Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith

“Nobody wants your bunny snot cake, buddy.”
We’d done The Stinky Cheese Man on our podcast, but that still left a great big wolf-shaped hole in our canon. Time for Scieszka/Smith Part 2: Electric Boogaloo. In this episode Kate decides to take the Wolf at his word and, as you might expect, we find some holes in his defense. This guy would never be able to hold it together if my sister cross-examined him on the stand. As you might imagine, we have a lot of fun with this one.
Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, PlayerFM, or your preferred method of podcast selection.
Show Notes:
I just think Binge Boxes are a neat concept. If you’d like to see them in action, check out this posting from the Marion County Public Library System.
The more we consider this two-page spread, the more disturbed we become. Riddle us this: Why is the splattered if this is what the bowl looks like?


I just like that Kate is baffled by how the bow-tie gets back on that neck.

I also love that Kate is interrogating what the wolf says happened in the situation. This is the telling detail. Makes me feel like I’m watching 12 Angry Men.

It’s like Lane Smith found the saddest tragedies and cut them up for the fake newspaper here.

Kate pointed out that in this library copy of the book, some kid has written the word “Bum” under the Wolf’s final plea. There is so much to pick about with that!
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For the record, if you want a killer authentic version of The Three Little Pigs (though it cuts out the weird apple picking/fair going parts) try reading Yummy! by Lucy Cousins. I love that book so much!

I didn’t mention it, but I just love this Sesame Street version of the story. Maybe that’s just because I’m a House of Cards fan, though.
Well I don’t know about you but I’M scarred for life!

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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