Fuse 8 n' Kate
Kanalaren Xehetasunak
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...
Atal Berriak
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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...
Episode 381 - Stephanie's Ponytail
In the news recently were news articles about the diseases that Canadian picture book creator Robert Munsch is facing at the moment. Inspired, we thou...
Episode 380 - Fancy Nancy
Going into this episode,Betsy had a lot on her mind. Fancy Nancy is one of those rare 21st century characters with a legitimate shot at picture book c...
Episode 379 - Max's Dragon Shirt
This is our 379th episode. We've done 378 until now and not one, not one SINGLE title, has been a Rosemary Wells book. Strange? You bet. Well, today t...
Episode 378 - Daddy is a Monster...Sometimes
Betsy doesn't know why people don't talk more about this book. While John Steptoe is well-known for Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters and, to a lesser exte...
Episode 377 - Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me
This is going to strike you as a little strange. Lord knows it wasn't something we noticed. So... you know how we've done 376 episodes of this podcast...
Episode 376 - A Birthday for Frances
Dear lord. If Betsy thought she was about to give Kate a lovely birthday present with today's recording, then she was SORELY disabused of that notion...
Episode 375 - Crictor
In honor of Tomi Ungerer and the current Three Robbers exhibit at The Rabbit Hole going on right now (to say nothing of their upcoming symposium celeb...
Episode 374 - Traction Man is Here!
As American-born sisters, neither Kate nor Betsy grew up knowing who Action Man was or what his life entailed. None of that has stopped us from truly...
Episode 373 - Come On, Rain!
This week Kate challenged Betsy to come up with a summer book to do on the podcast. And sadly, the book Betsy initially came up with was originally pu...
Episode 372 - Duck on a Bike
A Quick Note: At the beginning of this week's podcast Kate's microphone went out and only recorded Betsy instead. So Kate starts off strong, then she'...