Two sisters test whether picture book classics hold up.
Sisters Kate and Betsy Bird take one familiar picture book at a time and read it closely enough to argue over a character's motives, a continuity slip in the art, or whether 'irritated' would work better than 'angry' in a read-aloud. The talk is teasing and quick, and the books still get scored.
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Fuse 8 n' Kate gives picture books the full attention a critic would give a novel, then checks whether they deserve it. The two sisters behind it are Kate and Betsy Bird, the Fuse 8 of the title. Each episode takes its title from a single book, and a run of recent ones shows the range: 'Good Dog, Carl', 'Max's Chocolate Chicken', 'The Red Book', 'Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!', 'Snowmen at Night' and 'Alligator Arrived with Apples'. Detail is what gets the conversations going. In 'Good Dog, Carl' the baby dresses the dog in a jar lid and a necklace, a look Carl pulls off, and then falls two stories down a laundry chute. The sisters react with mock alarm and a pointed question about why anyone let the baby near it. 'Max's Chocolate Chicken' becomes an argument about Ruby and why a character so clearly out to win bothers to push Max into competing. One sister thinks Ruby just wants a real contest. The other suggests she wants to see Max cry. 'The Red Book' gets a continuity check: if two children are looking at each other through their books, why is one of those books shown closed? Word choice matters too. With 'Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!' they follow a man's temper as it climbs from angry to really angry to furious with each round of gnawed sprouts. They call that build the thing that makes it a good read-aloud, then debate whether a word like 'irritated' would have taught children more or just been less fun to say. 'Snowmen at Night' gets a mock-serious look at how snowmen would actually race down a sledding hill, plus a tip to search the gaps between them on the racing page for hidden pictures. Around the books there is plenty of sibling nonsense. One episode starts with a string of absurd guesses, running from a number to a tomato to the Constitution, before the question has even been asked. In another, Betsy pats herself on the back and thanks herself by name, playing both sides of the exchange. Scores are part of the format, and the sisters remember them. Kate once tallied the six so-called Thanksgiving books Betsy has handed her since 2017, starting with 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs', and quizzed her on which rated highest. The answer was 'Green Eggs and Ham', with an eight, and Betsy admitted her theme had mostly been food. Letters usually come at the end, though one episode moves a letter to the top. Even the closing credits join in, listing the same person under a new joke title each time, such as 'our good boy' and 'our chocolate chicken'. The jokes do as much work here as the verdicts.
Made for: Suits a listener who knows picture books from reading them aloud and likes hearing familiar ones questioned, teased and scored rather than simply praised.
What sets it apart: It gives well-worn picture books the scrutiny usually saved for adult fiction, arguing over a character's motives or a continuity slip in the art and then putting a score on the book. All of it happens inside the running banter of two sisters.
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 canon of children's literature.Profile image by Andrea Tsurumi
A snowman's sled gets a physics hearing, and you may find yourself taking sides.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A funny, wary picture-book review where Carl's good-dog credentials run into chutes, tanks, and disbelief.
Good Dog, Carl turns a sunny picture-book setup into a wonderfully uneasy question: what is a dog meant to do when a baby keeps drifting into danger?
Ruby wants a real rival, while Max keeps finding better things to do.
The chocolate-chicken hunt turns a simple search into a small study of sibling rivalry, attention, and the fun of getting sidetracked. Kate and Betsy follow Ruby's mounting frustration as she pushes Max to focus, while Max gathers acorns, a blue egg, a spoon, and ants before…
Kate and Betsy turn balloons, mittens, and a red book into a lively look at picture-book continuity.
The Red Book gives Fuse 8 and Kate a sturdy playground for close-looking children's-book criticism, with a comic side-eye tucked in. Kate and Betsy track a child who leaves school, meets a cart vendor with helium balloons, lifts off in a flurry, and drops the red book into a…
A garden siege becomes a funny, attentive look at repetition, escalation, and the pleasure of reading aloud.
A garden under siege turns into a close look at comic escalation. As the sprouts keep getting gnawed, the gardener's anger rises through repeated wording until it reaches full fury, while the hosts trace how repetition, sound, and the rule of three make the book so satisfying to…
A snowman picture book gets a lively close reading of races, hidden images, and snowy little details.
This snowman picture book makes a brisk, playful case for looking closer. The hosts follow a race across the snow, wonder how skaters glide without feet, and consider whether one broad-backed racer might be headed for trouble.
Playful systems for early elementary classrooms.
Accessible story time, one theme at a time.
An author shares her experience presenting her children's book at two schools, including a critical error in showing a secretary bird and a weasel.
Kate and Fuse 8 discuss Edward Gorey's macabre alphabet book 'The Gashlycrumb Tinies' for Halloween.
Kate and Betsy discuss their writing weekend and introduce special guests for a children's book review episode.
Betsy Byrd and Kate Etienza revisit Alexandra Day's Good Dog, Carl, a 1985 picture book published through Green Tiger Press and later FSG.
Fuse 8 n' Kate spend most of the episode on Rosemary Wells's Max's Chocolate Chicken, a Max and Ruby Easter hunt built around a chocolate chicken prize.
Fuse 8 'n Kate reviews Barbara Lehman's 2004 wordless picture book The Red Book, which carries a Caldecott Honor sticker and begins with a child finding a red book in a snowdrift.
Fuse 8 n' Kate Episode 402 centers on Muncha!
Fuse 8 n' Kate reviews Carolyn Bunner and Mark Bunner's 2002 picture book Snowmen at Night, built around a boy who wonders what snowmen do after dark.
Two sisters discuss their history of reviewing Thanksgiving-themed children's books over eight years of podcasting.
An author shares her experience presenting her children's book at two schools, including audience reactions and a critical error in showing animal pictures.