Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

After one of our listeners made the point that the bulk of books we’ve done on our podcast have been illustrated by male artists I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to increase the number of women we read. And WHAT book, I ask you, could have more classic potential than Barbara Cooney’s best known? We talk invasive species, seed bombing, how nice it is to read a book that doesn’t call a single woman a spinster, and why it is that Maine loves its children’s book creators more than any other state.

Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, PlayerFM, or your preferred method of podcast selection.

Show Notes:

St. Nicholas. Patron saint of children (makes sense), sailors (huh?), and maidens . . . .

. . . . What?

Doll or girl? You decide. The choice is up to you.

The longer we stare at this map, the stranger it becomes.

How COVID appropriate is this? Miss Rumphius, wishing she could take a trip overseas, goes in the winter to a local conservatory and says “This is almost like a tropical isle… But not quite.” Never were truer words spoken.

We’re trying to figure out the economics of this. Could a woman on a librarian salary travel the world and then purchase a house on the sea like this in late 19th, early 20th century? We’re thinking there’s an inheritance at work here.

Curious about the Lupine Award? You can see the full list of winners here!

Huzzah! Here is Dennis Moore! The highwayman who only steals lupines.

And here’s Kate’s Tabletop recommendation, Tokaido. In the course of things she mentions this Will Wheaton show:

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