Fuse 8 N' Kate

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

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.

In this episode, Betsy tries as hard as she can to find a book that she and Kate can safely disagree on. Things don't go according to plan, though there are plenty of instances of the word "Penis!" being yelled at inopportune moments. Score Thus Far: Betsy: 0 Kate: 0 Maurice Sendak: 1

In celebration of Pride Month, Kate and Betsy tackle the most famous same-sex picture book of all time. How has Heather fared over the years? Does it stand up? Has it become horrendously dated? The sisters hash it out, get a little surprised, and end up drinking rainbow-colored vodka (this is true).

Is Tikki Tikki Tembo the horribly offensive book it seems to be, or a classic worthy of love and adulation? For this first episode Betsy and Kate take a close, very very close, look at Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent's best known work.