Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Let’s Get a Pup, Said Kate by Bob Graham

Maybe I figured that this would be an easy win with Kate since her name is already in the title. So far, I have failed to locate Kate’s request of an older picture book classic that contains anyone wearing a mohawk. Perhaps this comes as a close second? And as I say in the episode, the art in this book suggests so much backstory. We discuss inappropriate bidet designs, the first appearance of birth control pills in a picture book, faux Birks, and more.

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:

I just wanted to report in that while I did search high and low to find some sort of online version of Bob Graham’s French comic strip Les Belles Histoires, nothing came up. Search engine fail!

The beginning of this book is not dissimilar to those films that begin before the opening title sequence. I don’t see it done very often on paper.

This is probably one of the most honest new baby photos you could draw. Three people all looking at one another, essentially saying, “What now?”

Here is a detail that completely floored me. Note that this man has a nightstand (or, possibly, a chest of drawers) and yet he has pulled a chair between the bed and drawers and is using that to pile stuff onto. Family after my own heart.

Birks or not Birks? Kate pointed out that usual Birkenstocks have two straps.

The objections to the lit match on the dad’s shirt were so fascinating to me. There really were complaints by people convinced that it was a cigarette. It wasn’t. It isn’t. All is well.

Kate hit the nail on the head when she suggested that the whole reason Kate has a belt is because these pants are hand-me-downs and they’re just a bit too big. Note that the cuffs too are rolled up.

By any chance, are those birth control pills in the mom’s drawer next to her bed? And, if so, is this the first and only time that birth control pills have ever shown up in a picture book?

It takes a brave man to put on his pants in front of an open door.

This showerhead is rather entrancing. We’re unfamiliar with this particular design. Australian?

Kate Recommends: Streaming the old Hercule Poirot episodes starring David Suchet on YouTube for free.

Betsy Recommends: Buzz Spector, the conceptual artist, will be presenting at the Rockford Art Museum in Rockford, Illinois in early February. More info here.

Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate