Since Kate had such strong feelings about Madeline and Eloise, Betsy figured that they would have to go with what she considered to be the third in the triumvirate of . . . let’s call ’em strong-minded ladies. If ever you’ve wanted to know the difference between miniature pigs, pot-bellied pigs, and razorback pigs, boy, have we got the podcast for you! Kate and Betsy talk about who the most famous female pig in children’s literature is (honestly, we’ve nothing against Peppa, but wasn’t she a television star first?), which book you’d want to club someone to death with (OED for the win!), and whether or not Shel Silverstein had “a treacly streak” (he did).

Show Notes:

– Here’s the New Yorker series Betsy referred to when she spoke about Ian Falconer. The blog post was called New Yorker/Picture Book Artists: Ian Falconer – Beyond Olivia: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2011/09/08/new-yorkerpicture-book-artists-ian-falconer-beyond-olivia/

– The blog Spirit of the Bees back in 2009 did just the loveliest post by a grandmother about how she helped turn her two and a half-year-old granddaughter into the paper bag monster: http://spiritofbees.blogspot.com/2009/01/you-wish-is-my-command.html

– Came in at #54 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/25/top-100-picture-books-54-olivia-by-ian-falconer/

- For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/11/05/fuse-8-n-kate-olivia-by-ian-falconer

What better time to introduce Kate to the work of Dave McKean than when it's almost Halloween! Betsy tries to give her sister a good dose of nightmare fuel, but somehow the two just end up talking about what an old wolf melody would sound like and whether Dave McKean has ever drawn a bunny (he has... and it's weird).

Source Notes:

- There was indeed a virtual reality version of The Wolves in the Walls. Variety Magazine had the scoop, and they even made a trailer for it. Behold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLp07Grch-o

- The video quality is not the best, but this will give you some sense of the stage production of The Wolves in the Walls that occurred: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_P4AxAagHU

- As Betsy mentioned, this past weekend she interviewed Adam Gidwitz at SLJ's Summit. His new podcast Grimm Grimmer Grimmest is more than a little delightful. Do check it out: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/grimm-grimmer-grimmest/id1436651521?mt=2

- For the full Show Notes, please visit us at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/10/29/fuse-8-n-kate-the-wolves-in-the-walls-by-neil-gaiman-ill-dave-mckean/

If you've ever listened to this podcast then you'll know that when it comes to readalouds, that particular kind of a picture book is a little difficult to convey. Fortunately, Kate immediately interprets the cover of today's book, before reading it, as a story about a gigantic, 24-ft tall pumpkin rolling towards a little old lady, Indiana Jones boulder-style, and everything takes off from there on in. In the course of our conversation, Betsy reveals who actually made this book (not something widely known), the problem of naked ghosts, suits of armor fighting Nazis, and something that at one point causes Kate to say, "You are an idiot. I hope the gloves choke you to death!"

Source Notes:

- Is Betsy the only who truly, and honestly, loves the ending of the film of Bedknobs & Broomsticks? Let's watch it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0rRPU_cvGg

-Kate's been kind enough to share her rum cake recipe with us all. It did look amazing, sitting there on her counter when I arrived. I was very good. I didn't even take a bite. Find the recipe here: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/17456/golden-rum-cake/

- For full show notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/10/22/fuse-8-n-kate-the-little-old-lady-who-was-not-afraid-of-anything-by-linda-williams

Older holiday books for kids have a tendency to be a bit on the white side. So Betsy was thinking she was pretty slick when I came up with A Tiger Called Thomas for today's discussion. But here's the thing; she thought the version illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal was the only one out there. She was unaware that this book hadn't just been re-illustrated once but has FOUR different artists! Just to make all of this clear from the start, the four versions discussed on this podcast are:

A Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Kurt Werth (1963)

A Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Catherine Stock (1988)

A Tiger Called Thomas by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Diana Cain Bluthenthal (2003)

A Tiger Called Tomás by Charlotte Zolotow, illustrated by Marta Alvarez Miguéns (2018)

- This is not the first time Betsy has gone into a full-blown William's Doll rant. It's not mentioned in the podcast but the real difference here is publishers. William's Doll came out with Greenwillow. Thomas, in contrast, was originally published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., then by Hyperion, and now by Sourcebooks. It bounces around!

- Has a purely Photoshopped book ever won a Caldecott? We call upon you, my readers, to help us come up with the answer to this.

- Here are the trolls that Kate saw at the Morton Arboretum: http://www.mortonarb.org/events/troll-hunt

- For the full Show Notes, please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/10/15/fuse-8-n-kate-a-tiger-called-thomas-by-charlotte-zolotow

We're killing two birds with one stone this week (pun reluctantly intended). A reader suggested today's book a long time ago. Add in the fact that it's October and we should be doing some Halloween-themed titles and you've got yourself today's latest edition of International Classic Picture Books. Take a trip to Germany to visit one of the loveliest, softest books about life and death out there. Maybe it's not classic Halloween fare, but we like it.

Source Notes:

- For the curious, here is the video of the weatherman's map going crazy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0jOen1G-E8

- There really are countless videos about today's book. Here are some of the standouts:

First, the quiet animated short film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd5Y2xj71f0

Next, a trailer for a rather lovely version that played in Edinburgh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueQ2glggAX0

And finally, one from a country we've yet to identify: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrqB64E6roA

- The Romper article in question was called Why Duck, Death and the Tulip Is a Cult Favorite Among Authors: https://www.romper.com/p/why-duck-death-the-tulip-is-a-cult-favorite-among-authors-9599161

- Meanwhile the Brain Pickings article was Duck, Death and the Tulip: An Uncommonly Tender Illustrated Meditation On the Cycle of Life: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/05/04/duck-death-and-the-tulip-wolf-erlbruch/

- Betsy Recommends: White Knight by Sean Murphy and Matt Hollingsworth.

- Kate Recommends: CoriTaylorMN on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CoriTaylorMN?ref=shop_sugg

For full Show Notes, please visit us at: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/10/09/fuse-8-n-kate-duck-death-and-the-tulip-by-wolf-erlbruch/

Happy October! We open this month of hauntings and spirits with a book about a terribly frightening monster! And by "terribly frightening" I mean "terribly frightened". Inspired by their discussion of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Betsy pulls out the 4th wall breaking title that started the whole American genre in the first place. Consider too the fact that this is a Sesame Street book and Mo Willems, who would later write that pigeon book, used to work for Sesame Street. By the way, let us just say this before you listen: If you are unfamiliar with Sesame Street in any way, this may not be the episode for you. In the course of things Kate and Betsy get into a very heated discussion about whether or not grouches are monsters, typography, hidden frustrations with Little Golden Books, and whether or not this book reveals "Grover's truth" (how self-reflective is Grover, really?).

Show Notes:

- For those of you keeping track at home, the sequels to this book have included the titles Hide and Seek with Lovable Furry Old Grover, Please Do Not Open This Book, and Lovable Furry Old Grover's Resting Places.

- This is very much turning into an app recommendation podcast. Nevertheless, we really do have a deep and abiding affection for the one that goes with this book. It can be very difficult to resist the urge to have Grover speak directly to your child. Very difficult indeed: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-monster-at-the-end/id409467802?mt=8

For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/10/01/fuse-8-n-kate-the-monster-at-the-end-of-this-book-by-jon-stone/

Kate worried that there wouldn't be enough to talk about with this week's podcast because the featured book is so simple in both text and image. Little did she know!!! What happens when an adult woman reads this book for the first time and is told that many consider it a modern day classic? Oh. Let's find out. Along the way Kate questions the shenanigans (her word) of the bus driver, why the pigeon never has eyelashes (does Mo have something against them?), whether or not the bird is Slytherin, and Betsy begins to focus on what the prior relationship between the driver and the pigeon is exactly.

Source Notes:

- The Ray Bradbury story referred to about the girl who misses the one day of sun on her planet was "All Summer In a Day": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Summer_in_a_Day

- If you'd like to see the precise words of what the Caldecott criteria is, you can go here: http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecottterms/caldecottterms

- While Betsy could not find the locker room sequence at the end of the Weston Woods video on YouTube, the good news is that for the first time Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus is now appearing on Bookflix. Does your library subscribe? It might! Find out from your local children's librarian and then watch the whole video there. You'll be glad you did.

- Betsy cannot tell you how happy she is that this app Don't Let the Pigeon Run This App is back up and running: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dont-let-pigeon-run-this-app/id459749670?mt=8

- The Indies Choice Book Awards Picture Book Hall of Fame: https://www.bookweb.org/btw/awards/ICBA.html

- We're happy to report that actually this book didn't beat The Very Hungry Caterpillar on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll. But it did beat Goodnight Moon: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/07/06/top-100-picture-books-poll-results/

- Curious about this Grace Lin podcast? Check out the Kidlitwomen podcast site here: https://www.kidlitwomen.com/http/kidlitwomenpodcastlibsyncom/

- Which of our transcripts would people like to read? Let us know and Kate will type them out.

- For the full Show Notes please visit us at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/09/25/fuse-8-n-kate-dont-let-the-pigeon-drive-the-bus-by-mo-willems/

This week Betsy and Kate have pretty much found the bloodiest Caldecott Honor winner out there (though you're allowed to try to find one bloodier if you'd like to prove them wrong). Technically blood never mars the pages, but you can pretty much assume what's happening off-screen, as it were. And it's a fantastic introduction to the autumn season! Win-win! In the course of things, Kate and Betsy debate the degree to which Mr. and Mrs. Fox are starving their children, what precisely is going on with the Giggle-Gaggle household, and what a "skulk"/"leash" is.

Show Notes:

- The Burl Ives version of the Fox song is slightly different from the one Betsy is accustomed to, but it's clearly the same thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=jSaTOI7u8Ds

- - The Peter, Paul, and Mary version is the one Betsy's actually working off of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4mwg40c2SU

- Good news! On teachingbooks.net you can find a lot of children's author and illustrators names and their pronunciations. Here is Peter Spier himself pronouncing his name. Turns out, the show got it mostly right! https://www.teachingbooks.net/pronounce.cgi?aid=947

- And if you're in a mood to listen to even more pronunciations, Merriam-Webster doing "ouabain" truly is a treat: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ouabain

- We're just so thrilled that the new Evanston children's bookstore Booked is slated to open September 21st. All those of you in town, stop by! https://www.bookedevanston.com/

- We checked Snopes and it turns out that Steve Buscemi, former firefighter, really did help out on 9/11: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/steve-buscemi-fdny/

- For the full set of Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/09/17/review-of-the-day-the-fox-went-out-on-a-chilly-night-by-peter-spier

Didn't Kate and Betsy just do a Robert McCloskey book? They did, but it was not his most famous work. In spite of the fact that Betsy springs the tale of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard on her poor unsuspecting sister the two somehow manage to say a LOT about it! Vicious egg-eating turtles and all.

Show Notes:

- Just in case you're curious, the Twitter handle for this show is @fuse_kate and on Instagram at fuse8kate.

- You can visit sculptor Nancy Schon's website on the ducklings here: http://www.schon.com/public/ducklings-boston.php

- A bit of a correction here. Betsy got her story COMPLETELY mixed up. The true tale is that McCloskey saw Nixon somewhere (this being 1941 we've no idea where), noted his profile, and decided to use it for the book. So the theory that it's one of the kids was way WAY off. Read more about this at the ALSC blog: https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2012/10/wheres-dick/

- It came in at #6 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/20/top-100-picture-books-6-make-way-for-ducklings-by-robert-mccloskey/

- Please do tell us what you consider to be the most unknown Caldecott Award (not Honor) winner of all time. Write in!

- And as a reminder, if you've nothing going on this coming Thursday at 3:00, tune in to Author's Voice where Betsy will be interviewing, Sean Rubin, the creator of Bolivar. It's a great way to get a signed copy (and not a bad idea if you need a graphic novel for a younger reader that would make yet another gorgeous holiday present). You can watch live, order the book, and write in questions here: http://authorsvoice.net/event/ladybird-friends-sean-rubin-bolivar/

- Full the full Show Notes visit us at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/09/10/fuse-8-n-kate-make-way-for-ducklings-by-robert-mccloskey/

Fiiiiiiiiiish . . .

An aquatic creature that has absolutely NOTHING to do with this week's book!

So first and foremost, we are happy to announce that we now have our very own Twitter and Instagram accounts for this podcast. Woot! So tune in on Twitter @fuse_kate or on Instagram at fuse8kate. As for the podcast itself, Kate was semi-familiar with this book already. But did she remember anything about it at all? No, sir! As it turns out, we were able to really dive into some of the details. Will we determine it's a classic? Time will tell!

Source Notes:

- How much sugar does it take to can blueberries? The internet has many opinions on the subject but generally speaking it appears that you want to add 1/2 Cup of sugar for each quart of berries. That's not a ton of sugar. I guess Mom really worked double time while Sal was AWOL.

- How fast can a little bear run? Hard to say. A grown bear can get up to 40 miles an hour. We have to assume that a baby bear just wouldn't have that kind of speed. So even if it began to get ideas about the deliciousness of Mom, it's not happening.

- Here's something we didn't mention during the podcast, but there is a Blueberries for Sal statue out there. It was listed in the Fuse #8 website's Complete Listing of All Public Children’s Literature Statues in the United States. Located in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, the statue is by Nancy Schön, the same woman who did the Make Way for Duckling Statues in Boston. In 2008 she was commissioned by the Board of Directors of the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens to make a sculpture of Little Bear from the book Blueberries for Sal by the author Robert McCloskey. The result is this cute little feller who is surrounded by actual honest-to-goodness blueberry bushes. You can read more about it and see Ms. Schön’s process here: http://www.schon.com/public/sals-bear.php

- We had to check out what the heck "King of Tokyo" really is. So, you know Wil Wheaton (from Star Trek)? He started this YouTube series where he walks through how to play board games with celebrity friends of his and he did one for "King of Tokyo" - if you want to know what it's about, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGaCjM2hal4

For the complete Show Notes, please visit us at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/09/03/fuse-8-n-kate-blueberries-for-sal-by-robert-mccloskey/