Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold

If for nothing else, you should listen to Kate’s story at the beginning of this episode because it is the craziest dang thing I’ve heard in a while. A truly great tale.

Now last week Kate challenged me to do something in honor of Black History Month. So I dove deep into the Coretta Scott King winners of the past and discovered a gaping hole in our roster. How we hadn’t done this book already is beyond me. I’m a little embarrassed, but at least we got to it today. I think a book that takes place in the steaming hot days of a NYC summer is precisely what we need in these dreary February. Bonus: I finally gave Kate a story that makes sense, has color, and doesn’t contain 500 words per page.

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Show Notes:

I had forgotten the extent to which the George Washington Bridge plays a hand in this title. If you’re curious about the book I mention on the episode, I say that another GW Bridge book worth checking out (and that we haven’t done yet) is The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge.

So the changing outfits in this book can be interesting and even mildly trippy. Check these out!

I mention a somewhat strange cat fact about the heights at which they can survive. If you’re curious about it, check out the Wired article How Can a Cat Survive a High-Rise Fall? Physics!

Whatever Ricko & Molly did to get in this book, well done, you two. Well done.

To my mind, this part was included because for a lot of moms reading this book to their small children, this is a glorious future goal.

Wait. I take it back. THIS is the dream. Glorious views, rooftop access, and friends you can eat with regularly.

Here you can watch Faith Ringgold reading the book in 2016:

And finally, the cookbook I mention at the end is The Flavor Equation by Nik Sharma:

Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate