Fuse 8 n' Kate
ລາຍລະອຽດຊ່ອງທາງ
Fuse 8 n' Kate
Two sisters, one in L.A. and one in NYC, both move to the Chicago area and start a podcast. The premise? Picture books and are they really that great? Join Kate and Fuse 8 (Betsy Bird) as they track down a picture book "classic" each episode and try to determine if it deserves to remain in the cano...
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422 ຕອນ
Episode 421 - The Adventures of Sparrowboy
Suggested alternate title for this text: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.
Our very first Brian Pinkney! Are you surprised? So am I, quite f...
Episode 420 - Bedhead
"Distinctive and it always looks like this." That's Betsy discussing the artistic stylings of Jack E. Davis. Published in 2000, this book is pretty qu...
Episode 419 - In a People House
Upon hearing that Jon Klassen was hugely affected by this book as a kid (fascinating when you consider how opposite it is from his latest title The Ho...
Episode 418 - Grandfather Twilight
Dreamlike and surreal, it may not be as well remembered as some of the other 1980s picture books that typify the era (particularly those written by Ch...
Episode 417 - Library Lion
When you've worked for a system quite as large and vast as New York Public Library, it can be difficult to ascertain scope. Was Library Lion the massi...
Episode 416 - Andy and the Lion
This week Kate and Betsy take a trip back in time to 1938. We were trepidatious, and can you blame us? Considering the era and the fact that James Dau...
Episode 415 - Madlenka
"The text placing is NOT conventional!" Fresh off the 2026 American Library Association we're happy to discuss our very first Peter Sis title. We're g...
Episode 414 - Juneteenth Jamboree
Sure, we missed it by a couple days, but it's never too late to lift a glass in honor of Juneteenth. Betsy was determined to figure out what the very...
Episode 413 - Frog and Toad Together
It's PRIDE MONTH!!! And we've done many a fine LGBTQIA+ book during the year. But this book series, while not considered queer during its initial publ...
Episode 412 - Sheep in a Jeep and Sheep in a Shop
Rambunctious? Bumbling? It's hard to typify the sheep in this Nancy Shaw series (though their publisher has certainly tried over the years). The darli...
Episode 411 - Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy
"I don't hate THESE rhymes!" It's a return to New Zealand today with a local classic that has long eluded our particular podcast. Will the little blac...
Episode 410 - The Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll & the Broom Handle and Who Was in It
Episode 410 - The Wedding Procession of the Rag Doll & the Broom Handle and Who Was in It by Betsy Bird and Kate Atienza
Episode 409 - Princess Smartypants
Betsy promised Kate that they'd do a British picture book today in celebration of Kate's recent trip to the fair British Isles. It had occurred to Bet...
Episode 408 - Uncle Andy's
So folks ask me to do more nonfiction on this podcast, and while I admit that it is a bit of a stretch to call today's book pure nonfiction, I at leas...
Episode 407 - Doña Flor
As it turns out, this is the second time we've done a Pat Mora/Raul Colón collaboration. With this book, though, we delve into a moment in children's...
Episode 406 - Possum Magic
It's time to bring out the big guns. The big... Australian guns, that is. The last time we did a Mem Fox title on this podcast it had to have been Whe...
Episode 405 - Good Dog, Carl
"I would trust my baby with Amelia Bedelia before I trusted it with Carl."
"Well... she does have opposable thumbs."
Poor K...
Episode 404 - Max's Chocolate Chicken
After Passover, before Tax Day, the holiday Betsy decided to discuss today is Easter! Now Kate already met Max and Ruby back in September of 2025 with...
Episode 403 - The Red Book
We return to the wordless and spare once more. Lehman's Caldecott Honor winning title is an exercise in restraint. And since Kate is extra tired these...
Episode 402 - Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!
“Hubris, Kate. He suffers from hubris!” We’re on the cusp of spring, so full credit to Eric Carpenter for pointing out to us how egregious a gap we’ve...
Episode 401 - Snowmen at Night
I know you're all desperate for spring out there, but winter's not done with you yet! With that in mind, we tackle what may well be the most famous sn...
Episode 400 - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Can you believe it! Can this really be happening? It has taken years but at long last Kate and Betsy have hit their 400th episode of our podcast Fuse...
Episode 399 - Honey, I Love
In a dual celebration of Black History Month and Valentine's Day, Betsy figured the logical connection came in the form of Eloise Greenfield's Honey I...
Episode 398 - Not a Box
Poor Betsy had a bit of a mix-up.
In her defense, she had her reasons. Anyone who is familiar with the Children's Literature Association...
Episode 397 - Flotsam
At last! We finally pounce upon the third and final David Wiesner Caldecott Award winning title! Having already covered Tuesday and The Three Pigs (wh...
Episode 396 - Moo, Baa, La La La!
Initially, this was supposed to be an entirely different episode altogether. I had somehow managed to convince myself that we hadn't done The Three Pi...
Episode 395 - Caldecott Contenders
Every year, Kate and Betsy do one Caldecott prediction post for their podcast. Betsy hands over THREE books that she thinks are contenders. Then the t...
Episode 394 - Martin's Big Words
In preparation for the upcoming holiday (on Monday) we are FINALLY tackling what I (spoiler alert) consider to be the one, the only, the BEST book on...
Episode 393 - Ten Mice for Tet
Happy New Year! We start 2026 off with a puzzle: How can four people all work on the same picture book at the same time? And why? What's the process,...
Episode 392 - The Trees of the Dancing Goats
It's a Christmas book! It's a Hanukkah book! It's a Christmas AND a Hanukkah book! And a Patricia Polacco book as well. She's back, baby. Will Kate be...
Episode 391 - The Twelve Days of Christmas
On the first day of my podcast my true love gave to me... Jan Brett!
Yes, we're in the thick of the holiday season now, and what better w...
Episode 390 - Terrific
Having spent ample time in the presence of Jon Agee himself at The Rabbit hOle at the recent Tomi Ungerer Symposium, Betsy determined that we hadn't a...
Episode - The Borrowed Hanukkah Latkes
For the first time we are simultaneously recording alongside another podcast. The podcast in question? The Book of Life, which has been in existence f...
Episode 388 - Alligator Arrived with Apples
Oh. Full credit goes to children's book creator Ursula Murray Husted for today's find. You know, we've done a lot of feast-adjacent picture books in c...
Episode 387 - On the Night You Were Born
New General Rule: When a celebrity promotes an already existing picture book, it is rarely a good thing. I am thinking, naturally, of the episode of F...
Episode 386 - Arlene Sardine
We don't play this up much, but this actually marks the first appearance of Chris Raschka on our podcast. And WHATTA debut! This taps into my love of...
Episode 385 - The Hallo-Wiener
What is the most loathed trope in picturebookdom to date? Some might say it's the everyone-forgot-my-birthday plot but we have something even worse in...
Episode 384 - What Was I Scared Of_
Anyone who has ever picked up a copy of The Sneetches for their children has probably discovered that The Sneetches does not stand alone. Indeed, it a...
Episode 383 - Big Pumpkin
As Halloween creeps ever closer (and the weather begins to resemble something somewhat autumnal) we continue to seek out potential seasonal classics f...
Episode 382 - The Gashlycrumb Tinies
Kicking off October with Edward Gorey just seems obvious at this point in time. After all, since he died 25 years ago, there are a lot of celebrations...