Episode 147 - Chato and the Party Animals

08/03/20 • 29 min

When we consider classic Latinx picture books that would qualify as #ownvoices, only a few have been covered on this show. I mean, sure we did Pura Belpre's Perez and Martina a while ago, but let's get a little more contemporary, eh? Today's book premiered in 2000, which means it just barely squeezes in under the 20 year rule for inclusion. Now, granted, we probably should have started with the first book in the series, Chato's Kitchen. The only problem with that is (A) It's not as good and (B) Betsy couldn't find it on the library shelf and grabbed this instead. Eh. That's okay. Show Notes: Susan Guevara's vision for this book goes far and beyond anything Soto could have included in the text. Her interpretation covers a wide swath of influences and references, making it one of the most interesting picture book reads out there. Read the transcript of her interview or listen to it on Teachingbooks.net here: https://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=11932&a=1 If you'd like to read Gary Soto's essay "Why I Don't Write Children's Literature", you can find it here: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/38019 If you'd like to see the Spanish version of the Weston Woods video of this book, you can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vix5GUph2JY For the full Show Notes, please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/08/03/fuse-8-n-kate-chato-and-the-party-animals-by-gary-soto-ill-susan-guevara/

Previous Episode

Episode 146 - The Keeping Quilt

A lot of this show consists of Betsy thinking up an author (say, Patricia Polacco) then saying to herself "What's their most famous book?" In the case of Ms. Polacco, she was a bit stumped. This book was definitely in the top five, and she figured it would make for an interesting choice. Particularly since its shiny Sydney Taylor Award on the cover was intriguing. With its 1988 pub date, there's still a lot to really enjoy about this title. It's aged nicely, and ties in well with stories like Jacqueline Woodson's Show Way or Papa Had a Little Overcoat, even. Show Notes: I'm not kidding about the fact that Polacco went to school with Frank Oz and babysat Tom Hanks. Read all about it here: https://lifechums.wordpress.com/tag/tom-hanks/ If you would like to see the additional pages that Patricia Polacco made for the 25th anniversary edition of this book, take a gander at this video by the Mazza Museum. Our sole objection to this vid is that you never get a good close look at the quilt itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIHG0vLoyjk Want to see the full Show Notes? Then join us at : http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/07/27/fuse-8-n-kate-the-keeping-quilt-by-patricia-polacco/

Next Episode

Episode 148 - Imogene's Antlers

While this may not be the first time we've ever covered an illustrator that I've collaborated with (remember when we discussed Dan Santat and After the Fall?) this is one of the few cases where we've done a collaborator of mine who has an honest-to-goodness classicky classic. 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. As I say on the show, "Imogene's most defining quality is her lack of freaking out over pretty much anything. This is a real go-with-the-flow kind of kid." Show Notes: The blog Don't Read This to My Kids has many thoughts on the book and they're worth reading here: http://www.drttmk.com/books/imogenes-antlers This Imogene Halloween costume is brilliant. Two thumbs up! And it comes from the post Five Super Simple Halloween Costumes from the blog This Picture Book Life: http://thispicturebooklife.com/super-simple-picture-book-halloween-costumes/ For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/08/10/fuse-8-n-kate-imogenes-antlers-by-david-small/