If you've ever found yourself thinking, "You know, I like the Fuse 8 n' Kate podcast, but would it kill them to occasionally do terrible French accents for long periods of time?" then have we got a show for you!! This week Kate's sick, but the sisters plod onward and upward. In the course of things the episode turns out to be a momentous one. We doubt you'll see where this conversation will turn. It's a shocker.

Show Notes:

- In case you missed it you can check out this 9-second Vine of Nickelback called "Look At This Graph". Full explanation here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/people-cant-stop-watching-this-hilarious-nine-sec?utm_term=.pu8lKjz8r#.dwN8j51nP

- Actually, the book came out in 1939. So that whole "Post-WWII" bit . . . um . . . yeah.

- No. They visit her after Day Ten. Betsy says it's between 1-10 days. Nope. It's post ten.

- In the first Top 100 Picture Books poll, Madeline was at #8: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2009/05/06/top-100-picture-books-poll-results-8/

- When the poll was repeated three years later it sank to #47: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/29/top-100-picture-books-47-madeline-by-ludwig-bemelmans/

- The Bemelmans Bar? So very awesome. Worth a trip, I assure you. It's located in The Carlyle: https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/the-carlyle-new-york/dining/bemelmans-bar

- For a marvelous post on the gaping, huge flaw, please read the marvelous Peter Sieruta piece at Collecting Children's Books called Something is Not Right: A Madeline Mystery: http://collectingchildrensbooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/something-is-not-right-madeline-mystery.html

For full Show Notes visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/12/11/fuse-8-n-kate-madeline-by-ludwig-bemelmans/

Betsy and Kate welcome in the holiday season with a bit of copious consumption.

Show Notes:

- This episode was brought to you by . . . Viola Davis. http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/books/ct-viola-davis-corduroy-children-s-story-20171010-story.html

- I am so right. There is no comic duo like Strega Nona and Anthony. NO ONE!

- I am very interested in your evidence as to whether or not Corduroy really does have agency, or if this is just in the girl's head.

- The two sequels to Corduroy are Don Freeman created a sequel, A Pocket for Corduroy, in 1978. In 2006, B. G. Hennessy created Corduroy Lost and Found as a sequel. And I don't mention it but there were lots of unofficial Corduroy sequels, but I didn't feel they were worth mentioning.

- #22 on the picture book poll was Corduroy! http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/11/top-100-picture-books-22-corduroy-by-donald-freeman/

- The wikipedia page for Corduroy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corduroy_(book)

- Woohoo! Today's Special. This one goes out to all of you who watched it when I did on early Nickelodeon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cxLfIs051c

- Once you see it, you can never unsee it. The Corduroy television movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h73uNiS3PYA

- And, of course, the television show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FtDfeauNDk

- American Vandal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3tkFOtM6go

- Stranger Things (for the four of you who don't know it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWxyRG_tckY

For the full Show Notes: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/12/04/fuse-8-n-kate-corduroy-by-don-freeman

In this episode the sisters make it clear that Strega Nona has committed a cardinal sin. Not the creation of magic (the priest and nuns seem a-okay with her on that point). No we're talking about the moment she snatches away a pregnant woman's fork. What's up with that? Amidst Italian draculas and injured space monkeys, Kate and Betsy attempt to ascertain if Strega Nona really does deserve to be considered a classic of children's literature.

Show Notes:

- To know more about the life of Big Anthony, check out Big Anthony: His Story : https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-399-23189-6

- For the sequel with Strega Amelia, you'll want Strega Nona Meets Her Match : https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-399-22421-8

-Minh Le's bit on Strega Nona can be found here but its brilliance belongs to the masses: http://www.bottomshelfbooks.com/2007/06/strega-nona.html

- Can you crack The dePaola Code? It's a doozy: http://discomermaids.blogspot.com/2006/05/depaola-code-nana.html

-You can find Handsome Big Anthony in Big Anthony and the Magic Ring: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/big-anthony-and-the-magic-ring-by-tomie-depaola/

-Kate mentions the Freelance Wrestling Show in Chicago: http://freelancewrestling.com/

-Cannot recommend this book enough. Cake Magic by Caroline Wright : https://www.workman.com/products/cake-magic

For the complete Show Notes please visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/11/27/fuse-8-n-kate-strega-nona-by-tomie-depaola/

Today Betsy and Kate decide to class up the joint. Leo Dillon was the first African-American Caldecott Award winner and it was for this book in 1976. The era of the folktale has long since passed and yet, for all that, this book endures. Why? The sisters decide to get to the bottom of the matter.

Show Notes:

- For the record we highly recommend the CDs of LuAnn Adams, who is a truly magnificent storyteller: http://www.luannadamsstoryteller.com/

- In case you're curious, here's the link to NYPL's 100 Great Books, 100 Years: https://www.nypl.org/childrens100

- And yeah. She wasn't wrong. Koalas can give you chlamydia. Ugh. https://io9.gizmodo.com/5920738/you-can-accidentally-get-an-std-from-a-koala

- For the record, here's what CNN had to say about The Polar Express: "The mouth action is also less than overwhelming, since the characters' tongues look like slabs of meat when they speak their lines."

- Kate confirmed later that yes, it was a ferret and not a marmot, in the bathtub in The Big Lebowski. http://thebiglebowski.wikia.com/wiki/Marmot

- And for those of you who are curious, here's The Awkward Yeti. http://theawkwardyeti.com/

- Read the full Show Notes here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/11/20/fuse-8-n-kate-why-mosquitoes-buzz-in-peoples-ears/

In lieu of a famous Thanksgiving picture book (which does not exist) Betsy and Kate decide a good way to go would be to do something food-related. And what's more foodie than food falling from the sky? This one is easy since it had a film of the same name. It's remembered . . . sorta. Due to its length it isn't really performed in storytimes, and affection for it has more to do with nostalgia than anything else. Or is it fantastic? A little gem we've all ignored? The sisters tackle the book head on and find some surprising results.

- This Minh Le post on Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs may be 10 years old, but it's just as fresh and clear as it was back in the day: http://www.bottomshelfbooks.com/2007/02/cloudy-with-chance-of-meatballs_11.html

- Giant Jam Sandwich! Betsy says "mosquitoes" but it was flies, right? Or was it wasps? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iiv4AbrRsww

-Read the #75 post on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/21/top-100-picture-books-75-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-by-judi-barrett-illustrated-by-ron-barrett/

- Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUaKcFI4BZY

- Accident by Andrea Tsurumi has a very similar tone to this book: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/07/07/review-of-the-day-accident-by-andrea-tsurumi-2/

- For the full Show Notes, visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/11/13/fuse-8-n-kate-cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs-by-judi-barrett-and-ron-barrett/

After a month of good but relatively obscure titles it's Very Special Episode Day for the Fuse 8 n' Kate podcast. Folks have requested this one since the show's inception and now, for your listening enjoyment, Kate at last meets this infamous title. Will she pull a Rainbow Fish on Betsy and defend it? Will the sisters see eye-to-eye on the matter? Will Betsy bring up the book's complicated backstory or let sleeping dogs lie? Warning: May also include the jazziest version of the Love You Forever song you'll ever hear.

Show Notes:

- Robert Munsch sings the song from Love You Forever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFX6pdwJWpA

- Joey reads the book on Friends to Ross and Rachel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BauEPCnw55Y

- Taking the book to a whole other level, Children's Books Made Horrific tackles Love You Forever: http://the-toast.net/2014/09/18/love-forever/

- The trailer for Murder on the Orient Express: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq4m3yAoW8E

- Square One and one of their best songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DzfPcSysAg

- For full Show Notes, please visit A Fuse #8 Production at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/11/06/fuse-8-n-kate-love-you-forever-by-robert-munsch-a-very-special-episode

Who says horror never wins the big awards? This is perhaps the last time a scary picture book got serious Caldecottian love. It also marks the end of the October spooky books for Betsy and Kate. At least you get to hear them run through a range of Halloween sound effects. Poor ones, granted, but it's the thought that counts.

Show Notes:

- When the book first came out, this was the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag0LPVYpIu4

- By the way, can YOU name a classic Thanksgiving picture book? You can’t. You can name Thanksgiving picture books, sure, but one that’s massively famous? Not so much.

- By the way, the answer to the quiz question this week is COMPLETELY incorrect. Can you guess the right answer?

- I wasn’t wrong, as it turns out. From 2002-2003 there was indeed a “new” Twilight Zone: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318252/

- That Creepy Crawlers commercial Kate remembers? It existed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0RK-l97NHY

-The Peter Brown book about the dog that I couldn’t remember (and that Jon Stewart’s son loved) was Chowder.

- The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs is best described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey%27s_Paw

-At this point I wanted to include a video of Aaron reading from this book. Trouble is, I couldn’t find one online. That meant I had to find the next best thing. So, apparently at TXLA they have this lip-synching contest between kidlit vs. YAlit folks. And if Aaron Reynolds didn’t win it for this then what are we even talking about? This is THE best thing you’ll see all day long: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPRaQG8Zsz4

- In case you’re curious about the New Yorker piece here it is: Birth of a Supremacist - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/16/birth-of-a-white-supremacist

- For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/30/spooky-october-infused-fuse-8-n-kate-creepy-carrots-by-aaron-reynolds-and-peter-brown/

She likes it! She really likes it! Not to give anything away but Kate is fully enamored of The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. And why not? That seductive spider clearly knows what he's doing from the get-go. In this episode the sisters consider killing flying monkeys, Hocus Pocus (it is October after all), and whether or not a book this new really deserves to be called a "classic" quite so soon.

Show Notes:

- No apologies. Frank Morgan was marvelous in The Good Fairy. Clearly a man that benefited from a good strong mustache. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34pTHbhGaYc

- Here’s the link to Tony Diterlizzi’s website, where you can find all kinds of additional information. Scroll down and you’ll see a plethora of Spider and the Fly related links. http://diterlizzi.com/book/the-spider-the-fly/

- Wow! This Go Your Own YA podcast is great! They’re really just starting out but already they’ve covered Patricia McKissack and Lois Duncan. Check them out here: https://www.goyourownya.com/

- Apologies. It’s actually The Apple Dumpling Gang. Please don’t rake us over the coals.

- Though there has been much clamor for it, Hocus Pocus has never actually made it to Broadway. It has, however, been made into a parody musical. http://www.playbill.com/article/what-to-expect-from-the-hocus-pocus-musical-parody

- The Center for Teaching Through Children’s Books: Here’s a list of resources provided by the recent Indivisible Institute from many of the speakers. One stop shopping. https://padlet.com/berland/8fuf1e39fz18

- For the full Show Notes please visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/23/spooky-october-infused-fuse-8-n-kate-the-spider-and-the-fly-by-mary-howitt-and-tony-diterlizzi/

Spooky October offerings continue with a book that Kate calls "Hunger Games . . . but cats!" Special guest James Kennedy joins us for a talk about cannibalistic kitties, stating accurately, "Of all of the children's books, maybe all the books ever written, this one has the highest body count." Along the way you are privy to an acapella rendition of the theme song, bad John Travolta puns, and lots of Yacht Rock.

- Be sure to read The Order of Odd Fish by James Kennedy. SLJ called it "depraved"! How many YA novels can you say THAT about? https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/91572/the-order-of-odd-fish-by-james-kennedy/9780440240655/

- The 90-Second Newbery Film Festival is James's baby. Kids make 90-second (approximately) videos of Newbery Award and Honor books and then James travels around the country showing them in his film festival. Honestly, for a kid to see their video up on the big screen, there's nothing to compare to that. Newest and latest submissions are due on January 12th. http://90secondnewbery.com/

- Read the Top 100 Picture Books poll post on Millions of Cats. http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/11/top-100-picture-books-21-millions-of-cats-by-wanda-gag/

- Millions of Cats done in Minecraft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uD6H1O0TRA

-The ABC Bunny video of the song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leiXQbqAVME

- Full full Show Notes: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/16/spooky-october-infused-fuse-8-n-kate-millions-of-cats-by-wanda-gag-ft-james-kennedy/

Sisterhood is stronger than fights over Jawas vs. Ewoks, though in this particular case the two come dangerously close to exchanging blows. In honor of October they decide to tackle some spooky picture book classics. And it's hard to get spookier than Sendak's classic tale of babynapping and ice changelings. Hold on to your horn, your little sister, and your sanity for this crazy ride.

Show Notes:

- Anyone who puts together a picture book cover involving Jim, the chicken, and the old lady from Good Night Moon for Kate wins Betsy's everlasting love.

- Are you fond of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark? Then we highly recommend The 15 Most Disturbing Illustrations From “Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, particularly if your memory needs a jog.

https://tuneinrockon.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/the-15-most-disturbing-illustrations-from-scary-stories-to-tell-in-the-dark/

- This is what Betsy meant when she referenced Rebel Without a Cause: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrkiBCusHs0

- Apparently the German Shepherd featured in this book was modeled after Sendak's dog Max. He would later adopt a different German Shepherd named Melville.

- Curious about The Dionne Quintuplets? Here's some background information. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionne_quintuplets

- LifeSource: Information on donating blood. http://www.lifesource.org/donate-blood/

- Here is a link to Eddie Izzard's latest book. And, for the record, he was magnificent in person. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/318643/believe-me-by-eddie-izzard/9780399175831/

Full the full show notes for this episode, please visit Betsy's blog A Fuse #8 Production here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/09/spooky-october-infused-fuse-8-n-kate-outside-over-there-by-maurice-sendak/