Episode 148 - Imogene's Antlers

08/10/20 • 27 min

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/

Previous Episode

Episode 147 - Chato and the Party Animals

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/

Next Episode

Episode 149 - Giraffes Can't Dance

Today's book has been on Publisher Weekly's top selling picture book list for 240+ weeks. Even so, it is not a household name here in America by any stretch of the imagination. Betsy had been seeing its name on the bestseller lists for years, so she finally decided to bite the bullet and hand the title over to Kate. What results is speculation as to whether or not Gerald is dancing to dubstep (complete with dubstep imitation), notes the fact that Gerald is followed by bugs and turtles everywhere he goes, a new tattoo contender, and more. For the full Show Notes please visit: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2020/08/17/fuse-8-n-kate-giraffes-cant-dance-by-giles-andreae-ill-guy-parker-rees/