Fuse 8 n’ Kate: St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning by Eve Bunting / Tim O’Toole and the Wee Folk by Gerald McDermott
St. Patrick’s Day comes early this year! Is it the worst classic-picture-book-holiday of all time? That’s my take. But Kate challenged me to find such a beast, so I figured I’d cut my losses and hand her two to choose from. I didn’t anticipate that she’d choose BOTH! Doggone it. I mostly chose one because it was the first time I’d seen that particular author/illustrator pairing. I chose the other because libraries pull it out every single year for their displays. No spoilers, but in the end Kate prefers the one chock full of physical violence and bodily harm. Can you blame her?
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:
If you don’t understand what Kate and I are doing with poor Danny Boy, behold our source material:
Kate starts right off by saying that she gets Ray Cruz vibes from Jan Brett’s art in this book. And, honestly, if it’s just because the book begins with a boy escaping his bed with his two older brothers, you kinda do see the Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day similarities right off the bat. It is also probably the only time in the history of the world that Brett has ever been compared to Cruz.
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Let me just say, no one in the history of the world has ever rendered knitting as beautifully as Jan Brett.
Uncle Google says the word “leprechaun” is indeed from the Irish and Old Irish.
I joke throughout the recording that violence is imminent. So I didn’t seriously expect a troupe of leprechauns to appear with thorny billyclubs clenched in their hot little fists. Excellent!
Personally, I just like that the wife is now able to hand off the kids to Tim once in a while.
Female leprechaun or not? We leave it to you.
Kate’s Grown-Up Thing We Like: Smart House’s Dryer Vent Cleaner Kit. It’s like a drain weasel for your dryer vent!
Betsy’s Grown-Up Thing We Like: Nomadland, the film starring Frances McDormand, now streaming on Netflix.
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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Judy Weymouth says
Betsy, please check title. I believe it’s WEE FOLK instead of WEEK.
Elizabeth Bird says
Oh my! Great catch! “The Week Folk” would be an entirely different kind of folktale, I suspect. Thanks for the alert!