama rapper videos: ht...

Sep 04, 2017•42 min

Episode 9 - Goodnight Moon

Things get off to a bang when Kate immediately throws Betsy off by calling the entire Harry Potter series "YA". After that things get weird. Sure, Goodnight Moon is one of the best known, best loved, most-received-at-baby-showers picture book classics of all time, but does it deserve the acclaim? The sisters discuss its sordid controversies, the book's forgotten ghost, and the danger of anatomically correct udders. Show Notes: - Proof of the existence of a pinhole camera saltine cracker. http://...

Aug 28, 2017•35 min

Episode 8 - The Little House

Betsy attempts to present Kate with a Caldecott Award winning classic (shiny GOLD sticker and all)illustrated by a woman and finds the task shockingly difficult. Meanwhile Kate delves deep into an Irish brogue, Betsy entirely misses an image of nudity, and they both agree that if you're going to have a sun, have a sassy one. Show Notes: - Here's the list of all the Caldecott Award winners. http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottwinners/caldecottmedal If you can fi...

Aug 21, 2017•43 min

Episode 7 - Are You My Mother?

Load up on the Kleenex and stuff some hankies up your sleeve. We wrench out the tears (and the post-apocalyptic hellscape conspiracy theories) with P.D. Eastman's classic text. In the course of things Betsy and Kate also take time to consider chicken's eyelashes, great big rubber stamps, and Betsy manages to work in at least one more reference to holograms (yesss!). Show Notes In Brief: - In terms of feedback from Monica Edinger, please check out her blog post John Steptoe's Mufaro's Beautiful D...

Aug 14, 2017•44 min

Episode 6 - Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters- An African Tale - 8:6:17, 10.49 PM

Lest you start believing that all children's book classics were penned by white people, Kate and Betsy delve deep into one of John Steptoe's best works. They consider some of the more problematic messages of the book today, its groundbreaking nature, the history of Steptoe, the most recent Caldecott Award winner (and its connection), and a lot more. And yes. Kate has some weird affection for the last page of every book she sees. Every. Single. One. Full show notes for this episode can be found h...

Aug 07, 2017•40 min

Episode 5 - Rainbow Fish

It has taken five books but at long last Kate and Betsy disagree on a book. Who knew it would be the shiniest one in the sea? Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, the book that every American schoolchild knows by heart, is dredged up out of the deep for a fine conversation about Shark Week, holograms, and why sharing is caring.

Jul 31, 2017•39 min

Episode 4 - The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Betsy brings in a picture book classic that she deems a "perfect ten". Meanwhile Kate attempts to poison her sibling with a Chicago specialty, and the thunder is, as ever, perfectly timed.

Jul 24, 2017•37 min

Episode 3 - In the Night Kitchen

In this episode, Betsy tries as hard as she can to find a book that she and Kate can safely disagree on. Things don't go according to plan, though there are plenty of instances of the word "Penis!" being yelled at inopportune moments. Score Thus Far: Betsy: 0 Kate: 0 Maurice Sendak: 1

Jul 17, 2017•46 min

Episode 2 - Heather Has Two Mommies

In celebration of Pride Month, Kate and Betsy tackle the most famous same-sex picture book of all time. How has Heather fared over the years? Does it stand up? Has it become horrendously dated? The sisters hash it out, get a little surprised, and end up drinking rainbow-colored vodka (this is true).

Jun 27, 2017•41 min

Episode 1 - Tikki Tikki Tembo

Is Tikki Tikki Tembo the horribly offensive book it seems to be, or a classic worthy of love and adulation? For this first episode Betsy and Kate take a close, very very close, look at Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent's best known work.

Jun 15, 2017•32 min

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