Turkey day approacheth and, let me tell you, it can be just a tiny bit difficult finding Thanksgiving Day picture books from 20+ years ago that aren't offensive in some way. Today's title came out originally in 1976, though you wouldn't know it from the lead male's shirt which is VERY 1985. We learn a bit about Dahlov Ipcar and consider a book where every single problem in this book could be solved if the farmer just installed, oh I dunno, A FENCE!! This is, to our mind, the story about a guy wh...
Nov 24, 2024•28 min
Betsy got all kinds of addicted to doing Caldecott winners after we recorded an episode on Kitten's First Full Moon. Afterwards, she looked back over our recent books, and somehow we missed doing this book when it hit the 20 year mark. Bonus, it's our first Eric Rohmann title! We don't want to spoil anything, but this is the kind of book that rewards a closer read. Today we're talking tattoos, lapine workout routines, and the likelihood that someone drugged this dang hippo. To put it simply, thi...
Nov 17, 2024•27 min
Fellow librarians who have been around a day or two: Can you believe that Kitten's First Full Moon came out TWENTY years ago? Kate had asked me to come up with an election picture book and I failed miserably (since we already did So You Want to Be President? and Duck for President previously). So Kevin Henkes used to be Mr. Mice. He just did all mouse picture books all the time. My theory is that the turn came around the time he created Kitten's First Full Moon. These days, Mr. Henkes is much mo...
Nov 03, 2024•28 min
"A ludicrous concept that is funny because it is ludicrous." Just in time for Halloween we have our last Halloween-adjacent picture book title just in time for the season! Kate and I begin by having a detailed discussion of what constitutes a racist or offensive Halloween-related picture book. That won't be a problem with today's book, though. We've been asked for years to do this particular title and with its 2002 publication date, the time has definitely come (we have a 20-year rule when it co...
Oct 28, 2024•27 min
While doing another Chris Van Allsburg picture book may seem like a relative no-brainer around the Halloween season, maybe there's a reason we hadn't done this particular title before. Unlike The Stranger, The Widow's Broom (which Betsy mistakenly calls "The Witch's Broom" on the podcast), or even The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, this particular title feels less like a tribute to the uncanny and more like a failed 1991 diatribe against television. The monkey sailors have NOT aged well, and it ju...
Oct 21, 2024•30 min
We are in the thick of spooky season! Betsy came a hair's breath from trying to do The Vanishing Pumpkin again (you can listen to the previous episode featuring that book on this podcast) but at the last possible second she did a hard right turn and decided to go with yet another Brinton Turkle title (the previous Turkle was The Boy Who Didn't Believe in Spring, which he illustrated). Not to spoil anything but Kate was unexpectedly charmed by this tale of orange cats, incredible interior design,...
Oct 14, 2024•30 min
We're so pleased. For years Betsy has been waiting for today's book to hit its 20th anniversary in the hopes that we might discuss it on the podcast. Now, at long last, we finally have the chance to kick off the Halloween season with Wee Winnie Witch's Skinny: An Original African American Scare Tale. There is just so much to talk about with this book. We'd already done a Barry Moser in The Mushroom Man, but this one is VERY different. There's trauma and woodcuts, but don't let that get you down....
Oct 07, 2024•31 min
"If you're looking for a typical story with words and a plot, this ain't it. Go somewhere else." It's the podcast we've wanted to do for months. The ultimate crossover. For the first time, TWO School Library Journal podcasts have come together to consider the classical status of a picture book of the past. You know him. You love him. You cannot help but be aware of his blog (100 Scope Notes), his picture books (The Ship in the Window, Just One Flake, etc.), or his podcast (The Yarn). His co-host...
Oct 01, 2024•32 min
"Hurt creatures hurt creatures." Initially I heard about today's book on the podcast The Sartorial Librarian, and they discussed it so brilliantly that Betsy absolutely had to grab it for the recording today. This is an Australian title that somehow has escaped the greater notice of America until now. We aim to change this! Originally published in 2000 in Australia and American in 2001, this is unlike any other book you've ever seen. From the typography to the writing the deeply disturbing and w...
Sep 23, 2024•27 min
Kate asked Betsy to bring in a fireman/firefighter/firetruck book to discuss as a possible classic. Now if you had to name a 20+ year old picture book featuring that kind of subject matter, what would you choose? Back in the day Betsy read to her kids a veritable plethora of such titles. And the one that rises to the top when she tries to think of the older ones? This little number by Wong Herbert Yee. We talk about where Yee went (where did he go?), why parents get really interested in sleep de...
Sep 16, 2024•29 min
The election isn't until November, but we figured it would be a good idea to tackle the season early before everyone starts plugging their ears saying, "La La La! I can't hear you!" And as luck would have it, today's particularly political picture book came out 20 years ago this year. Now in previous election years, Duck for President was released every four years. It is not, as far as I can tell, being released in 2024. Why is that? This podcast episode aims to answer that question, as well as ...
Sep 09, 2024•30 min
Our very first Bill Peet! Please understand that the whole reason we haven't done him before is because unlike a lot of animators-turned-author/illustrations, he has no single huge title that he's known for (unlike Seuss or P.D. Eastman). Betsy literally had to look up the Peet titles that are most prevalent in her library's consortium. The winner? Today's book! Today we talk about Katy the FOMO Train (as we would deem her), caboose-eating monsters (who sadly don't appear in this book), and why ...
Sep 02, 2024•30 min
All around the U.S. kids are beginning to go back to school. With that in mind, Kate asked Betsy to come up with a back-to-school book they hadn't done before. Now you might think that the only first day of school book the great Kevin Henkes created was Chrysanthemum (which we did back in 2021). Not so! Here we find another. Kate says the cover is what you get if you mix Maus with Clockwork Orange (though Betsy thinks it looks more like Maus meets Vertigo). We talk about the panic attacks that a...
Aug 19, 2024•29 min
Our Margaret Wise Brown output on this podcast has, until now, been a bit on the scanty side. Sure, we did Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny but beyond that we've sort of left her out in the cold. All that changes today with this, our third MWB and what may be our very first Provensen deep dive. In light of the new life injected into Little Golden Books as of late, (thanks in large part to a very big pop princess) we tackle one of these very books ourselves. In this podcast, we discuss the types ...
Aug 12, 2024•30 min
How the HECK have we done 327 episodes of this podcast and we haven't yet done this book? Released in 1991, we can't help but note that this story, of people flying above New York City, happened to come out the same year that a fellow people flying above New York City picture book came out: Tar Beach. Something about the early 90s just made people want to fly away, we guess. Today we tackle Abuela by Arthur Dorros, a book that has remained popular after all these years. Does it deserve the accla...
Aug 05, 2024•29 min
By gum, if there's one thing this children's literature podcast needs, it's more Reading Rainbow books from the days of yore. And if that's something we need to go out and find, then surely we will. We were inspired to give this particular book a go after Betsy saw the model of its vehicle on display at Kansas City's The Rabbit Hole. In this episode we discuss the prevalence of the same "a" sound, why this has a Popemobile top, xenomorphs, and extra car features that create duplicate children. F...
Jul 30, 2024•30 min
While Betsy often prefers to hand Kate children's picture books to consider that are chock full of details, at a certain point she is forced to come up with books that contain none of that. And you cannot get much more basic than Little Blue and Little Yellow here. Your heroes are essentially paint swatches, after all. In the course of our conversation, though, Kate surprises Betsy by coming up with a discussion of everything from the origins and accuracy of certain nursery rhymes to whether or ...
Jul 22, 2024•31 min
Kooky that we haven't done this one yet? You betcha. It's well known nationwide, been turned into lots of stage plays, and is generally a book that should be right up our alley. In the pantheon of heroic librarian books, where does this particular book fall out? We discuss the correct length of dinosaur teeth, sensible shoes, and how the HECK the artist created the art for this book. Honestly, we still don't know. For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/07/15/...
Jul 15, 2024•30 min
The American Library Association's Annual Conference for 2024 may be over but here at Fuse 8 n' Kate the party NEVER stops! And we can back that statement up by pointing out that this latest episode was actually recorded AT the conference. And not only that, it was recorded WITH a special guest star! Turns out, conferences are a great way to connect with folks you've only ever met online. After commenting so well that she was dubbed "the third sister", Kate and Betsy are inordinately pleased to ...
Jul 08, 2024•31 min
We are pleased to announce that with its 2002 publication date we are finally able to celebrate the upcoming Independence Day with a book that Betsy has been sitting on for years. It can be exceedingly hard to find books for this particular holiday. Even better, this consideration of this book marks the very first time the podcast has ever done a Janet Wong or Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Ms. Wong hasn't published since 2015 and Margaret Chodos-Irvine hasn't since 2006, but in their heyday this book ...
Jul 02, 2024•29 min
Betsy's logic behind this week's choice is that it is hot outside right now, so why not do a picture book featuring nudity? Now we currently live in a country where so much as a bare butted goblin picture book can get banned by Moms for Liberty at the drop of a hat. May as well go all in and do a book that unapologetically doesn't care about such puritanical mores. This book is an odd one, but Betsy has an equally odd affection for it. With this podcast episode the sisters talk about screaming a...
Jun 24, 2024•30 min
Kate's crie de coeur for more blood and guts in children's picture books once again finds its mark. Usually you might associate a book of this sort with titles of a more European bent, but Asch and son are 100% 'merican, baby. With enough weirdness to choke a cat, this one's just so very strange. Not to give anything away but we are exceedingly pleased to state that this book is still in print in paperback form today. We discuss houndstooth suits, Itchy and Scratchy, the sinking of the Titanic, ...
Jun 17, 2024•31 min
Oh ho! We haven't done a Steven Kellogg re-illustration title since Pinkereton, Behave! back in 2021! This is particularly strange as The Mysterious Tadpole was always, without a doubt, a favorite Kellogg picture book of Betsy's when she was a child. For various reasons we were never able to discuss it on Fuse 8 n' Kate... until today! We consider the original 1977 edition of this book versus the 2004 update. Now I must warn you that this episode sort of jumps into Betsy and Kate talking about c...
Jun 10, 2024•32 min
Here in Illinois the cicadas are truly beginning to emerge en masse. As such, Betsy was kind of hoping she might be able to find a book that speaks to this. Alas, Cicada Symphony by Sue Fleiss (illustrated by Gareth Lucas) is just barely a year old. So what's the next best course of action? Locate some other red-eyed creature found in trees, of course! Now finding old nonfiction picture books with the potential to be called "classic" are few and far between, thanks to our twenty year rule. Fortu...
Jun 03, 2024•41 min
As mentioned on this podcast episode, Kate and Betsy truly will be in San Diego at the upcoming ALA Annual Conference to record an episode WITH a special secret guest. Many thanks to the very kind Travis Jonker (alumni of Kate's college) for sharing his recording booth with us. Today's book was a Reading Rainbow book back in the day. We detect some similarities to The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellogg, we talk Gertie the Dinosaur, and try to understand why members of a baseball team would loo...
May 20, 2024•41 min
Today, we do our second David Wiesner book (after Tuesday). Along the way we discuss the philosophy behind Wiesner's void ("Is this just the space between the stories we tell?") and how this is (spoiler alert) our 200th classic on the podcast! Woohoo! Show Notes: For the full show notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2024/05/13/fuse-8-n-kate-the-three-pigs-by-david-wiesner
May 13, 2024•31 min
Today we dive right in to a good spring picture book that somehow we've never done before. Even better, a Caldecott Honor title at that! We haven't discussed Janet Stevens since we did Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock a little more than a year ago. Consider this the book that made vertical picture books cool (Mel Fell owes this title a hat tip of thanks). In this episode we discuss whether Bear is on Ambien, where this takes place (since the growing seasons is so long), and Kate's theory about a...
May 06, 2024•29 min
Recently LeVar Burton suggested today's picture book on an episode of The Sporkful ("Reheat: LeVar Burton Even Reads Recipes Dramatically") and in spite of the fact that Kate was dead-on about the fact that we should have done this book for a Thanksgiving episode, we're doing it, baby! Enemy Pie was a Reading Rainbow Book back in the day, how does it hold up now? We talk about How to Eat Fried Worms, how boomerangs were the drones of the 80s (and I will stand by that statement), and the joy of e...
Apr 29, 2024•31 min
"Crime and murder!" Do you want unspeakable violence on the picture book page? Well, folks, Kate sure did. And thanks to the suggestion of listener Rachelle, and her daughter Sarah, Betsy finally had a book that would give her just what she required. Is there blood? There is not, though honestly she got her fill of blood when we talked about King Stork (remember the heads on stakes?). Enjoy our discussion of what may well be the MOST disgusting sequence in a picture book of all time, as well as ...
Apr 22, 2024•31 min
What's that? You've never heard of this particular Dr. Seuss book? Well, you're definitely not alone. If one were to rank Seuss titles from best known to least, there is no doubt in my mind that Solla Sollew would be right there at the bottom. But is there any chance that this 1965 publication might have something to say about the baby boomer generation, Vietnam, escapism, and even stories like Pippin and Candide? This week our special guest is none other than Betsy's very own husband Matt Bird....
Apr 15, 2024•30 min
