Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young
The other day a documentary film crew came to my library. They were creating a movie on American picture books through the decades and, at one point, they needed some b-roll of some of the better known picture books out there. So we hit the usual titles like Harold and the Purple Crayon and Millions of Cats. We worked in some Perez Y Martina and Stevie. And then they asked if we could do Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young. That got me to thinking that, crazy as it sounds, Kate and I have never done that one. Intrigued, I looked at it again and realized that it shares a great number of similarities to fellow cut-paper picture book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Will this book get the same level of love from us? Has it aged well in the intervening 30 years since it was first published?
Honestly, I think that this book has a lot to say about our current internet age and fake news. The whole story is about what happens when you trust only your own thoughts and instincts and aren’t interested in hearing and understanding other people’s observations and knowledge. Also, do your own research.
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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:
The pants mentioned during the show. Shoulda matched the Nutella-i-fied pants on the other leg.
Here is Ed Young’s very good website. Check out the full run of his books, particularly the oldest ones.
Pure white eyes are a touch otherworldly for a mouse, don’t you think?
So if your brother goes out and says that he’s just seen a snake . . . well, would YOU immediately run, potentially, into the jaws of death? I think Kate may be right. Yellow mouse is dumb as all get out.
I am reminded of a pertinent quote when we talk about the white mouse, from the great Sally Claire: “If someone says it’s raining, and another person says it’s dry, it’s not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out the f****** window and find out which is true.” Do your own research. Here’s the actual moral in the book, though:
Not the first mouse book Ed Young ever did. Here’s the first one he ever did. Check out that pub year. 1962 and the man is still producing!
Here’s the #BookfaceFriday that the Rabbit Hole in Kansas City came up with, using our last book!
Kate Recommends: Puzzle swaps!
Betsy Recommends: The films Belfast and Licorice Pizza
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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Hi, Betsy, I go to bed one night and wake up the next morning to find a newly designed website. My initial response . . . I hate the changes. Way, way, WAY too much scattered information. Some even on top covering PART OF what’s underneath. I love your information and will trudge through this mess hopefully to make sense of all that is here. In the past it was very easy to determine new material from that previously posted. Making sense of this will require much more time and ridiculous tracking of several areas. One change that I believe would be helpful. Please DATE every piece of information. Otherwise, I will need to keep a separate list somewhere of everything I have read. I don’t look forward to doing this. I think any redesign should have ease and simplicity as the primary goal. We all have jam-packed lives and I deeply resent adding work and time in order to access what is here.
Now to respond to the Fuse 8 n’ Kate Seven Blind Mice. A wonderful book included in a weekly post I love. I have all of the podcasts and find them so educational and entertaining.
I’m so sorry to send such a negative message to you, but I know no other way to describe my initial reactions. I will give the redesign a fair trial and will definitely get back to you if I come to find my initial response to change through using it. I am 76 and I guess not the age of your typical reader. Should you receive positive reactions please let us know. Your very loyal reader.
I totally agree with you that the changes make the blog garish and difficult to follow. I doubt, however, that Betsy had anything to do with it. I follow several of the SLJ Blogs and they have all been given the same treatment. Change it back SLJ! Simple is sometimes simply better!
I keep Fuse #8 at the top of my blog list and replied right after discovering the change. You are absolutely correct. As I continued throughout my list I, too, encountered blog after blog with these changes. And I agree with you that Betsy has absolutely nothing to do with it! She knows me well through the positive comments I’ve sent her way for years. I thought she was first in line to receive feedback from a loyal fan and perhaps would send the three (so far) responses on to those who might have the power to change this mess. I’m glad you agree with me and took time to say so. Thank you.
I think the blog has migrated to a new format 4 times so far (if you count the move from Blogger to SLJ initially). Do you remember the transition where a bouncing Little Brown & Co. ad would leap down the page every time you scrolled? Honestly, no matter what transition this blog faces, that was, for me, the lowest point. Anything above that? Solid gold.
And I should say, I deeply appreciate everyone that reads me faithfully. It is always a delight to know that people are reading me faithfully. I never quite know whether or not my posts are disappearing or not into the inky void that is the web.
I’ve always enjoyed reading your comments! 🙂
Sorry, I agree with the people above. The reader has no idea what the comments relate to.
Thank you, Betsy, for letting us know YOU read our comments!
Kate said she’d heard this story in a Ted Talk but I posit that she heard it during Derek DelGaudio’s In and Of Itself (not sure I spelled his name right!) in which he wonders if the creature really was magical and should have resisted being reduced to merely an elephant. I’m not describing it super- well here, but it was a really impactful moment for me during that special. Thanks for the great podcast!
I told Kate and she agreed with you 100%. That is precisely where she heard it. You know her well!