Fuse 8 n' Kate

While this may not be the first time we've ever covered an illustrator that I've collaborated with (remember when we discussed Dan Santat and After the Fall?) this is one of the few cases where we've done a collaborator of mine who has an honest-to-goodness classicky classic. We discuss the strength of Imogene's neck muscles, you get to hear an impromptu jingle for the Emergency Hat Service, I manage to work in a tiny reference to Gregor Samsa, and we marvel at Imogene's good nature. As I say on the show, "Imogene's most defining quality is her lack of freaking out over pretty much anything. This is a real go-with-the-flow kind of kid."

Show Notes:

The blog Don't Read This to My Kids has many thoughts on the book and they're worth reading here: http://www.drttmk.com/books/imogenes-antlers

This Imogene Halloween costume is brilliant. Two thumbs up! And it comes from the post Five Super Simple Halloween Costumes from the blog This Picture Book Life: http://thispicturebooklife.com/super-simple-picture-book-halloween-costumes/

For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/08/10/fuse-8-n-kate-imogenes-antlers-by-david-small/

When we consider classic Latinx picture books that would qualify as #ownvoices, only a few have been covered on this show. I mean, sure we did Pura Belpre's Perez and Martina a while ago, but let's get a little more contemporary, eh? Today's book premiered in 2000, which means it just barely squeezes in under the 20 year rule for inclusion. Now, granted, we probably should have started with the first book in the series, Chato's Kitchen. The only problem with that is (A) It's not as good and (B) Betsy couldn't find it on the library shelf and grabbed this instead. Eh. That's okay.

Show Notes:

Susan Guevara's vision for this book goes far and beyond anything Soto could have included in the text. Her interpretation covers a wide swath of influences and references, making it one of the most interesting picture book reads out there. Read the transcript of her interview or listen to it on Teachingbooks.net here: https://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=11932&a=1

If you'd like to read Gary Soto's essay "Why I Don't Write Children's Literature", you can find it here: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/38019

If you'd like to see the Spanish version of the Weston Woods video of this book, you can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vix5GUph2JY

For the full Show Notes, please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/08/03/fuse-8-n-kate-chato-and-the-party-animals-by-gary-soto-ill-susan-guevara/

A lot of this show consists of Betsy thinking up an author (say, Patricia Polacco) then saying to herself "What's their most famous book?" In the case of Ms. Polacco, she was a bit stumped. This book was definitely in the top five, and she figured it would make for an interesting choice. Particularly since its shiny Sydney Taylor Award on the cover was intriguing. With its 1988 pub date, there's still a lot to really enjoy about this title. It's aged nicely, and ties in well with stories like Jacqueline Woodson's Show Way or Papa Had a Little Overcoat, even.

Show Notes:

I'm not kidding about the fact that Polacco went to school with Frank Oz and babysat Tom Hanks. Read all about it here: https://lifechums.wordpress.com/tag/tom-hanks/

If you would like to see the additional pages that Patricia Polacco made for the 25th anniversary edition of this book, take a gander at this video by the Mazza Museum. Our sole objection to this vid is that you never get a good close look at the quilt itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIHG0vLoyjk

Want to see the full Show Notes? Then join us at : http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/07/27/fuse-8-n-kate-the-keeping-quilt-by-patricia-polacco/

If you had to pick all the Peggy Rathmann books that exist, you probably wouldn't begin with her title The Day the Babies Crawled Away (which Kate and Betsy did do on a previous episode). Instead, you'd probably want to do today's book! Is it her most famous? Dunno. Probably a toss up between this and Office Buckle and Gloria. Today Kate and Betsy dig deep into a title that certainly contains the world's most short-sighted escape plan. The Great Escape, this is not.

Show Notes:

- Here is the New York Times article that talks about Peggy Rathmann's new life and grand good life is Can Dirt Save the Earth: Agriculture Could Pull Carbon Out of the Air Into the Soil: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjlhueW79rqAhWCBc0KHSyDDM0QFjAAegQIARAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F04%2F18%2Fmagazine%2Fdirt-save-earth-carbon-farming-climate-change.html&usg=AOvVaw0JURB7VQVvxWEtlVnZXr8O

This book came in at #40 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/01/top-100-picture-books-40-good-night-gorilla-by-peggy-rathmann/

It also came in at #12 on the Top 100 Board Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/08/09/the-top-100-board-books-poll-countdown-15-11/

And if you'd like to check out the podcast ArtCurious, try it here: http://www.artcuriouspodcast.com/artcuriouspodcast

For the full Show Notes, please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/07/20/fuse-8-n-kate-good-night-gorilla-by-peggy-rathmann/

"Bring me a bad book. Like, a really good bad book." So Kate asked Betsy. Well, we don't want to give anything away but Betsy may have hit on something. If you were born in the late 70s or early 80s, the odds are good that somebody you know read it to you. And this all ties in quite closely to current discussions of picture books with racist elements that sit blithely on shelves in children's rooms anywhere.

Show Notes:

In case you've ever wondered what this show's recording set-up looks like, Drew, the resident Penguinologist, put together this quickie video on a whim. It's haphazard but fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP3f_UtbXK0

While we appreciate that The Book Hound took the time to draw a connection between the Dionne quintuplets and the publication of this book, the assertion that, "While it is possible to conclude the illustrations in The Five Chinese Brothers are ethnic stereotypes, although not everyone agrees with that, it is impossible to make a case that the text contains or implies a racist premise, unless one misreads the first sentence," is an idea that holds no water: https://thebookhound.com/2018/07/31/when-looking-alike-is-not-racism-the-five-chinese-brothers-the-dionne-quintuplets/

It is not difficult to find the Weston Woods/Scholastic Teacher's Guide for this book. Note what it says at the end: "Other book based films and videos about Chinese culture are available from Weston Woods. These include: THE STORY ABOUT PING by Marjorie Flack TIKKI TIKKI TEMBO written by Arlene Mosel and illustrated by Blair Lent". Just . . . . wow. http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/westonwoods/study_guides/the_five_chinese_brothers.pdf

Finally, Betsy was able to track down the video of the boy reading Owl Babies to actual baby owls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i33i2VDsRU

For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/07/13/fuse-8-n-kate-the-five-chinese-brothers-by-claire-huchet-bishop-and-kurt-wiese/

Betsy didn't want to have a whole conversation about elongated eye tubes. She really, really didn't, but that's the price you pay when you show Kate the book Owl Babies. Today the two tackle the ebook edition of the picture book (rather than board book) version of this title and it makes for an interesting read. They end up wondering about where the gutter falls on certain two-page spreads, and have a lengthy talk about repetition in picture book texts and what this book has to do with working mothers.

Show Notes:

Josh Funk is correct. Splash Mountain will indeed be redone: https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/media/splash-mountain-disney/index.html

The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore was, I believe, an Oscar-winning short animated film. You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad3CMri3hOs

For the full Show Notes please go to: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/07/06/fuse-8-n-kate-owl-babies-by-martin-waddell-ill-patrick-benson/

Funny to think about the authors and illustrators we've never quite gotten to on the show. Sometimes the trick behind selecting a book isn't so much which artist to do but what book to do from a given artist. After much soul searching Betsy decided that George Shrinks trumps Dinosaur Bob and the Family Lazardo in terms of sheer fame. It's a funny kind of book, and you can trust Kate to winnow out every possible detail on the page. Hope you like your kids short, your cats cruel, and your teddy bears creepy, because we're going all in on Joyce's best known today.

Show Notes:

You can find Bill's account of what happened when his made his last New Yorker cover here: https://apps.centenary.edu/newsarchive/2006/February/B-Joyce-cover-article.html

For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/06/29/fuse-8-n-kate-george-shrinks-by-william-joyce/

Betsy broke the rules. Under normal circumstances she won't consider a children's book for this podcast unless that title is less than 20 years old. But since she made that rule in the first place, I guess she's the one who gets to break it. And today's book is, in its blood, a rule breaker. In the course of this episode Betsy attempts to encapsulate all of Jacqueline Woodson's major awards (this is a difficult thing to even try, by the way), Kate and Betsy honor Juneteenth, and they try desperately to figure out why this book never won any Caldecott love (to add to its Newbery Honor love).

Show Notes:

Here's the interview with Jacqueline Woodson about the background to Show Way on Reading Rockets with Carole Boston Weatherford: https://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/woodson/transcript

Toshi (Jackie's daughter) was friends with Trixie from the Knuffle Bunny books. This fact was confirmed by Jackie herself at the blog The Happy Nappy Bookseller in 2011: http://thehappynappybookseller.blogspot.com/2011/02/interview-with-jacqueline-woodson.html

For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/06/21/fuse-8-n-kate-show-way-by-jacqueline-woodson/

In honor of Pride this month, we figured it would be a good idea to check out one of the first big-time LGBTQIA+ picture books published in America. We've already covered Heather Has Two Mommies in a previous episode, so what's left? Well, if Heather Has Two Mommies came out in 1989, Daddy's Roommate followed just a year later in 1990. It was on ALA's top 10 banned list from 1990-1999. Researching it, we had no idea this would be such a fruitful book to explore. Above and beyond little things like the details Willhoite is just throwing in there there's the fact that Sarah Palin hated it and it was brought up during the 2008 presidential campaign. Plus Betsy gets to tell her Jon Waters purple velvet fainting couch story (which so rarely comes up).

Show Notes:

If you would like to see the video that Kate was critiquing from, you can watch it here: https://vimeo.com/304030343

As Lark pointed out the Barnes Children's Literature Festival features, amongst other things, Stanley Tucci reading The Tiger Who Came to Tea: https://www.barneskidslitfest.org/whats-on/

For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/06/15/fuse-8-n-kate-daddys-roommate-by-michael-willhoite/

Kate gave Betsy a tricky challenge this week. She wanted her to find a book worth discussing that was pertinent to the times in which we live. So, after a great deal of soul searching, Betsy decided to focus on a book by a Black author. Even better, a book that was ahead of its time when it came out and may only find its true audience today. And few books for kids tackle the issue of police brutality as honestly as this one does. Reprinted two years ago, James Baldwin's 1976 title (the only book for children he ever made) feels both timeless and in desperate need of a new illustrator.

Show Notes:

The book Betsy alludes to at the start is Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children's Literature, edited by Julia L. Mickenberg and Philip Nel: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2009/02/16/review-of-the-day-tales-for-little-rebels-by-julie-l-mickenberg-and-philip-nel/

If you want additional information on Little Man, Little Man, Betsy wrote about it at length here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/05/17/a-childs-story-for-adults-digging-deep-into-james-baldwins-only-childrens-book/

Please consider listening to other episodes of this podcast featuring Black creators including:

The Boy Who Didn't Believe in Spring - http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/03/25/fuse-8-n-kate-the-boy-who-didnt-believe-in-spring-by-lucille-clifton-ill-brinton-turkle/

Mirandy and Brother Wind - http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/05/11/fuse-8-n-kate-mirandy-and-brother-wind-by-patricia-mckissack-and-jerry-pinkney/

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters - http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/08/08/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-mufaros-beautiful-daughters-by-john-steptoe/

Sam and the Tigers - http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/02/26/fuse-8-n-kate-the-story-of-little-black-sambo-by-helen-bannerman/

Stevie - http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2019/07/15/fuse-8-n-kate-stevie-by-john-steptoe/

Why Do Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears? - http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/11/20/fuse-8-n-kate-why-mosquitoes-buzz-in-peoples-ears/

For the full Show Notes please visit us at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/06/08/fuse-8-n-kate-little-man-little-man-by-james-baldwin-ill-yoran-cazac/