On today’s podcast spend an inordinate amount of time saying “Lord Cucuface”, discuss “the happiness of a father of a husband”, and tackle why the ending of this book bugs me in the same way that the ending of the movie of The Wizard of Oz does.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Tailypo by Joanna Galdone, ill. Paul Galdone
October 26, 2020 by
“Well, THAT didn’t end how I thought it would!” I save the spookiest book for last this month, and I think I knocked it out of the park. What better than to end the month on a book that involves honest-to-goodness MURDER?
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg
October 19, 2020 by
Every year I have to come up with spooky classic picture books, and today’s was a recommendation from one of our fans (that would be our mom). It’s less spooky than it is autumnal, but that’s okay.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Special Guest Christian McKay Heidicker and The Spooky Old Tree by the Berenstains
October 12, 2020 by
When I heard that Newbery Honor winner Christian McKay Heidicker considered Spooky Old Tree a seminal text, I not only knew what our next book was going to be, I knew exactly who should be our next guest!
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Island of the Skog by Steven Kellogg
October 4, 2020 by
It’s October so that means spooky season has officially begun! I introduce Kate to one of my favorite eerie classics. It’s pure unfiltered Steven Kellogg. Let’s see what she makes of him.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach (with Special Guest Erica S. Perl)
September 28, 2020 by
“Some days you’re the girl in the soup and some days you’re the chicken under the chair.” Special guest Erica S. Perl joins us this Yom Kippur to discuss what should be considered the official picture book of 2020.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman
September 21, 2020 by
This week, Kate delves real deep into the marital status of dear Mr. and Mrs. Bird here (including Mr. Bird’s “extracurricular activities”, if you get my gist). We discuss how this is like a “very small version of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds” (their reign of terror is swift and tiny). We wonder about color layering, and we get to sing the “Toldja So” song.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson & Ryan Elizabeth Peete, ill. Shane W. Evans
September 14, 2020 by
I can say with complete confidence that this was the first picture book about a Black kid on the autism spectrum I had ever seen when the book was first published in 2010. Recently Kate saw a list from Black Education Matters listing several books that featured Black children with disabilities and she asked if any were possible for our podcast. And lo and behold, we found one,
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Simms Taback
September 7, 2020 by
This old lady may be devouring the local flora and fauna at a prodigious rate, but SHE HAS A PLAN! At least we think she does. We cover a book that celebrates that classic elderly ability to unhinge your jaw.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee
August 31, 2020 by
Kate hates clowns. Naturally, that meant I had to find her the sweetest wordless clown picture book ever created. The results? Let’s just say she doesn’t have a clown conversion in the course of this show.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae, ill. Guy Parker-Rees
August 17, 2020 by
I wanted to do a little something different with today’s selection for my podcast. Today’s book has been on Publisher Weekly’s top selling picture book list for 240+ weeks. Even so, it is not a household name here in America by any stretch of the imagination. I’d been seeing its name on these bestseller lists […]
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Imogene’s Antlers by David Small
August 10, 2020 by
On this week’s show 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.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Chato and the Party Animals by Gary Soto, ill. Susan Guevara
August 3, 2020 by
When we consider classic Latinx picture books that would qualify as #ownvoices, only a few have been covered on this show. Today’s book seeks to add to the canon of children’s literature.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco
July 27, 2020 by
Between its shiny Sydney Taylor Book Award on its cover and a storyline that has aged magnificently over the last 32 years, Kate and I discuss one of Patricia Polacco’s best known works.
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
July 20, 2020 by
Today Kate and I dig deep into a book that certainly contains the world’s most short-sighted escape plan. The Great Escape, this is not.
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