Fuse 8 n' Kate

Mother's Day isn't exactly around the corner, but this episode is basically Kate and Betsy's present to their mom. She's been bugging them to do this particular book for ages. Certainly that Caldecott Honor in the corner of the cover gives it the necessary picture book classics cred.

Show Notes:

- Want to see one of Paul's ties? Watch Betsy interview him in . . . um . . . quite the outfit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B31N56s7lFo

- For more info on Rumpelstiltskin from Paul's p.o.v. check out this interview on SLJ: https://www.slj.com/2012/11/interviews/interview-caldecott-medal-and-honor-winner-paul-o-zelinsky-talks-with-slj/#_

- And don't forget to vote on the 100 Best Board Books Poll! http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/03/28/announcing-the-top-100-board-books-poll/

- For full Show Notes please visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/04/16/fuse-8-n-kate-rumpelstiltskin-by-paul-o-zelinsky

"50% of this book is just depressed donkeys."

In lieu of Shrek, Betsy and Kate go with what is arguably the second most famous Steig picture book out there. You know. The one chock full of sadness and woe. Along the way they tackle grammar, fetlocks, sitting on children, and donkey boulders. Lots and lots of donkey boulders.

Show Notes:

- For more on Betsy's hatred of knitting needles that stick straight up, be sure to check out her previous blog post The Scourge of Upside Down Knitting: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2014/07/17/the-scourge-of-upside-down-knitting/

- Sylvester came in at #55 on the old Picture Book Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/25/top-100-picture-books-55-sylvester-and-the-magic-pebble-by-william-steig/

- For the full Show Notes, please visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/04/09/fuse-8-n-kate-sylvester-and-the-magic-pebble-by-william-steig

Kate and Betsy celebrate their episode yet! Both had a LOT to say about this book and along the way they learn some very important lessons about themselves. Like the fact that someone with a retainer may have a very hard time saying the words "pacifist" and "pacifism". Let's all say "passive pacifism" together now three times fast!

Show Notes:

- We able to find the Ferdinand balloon! In Wired Magazine you can find a piece called Amazing Old Pics of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with lots of amazing images: https://www.wired.com/2013/11/the-macys-thanksgiving-parade-was-way-cooler-in-black-and-white/

-- Here's the 1938 Disney short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN62cxSs5Q8

- Here's the popular song about Ferdinand as sung, in this particular case, by The Lennon Sisters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Q1KmGMsLsk

- And here was the most recent iteration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBXVM7oUPVk

- On the picture book poll it showed up as #17: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/14/top-100-picture-books-17-the-story-of-ferdinand-by-munro-leaf-illustrated-by-robert-lawson

- Yay! Here's the Bottom Shelf Books take on Ferdinand and mortality. Go, Minh Le, go! http://www.bottomshelfbooks.com/2007/08/story-of-ferdinand.html

- Confused about what Betsy meant about the Caldecott Award winning book They Were Strong and Good being racist? No one ever summarized the situation better than Peter Sieruta at Collecting Children's Books: http://collectingchildrensbooks.blogspot.com/2009/04/they-were-strong-and-good-enough-for.html

-Kate mentioned the podcast Armchair Expert so check it out: https://armchairexpertpod.com/

- Want to see the full Show Notes? Just go to: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/03/26/fuse-8-n-kate-the-story-of-ferdinand-by-munro-leaf-robert-lawson

This week Betsy and Kate face down their greatest threat yet: Laptop snafus. This episode marks one of the rare instances where the laptop stopped recording the show right before the end of the podcast. Ah well. This particular week the duo takes on Crockett Johnson's best known work (sorry, Carrot Seed) and comes up with everything from arboreal semantics to Ursula Nordstrom as a hard knocks dame to . . . well . . . Genesis.

Show Notes:

- What truly was Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings? Behold!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyrDS1UvCG8

- Here is what we do believe is the earliest Harold short created. It. Is. Charming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKhKyZgafU4

- And here is the HBO television show. You will note that everything Harold draws can move. This aligns the new Harold closer to Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings more than anything else: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mq4KbIkqpQ

- Here's the Glam Rock Opera version. Very catchy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYc-k6MjS-M

- Here is where the book showed up on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/14/top-100-childrens-novels-16-harold-and-the-purple-crayon-by-crockett-johnson/" target="_blank

- For the complete Show Notes please visit the following: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/03/19/fuse-8-n-kate-harold-and-the-purple-crayon-by-p-d-eastman/

Our latest podcast marks a first. Yes what we have here is the first time that Betsy has ever discovered that she's been mispronouncing the title of a popular children's book for years and years and years. You might ask yourself, "How the heck do you mispronounce P.D. Eastman's most classic book?" It's all in the punctuation. In fact, we doubt anyone has ever picked apart the punctuation of this book as intensely as Kate and Betsy do on this episode. As it turns out, the female hat-wearing dog's use or lack of use when it comes to exclamation points practically warrants a conspiracy theory in and of itself.

Show Notes:

- After looking at this particular video of the show, Betsy is pretty sure the one she saw was just a case of poor direction. This looks MUCH livelier! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_To7faUGBI

- Be sure to check out the full text of The Ugly Volvo's An Open Letter to the Female Hat-Wearing Dog From "Go, Dog, Go". http://www.theuglyvolvo.com/an-open-letter-to-the-female-hat-wearing-dog-from-go-dog-go/

- Here's the book coming in at #28 on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/06/05/top-100-childrens-novels-28-go-dog-go-by-p-d-eastman/

- For a complete listing of Show Notes please go to: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/03/12/fuse-8-n-kate-go-dog-go-by-p-d-eastman/

After delving so deeply into problematic picture books in February, Kate and I deserve a bit of a rest. And what, I ask, could be more restful than carnivorous animals devouring small boys? Particularly when said lions are the product of the inimitable and never imitated Maurice Sendak. This marks Sendak's third appearance on the podcast, and the first time he's shown up with a book that wasn't associated with the Wild Things/In the Night Kitchen/Outside Over There triumvirate. In the course of things we uncover a conspiracy that involves Pierre's parents and the lion. I mean, this thing goes all the way to the top! We also debate whether or not the doctor is a vet or not. Feel free to chime in with thoughts on the matter.

Show Notes:

- Andrea won't take money from us for this, but she does suggest the charity Everytown for Gun Safety so in addition to that, I figured I'd promote it here: https://everytown.org/

- I kind of want to list all the Home Invasion By Felines books out there. This. The Cat in the Hat. The Tiger Who Came to Tea. There must be more.

- Here's the video where Kate saw Pierre pirouette so sublimely into the yawning gap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToVHzUDYJgU

- And here's Amanda Palmer performing the self-same song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE6UOHJcyjE

-Here's the book coming out later this year that I mentioned. It is actually called I Just Ate My Friend. Part of a long tradition of picture books in which the protagonist gets eaten: http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/I-Just-Ate-My-Friend/Heidi-McKinnon/9781534410329

- For the full Show Notes please visit us at: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/03/06/fuse-8-n-kate-pierre-by-maurice-sendak

Not content to examine just Curious George and The Story of Babar, Kate and Betsy round out their look at colonial children's literature with a rather more serious examination of Helen Bannerman's Little Black Sambo. Not content to consider a single version, while their primary focus will be the Christopher Bing edition, with the original Helen Bannerman text, extensive consideration is given to the Julius Lester / Jerry Pinkney book Sam and the Tigers, with additional thoughts on The Story of Little Babaji with art by Fred Marcellino.

Show Notes:

- Here is the New York Times review of the play Spinning Into Butter: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/20/nyregion/theater-review-spinning-into-butter-raises-questions-without-answers.html

- This is the Emily Nussbaum review that made Betsy want to be a better reviewer: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/26/how-to-make-a-weepy-family-drama

- For the full Show Notes please visit http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/02/26/fuse-8-n-kate-the-story-of-little-black-sambo-by-helen-bannerman/

Our theme of problematic picture books that deal indirectly with colonialism continue with this natural companion to Curious George. Today's book is notable if only because it is the first "classic" Betsy and Kate have discussed that Betsy read as a child. Will that make her more inclined to like the book or not? You'll just have to see.

Prepare for a heartfelt discussion about Blast From the Past, the Babadook, the difference between bowler and derby hats, and the ultimate lesson in retail therapy: "You want to deal with your mom's death? Buy yourself some spats!"

Show Notes:

- A link to the interview with Jean de Brunhoff's son in the Wall Street Journal. Babar the Elephant Takes His Final Bow: https://www.wsj.com/articles/babar-the-elephant-takes-his-final-bow-1511560164

- Should We Burn Babar? Here's the Kirkus review that didn't find the book all that keen: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/herbert-kohl/should-we-burn-babar/

- Leslie Jones can be found here on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/lesdogggg/?hl=en

- And I believe this was the Buzzfeed article Kate referred to. It's called Right Now the Only Thing I Care About Is Olympic Skater Adam Rippon's Tweets : https://www.buzzfeed.com/samstryker/adam-rippon-twitter?utm_term=.ym4xwvmgD#.ly1aJb5Z2

You can find the complete set of Show Notes at Betsy's blog here: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/02/19/fuse-8-n-kate-the-story-of-babar-the-little-elephant-by-jean-de-brunhoff/

About two weeks ago Kate and Betsy recorded a killer episode where they discussed the classic status (or lack thereof) of Curious George. Naturally, the computer ate the whole dang thing. This week they try it again. Kate’s already read the book so they're changing things up a little. Together, they get to use the phrase, “predicated on a lie”, discuss Zul’s hair, 1940s sailor twerking, and the ultimate lesson that white men get to do anything they want. Interestingly it makes for a much more succinct episode.

Show Notes:

- The real Betsy Bird: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pjU_WuA7pY

- Where George showed up on the Top 100 Picture Books Poll: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/05/29/top-100-picture-books-41-curious-george-by-h-a-rey/

-Werner Herzog reads Curious George: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T8y5EPv6Y8

- And for the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/02/12/fuse-8-n-kate-curious-george-by-margret-and-h-a-rey/

We're so excited! Kate and Betsy take a little break from their usual schtick this week because a week from today is the most exciting day of the year. You know the one we mean. It's a week until the ALA Youth Media Awards where they'll be announcing the Newbery and Caldecott Awards!!! To celebrate, Kate and Betsy find three top contenders for this year's Medal. Three top contenders that all feature light blue skies on their covers, apparently.

Show Notes:

- The link to the live feed of the ALA Youth Media Awards on Monday, February 12th can be found here: http://ala.unikron.com/2018/index_home.php

- The hashtag for the Awards on Twitter will be #alayma

-If you would like to see the full Show Notes for this episode, just go to: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2018/02/05/fuse-8-n-kate-super-special-caldecott-contender-edition/