Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi
This week we decided that scatological was the way to go. And so, we are pleased to announce that this is honestly the first Nonfiction picture book we’ve done on the show. Thinking about it, this may well be the most famous Nonfiction picture book in America. I’d be interested in hearing your alternative suggestions. We get to talk about all SORTS of stuff too. Square wombat poop. Poor printing jobs on the book. And then there’s that mystery animal that we simply could not identify. We might need your help on that one. I also come up with a theory about why adults that watch untold gobs of children’s visual entertainment (not including books) are prone to conspiracy theories.
Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or your preferred method of podcast selection.
Source Notes:
– Check out Taro Gomi’s website here. It’s worth a gander to see what Japan’s top author/illustrator does on his own website.
– Why a raccoon? Seriously. Why?
– Whale poo. Bit of a tease.
– And this is my own personal association with whale poop.
– Is this quantity normal for a rabbit? Neither of us ever owned one so this might be the norm for all we know.
– What IS this mystery animal?!?
– A textbook poor printing job
– Well done, Kirkus Reviews! Best professional review of this book to this day.
– Here in America, very few people know the British import, The Story of the Little Mole Who Knew It Was None of His Business.
– So listener Josh reported this Daniel Tiger Conspiracy Theory to me and I just have to print it in full. Why read? It involves Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch of the West, from The Wizard of Oz.
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“Ok, so my daughter is two and she watches DTN all the time, so I was looking up some connections between Mr Rogers and DT, and I think I found the biggest one yet… it’s almost so weird that you might think it’s fake, but everything below is true lol…
You may have known that Margaret Hamilton, the actress who played the Wicked Witch of the West, came onto an episode to talk to Mr Rogers so that the children watching could see she was nice in real life and was only playing a part in the movie. There are clips of that interview/episode on YouTube.
What many don’t know is that she plays a recurring character after that in following episodes within the Land of Make Believe whom they (eventually) referred to as Margaret the Witch.
She has a convoluted backstory— she’s an old college friend of King Friday XIII and is originally literally a lizard puppet going by the name Princess Margaret H. Lizard. With her magic, she transforms from the puppet in a later episode to the actual human Margaret Hamilton. Soon afterward, she changes one more time to become Princess Margaret H. Witch. Like I said, it’s a little convoluted.
Margaret H. Witch would come by and help out the puppet characters— an in one episode, she gave them the chance to look into her crystal ball and see the future… here’s where things get interesting, because as we know, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood IS the future of that Land of Make Believe.
She allows Daniel Striped Tiger to look into her crystal ball and see that Daniel will marry a girl tiger he knows by the name of Collette. Since we know Daniel Striped Tiger is married by the time of DTN, we can safely assume Mom Tiger’s real name is Collette.
Further— and this is just guesswork— but can it really be just random chance that Daniel Striped and Collette name their first daughter Margaret? It seems to me that a witch foretells their future marriage, and years later their daughter is named after that very witch…
Next I need to figure out what happened to O the Owl’s parents, lol.”
Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.
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I think the mystery animal is a tanuki, also known as a Japanese raccoon dog. They’re a well-known animal in Japan, the picture matches images of them online, and the behavior fits – a Zoo Atlanta post from 2016 notes that the zoo’s tanuki poop in the same place every day: https://www.facebook.com/ZooATL/posts/10153850323143553
Thank you, Catherine! Why is this animal not better known in the States? The world must know.
I asked my wife, who is a fount of nature facts (and a lover of this book), and she immediately said “It’s a raccoon dog.” Sure enough: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raccoon_dog (nothing in that article on its pooping habits, though).
Should have done a bit more googling. From this article on various animals’ pooping habits: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150513-these-animals-use-public-toilets
“Many other group-living carnivores use shared latrines. Hyenas scent-mark their territories with communal latrines, as do raccoon dogs and some marsupial carnivores, such as tiger quolls.”
Sir, I ask you to thank your wife sincerely. This question was burning a hole in our souls. Now I must learn more about this raccoon dog type creature. This is entirely a new one on me.
What’s more, it can turn into a teapot and grant wishes! I’ve read about this animal in books of Japanese folklore, but I didn’t know they were real!
I refuse to be impressed until it makes julienne fries three different ways.
Badgers also use “latrines” to poop (or poo). Who knew? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/18/badger-toilet-latrine-dung