Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Day the Cow Sneezed by James Flora

We haven’t done a cult classic picture book in a while. Really, the ultimate compliment any book can receive from its fans is that their love allows it to see life once more, decades after publication. This was one of the rare titles from the 1950s republished by the publisher Enchanted Lion. I’ve always been a big fan of this book, but as we have learned time and time again, just because I like something, that is NO indication that Kate will as well.

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:

Here is the link to the James Flora archives in the Kerlan Collection, should you wish to see them firsthand.

Kate has deemed this sun insufficiently “sassy”. That brings our score now to Virginia Lee Burton: 1, James Flora: 0.

I hereby declare Kate the Queen of the Continuity Error Catch. Behold! In the first picture a steamroller has knocked a statue right off its feet. But in the second picture the feet seem to have mysteriously reappeared. How tis possible?

This is a PSA from your friendly neighborhood librarian. Please, parents, teachers, librarians, and booksellers, if you remember nothing else from this post, please remember that it will be far funnier when you read this book aloud to say the word “TINKLE” in a deep Darth Vader-esque voice.

Lion: I’ve seen things, man. I’ve seen things.

Both Kate and I find this to be the most disturbing image in the book. See if you can figure out why.

Science schmience. Who says ALL octopuses have eight legs?

My pet theory about this chicken is that at some point Flora just couldn’t bring himself to fill in even one more character.

This elephant may be the only animal in this book sufficiently aware that its long nightmare is finally over.

Curious about Flora’s album cover art? You can see a whole slew of it here. Of the albums you’ll find, this one has got to be the one with the best title:

And if, by any chance you’re interested in seeing my library’s community cookbook, you can find the link here. For your viewing pleasure I am presenting to you the cover. Full credit to Junko Yokota for that magnificent shot of a sourdough starter.

Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate