In this episode, Betsy and Kate decide to try to steer clear of Seussian controversy, unaware that even as they record this there is a debacle brewing with a school librarian, Melania Trump, and a host of Dr. Seuss books. Fortunately, while this book has been challenged in a library system (we'll get to that) it was not one of Ms. Trump's donations. Thank goodness for small favors. Along the way Kate identifies the most terrifying person in the book, Betsy has flashbacks to an old Smurfs episode, and the sisters talk seriously about why you can't put a skirt embedded with lights on a blow-up T-Rex costume.

Show Notes:

- The horrifying Smurf Rage Zombies. ComingSoon.net had exactly the same reaction to the episode that Betsy did and even makes a very strong case for why this story originally (in comic form) preceded George Romero's zombies by years. http://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/749789-terror-tv-gnap-gnap-zombies-vs-smurfs-purple-smurfs

- Washington State University says that any spelling of "good-by" is legitimate and that "goodbye" is simply the most popular right now. https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/05/19/good-by-good-by-goodbye/

- Here, for your reading enjoyment, is a fully written complaint against Hop On Pop: http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2014/04/toronto-library-asked-to-ban-violent-dr-seuss-book-hop-on-pop.html?cmp=fbtl

- If you wish to follow The Niblings on our Facebook page you may do so here: https://www.facebook.com/TheNiblings/

- Here is Minh Le's full post on Hop On Pop. http://www.bottomshelfbooks.com/2007/04/hop-on-pop_09.html

- All the Dirty Parts by Daniel Handler: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/all-the-dirty-parts-9781632868060/

- Kate's magnificently cool skirt can be purchased here: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/jhsu/?srp=18

- For full Show Notes visit Betsy's blog here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/10/03/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-hop-on-pop-by-dr-seuss/

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. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/2015BannedList.pdf

- For further information on the implications behind the most famous of the Seuss books, please see Was the Cat in the Hat Black? by Phil Nel. I highly recommend this 45-minute illustrated lecture on the topic. https://plus.google.com/+PhilipNel/posts/3t6xoesSycm

- An interesting recent article from the New York Times on Dr. Seuss, his caricatures of WWII, and how the Dr. Seuss Museum prefers not to talk about any of that (at this time). https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/arts/design/dr-seuss-museum-theodor-geisel-political-cartoons.html

- An SLJ article on Read Across America’s recent decision to not highlight Seuss but diverse books instead. http://www.slj.com/2017/09/industry-news/cat-hat-racist-read-across-america-shifts-away-dr-seuss-toward-diverse-books/

- Here is how the official challenge to If I Ran the Zoo reads:

“Geisel, Theodor Seuss

If I Ran the Zoo

RANDOM HOUSE

Challenged, but retained at the

Vancouver, Canada, Public Library

(2014) despite a line in the poem about

helpers who “all wear their eyes at a

slant,” accompanied by illustrations that

are racial stereotypes of Asians. The

book is often credited with the first

printed modern English use of the word

“nerd” in a sentence. The library will no

longer read it at storytime or promote

it other than as resource material in a

study of how the portrayal of other

cultures has changed over time.”

- Universal Studio’s If I Ran the Zoo portion of Seuss Landing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofyYmAryEus

- Video of the woman reading this book. And I was wrong. She totally reads the worst part. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azBphmVSUj4

- The Moose Called Thidwick problem can be read more fully here. http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/09/06/gunning-for-your-children-when-picture-book-classics-pack-heat/

- Proof that “Eye of the Tiger” is in Rocky 3. Doggone it. Thanks, James. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27F46WPVJBs

- Schweddy Balls. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPpcfH_HHH8

- Here’s the link to the Patti LuPone interview. It is WELL worth your time! http://www.wnyc.org/story/269890-patti-lupone/

- This is my favorite thing of ALL TIME!!! It’s actually 13 seconds of delight, not 15. 15 would be too long. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z2j6F8fZII

- You can find full show notes here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/09/26/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-if-i-ran-the-zoo-by-dr-seuss/

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't see the wolf in the first two-page spread:

http://www.vickiblackwell.com/lit/images/panelpics.jpg

- Had the wolf frequented his local supermarket he might have gotten the delicacies another way:

http://victor.iwi.com.sg/gjh/product_image/Mili_GingkoNuts.jpg

- Some light reading? Try your hand at Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked: Sex, Morality, and the Evolution of a Fairy Tale Book by Catherine Orenstein:

- You know I'm desperate when I pull out my old copy of The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales Book by Bruno Bettelheim

- Here's Yeh-Shen by Ed Young, which Kate mentions: http://www.mariespastiche.com/2013/07/yeh-shen-chinese-cinderella.html

- The truly gorgeous Mighty Moby by Barbara DaCosta is illustrated by Ed Young. Find it. Read it. Love it. https://mightymoby.wordpress.com/about-the-creation-of-mighty-moby/

- The Berenstain Bears picture book The Harvest Festival and, as you can see, there's a little light in the corner. If you know what it means you're fine. If you don't, you end up in Rebecca's position. http://d2qxx3fqcmq0dz.cloudfront.net/media/catalog/product/cache/7/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/9/7/9780310748656.jpg.1446997872.jpg

- The episode of Secrets of Story that mentions us can be found here. This is particularly recommended for fans of Dan Harmon as well. https://soundcloud.com/matt-bird-35537727/secrets-of-story-episode-6-raiders-of-the-story-circle

- A little information on The Good Place. I will say it again. This. Show. Is. A. Delight. https://www.nbc.com/the-good-place?nbc=1

- For the complete show notes, visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/09/11/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-lon-po-po-by-ed-young/

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: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFtHeo7oMSU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX7JAHddY84

-Back in 2006 Leila Roy at bookshelves of doom was the first person I knew to encounter this book. At a garage sale, no less. Please read her hilarious post on the matter. http://bookshelvesofdoom.blogs.com/bookshelves_of_doom/2006/08/quick_quiz_for_.html

- The original Berenstain Bears theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjXiIZYsGJY

- You can read about the alternate reality theory about the Berenstain/stein Bears here: http://news.avclub.com/how-you-spell-the-berenstain-bears-could-be-proof-of-1798282836

- By the way, after Kate and I finished recording this episode we consulted with the resident Network Administrator and Cannon Ballast who mentioned something called "The Mandela Effect". Apparently shared false memories are a known phenomenon. Listen to the podcast Stuff to Blow Your Mind and the episode Shared False Memories and the Mandela Effect to learn more. http://www.stufftoblowyourmind.com/podcasts/shared-false-memories.htm

- Kate's recommendation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWF3YT8sRH8

- Betsy's top recommendation: http://www.missedinhistory.com/podcasts/mamie-till-mobley.htm

-And finally, want to read the book yourself but want someone else to do it for you? Maybe the most fascinating video on the subject. Note the Play-doh version of Sister -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIvRXBsEP1M

- For the full list of show notes, please visit A Fuse #8 Production here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/09/04/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-the-berenstain-bears-and-the-bully-by-stan-and-jan-berenstain/

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://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2017/08/17/solar-eclipse-glasses-cracker-slotted-spoon/575694001/

- The two podcasts that gave us shout outs? First up is The Secrets of Story podcast, created by my very own Matt Bird and his partner-in-crime, YA author and 90-Second Newbery's papa, James Kennedy. https://soundcloud.com/matt-bird-35537727

- The other is the Books Between podcast. Hat tip to Corrina Allen for interviewing me recently. There is a really nice fart noise contest at the end of my episode that I highly recommend. http://www.allthewonders.com/podcasts/betsy-bird-books-between-episode-32/

The link to Goodnight Moon on my Top 100 Picture Book Poll. http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/23/top-100-picture-books-4-goodnight-moon-by-margaret-wise-brown-illustrated-by-clement-moore/

- Answer to The Little House : What book did Virginia Lee Burton create that was ahead of its time? Just prior to writing The Little House, Burton actually attempted to write a book that can only be described as far and away ahead of her time. In the late 30s, early 40s she noticed that her nine-year-old son loved his comic books. The answer? Calico the Wonder Horse; or, The Saga of Stewy Slinker was an honest-to-goodness picture book in a comic-book format. As Minders of Make-Believe puts it, the book was a “gallant though futile gesture.” The Little House was made soon thereafter and got itself a Caldecott Medal in 1943, so there you go.

- Here's a link to the Children's Books Made Horrific take on Goodnight Moon (you'll see why we didn't read it aloud). http://the-toast.net/2015/05/14/childrens-stories-made-horrific-goodnight-moon/

- By the way, want to hear some proof that children's books have a weird relationship to cow udders? Check out this story that got cut out of Wild Things: Acts of Mischief in Children's Literature.

http://wildthings.blaine.org/?p=486

- Controversy #1: http://www.joshuaprager.com/articles/runaway-money/

- Controversy #2: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/17/books/17moon.html?_r=2

- If you would like to read the Ugly Volvo piece of reader's theater just go to All My Issues with the Goodnight Moon Bedroom. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/04/opinion/04karbo.html?ex=1291352400&en=7a28d82e45f39af8&ei=5088

- Grown-Up Things We Like: Kate's volunteer event was The Creative Chicago Reuse Exchange. Feel free to volunteer yourself. https://www.creativechirx.org/

- You can reach us at [email protected].

You can find full show notes for this episode here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/08/28/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-goodnight-moon-by-margaret-wise-brown/

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 find a really super famous one on there that was illustrated by a woman, tell us what it is (at [email protected]). The kind that the average person on the street would know.

- Here's what the Caldecott Award looks like. Three geese and all: http://www.thesilverpen.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Caldecott-Medal.jpg

- Here's the music video Kate and Betsy made for the song Randolph Caldecott in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMIjWQQavcY

- For more information on Big Machines: The Story of Virginia Lee Burton by Sherri Duskey Rinker, ill. John Rocco book (which contains plenty of daisies, and zero sassy suns) go here: http://100scopenotes.com/2017/01/09/exclusive-cover-reveal-big-machines-the-story-of-virgina-lee-burton/

- Here's the Disney short film they made based on the book. Sterling Holloway and all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y881yjtFluQ

- Kate's 12-point To Do List includes the following:

1. Volunteer

2. Give one gift

3. Read a book

4. Workout

5. Take a class

6. Try one new food

7. Do something scary

8. Go to one new place

9. Call or go out with old friend

10. Meditate/go to (church, temple, etc.)

11. Cook one new recipe

12. Save $__.00 at least

- The New York Times article on the death of June Foray: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/27/arts/television/june-foray-prolific-voice-of-rocky-the-flying-squirrel-dies-at-99.html

- Peter Sellers doing Beatles songs sounds interesting, yes? Here are a few examples of what it was Betsy was talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEzJTMf1ZF8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLEMncv140s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAnb1fS1bF0

For complete show notes go to: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/08/21/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-the-little-house-by-virginia-lee-burton/

Be sure to follow us on iTunes and rate our podcast. Direct all questions and inquiries to [email protected].

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 Daughters. Extra Bonus: A member of the Caldecott committee that awarded Steptoe the Honor makes a comment at the end! https://medinger.wordpress.com/2017/08/09/john-steptoes-mufaros-beautiful-daughters/

- Interested in reading the post on my Top 100 Picture Books Poll from 2012? Here's the one I did for Are You My Mother? http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/29/top-100-picture-books-45-are-you-my-mother-by-p-d-eastman/

Make sure you read the entire text of the Mallory Ortberg Are You My Mother? rendered horrific here. http://the-toast.net/2013/11/27/mother/

God, I love Robin Sparkles (though I still think she peaked with "Sandcastles in the Sand"): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY_bhVSGKEg

- Not sure if my description of The Big Sick proved enticing enough? Then read the New Yorker piece Kumail Nanjiani's Culture-Clash Comedy. http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/08/kumail-nanjianis-culture-clash-comedy

- And finally, next time you're in Cleveland, that Christmas Story House really does exist. http://www.achristmasstoryhouse.com/

Full Show Notes can be found at http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/08/14/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-are-you-my-mother-by-p-d-eastman

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 here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2017/08/08/new-fuse-8-n-kate-episode-mufaros-beautiful-daughters-by-john-steptoe/

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.

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.