SUBSCRIBE
SUBSCRIBE
SLJ Blog Network +
  • 100 Scope Notes
  • A Fuse #8 Production
  • Good Comics for Kids
  • Heavy Medal: A Mock Newbery Blog
  • Teen Librarian Toolbox
  • The Classroom Bookshelf
  • The Yarn
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • About/Contact
  • Fusenews
  • Reviews
  • Librarian Previews
  • Best Books
    • Top 100
    • Best Books of 2022
    • Best Books of 2021
    • Best Books of 2020
    • Best Books of 2019
    • Best Books of 2018
    • Best Books of 2017
    • Best Books of 2016
    • Best Books of 2015
    • Best Books of 2014
    • Best Books of 2013
  • Fuse 8 n’ Kate
  • Videos
  • Press Release Fun

April 4, 2022 by Betsy Bird

Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young

April 4, 2022 by Betsy Bird   9 comments

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.

SCROLL TO KEEP READING THIS POST

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

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

SHARE:

Read or Leave Comments
Ed YoungFuse 8 n' KateSeven Blind Mice

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

March 2023

Fuse 8 n' Kate: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

by Betsy Bird

March 2023

Fuse 8 n' Kate: Curious George Goes to the Hospital by Margaret & H.A. Rey

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Fuse 8 n' Kate: The Mitten by Jan Brett

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Fuse 8 n' Kate: A Valentine for Norman Noggs by Valiska Gregory, ill. Marsha Winborn

by Betsy Bird

February 2023

Fuse 8 n' Kate: Who's In Rabbit's House by Verna Aardema, ill. Leo and Diane Dillon

by Betsy Bird

ADVERTISEMENT

SLJ Blog Network

100 Scope Notes

2023 Caldecott Jump

by Travis Jonker

A Fuse #8 Production

Cover Reveal: This Book Is Banned – The Latest from Raj Haldar (With a Helpful Q&A for Spice)

by Betsy Bird

Good Comics for Kids

Recent Graphic Novel Deals, Early Mar 2023 | News

by Johanna

Heavy Medal

March suggestions: early Mock Newbery possibilities

by Emily Mroczek-Bayci

Teen Librarian Toolbox

Love, Family, and Mental Health, a guest post by Rajani LaRocca

by Amanda MacGregor

The Classroom Bookshelf

The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving

by Erika Thulin Dawes

The Yarn

Newbery Medalist Amina Luqman-Dawson visits The Yarn

by Colby Sharp

ADVERTISEMENT

Related Articles on SLJ

11 Podcasts on Elections, Voting, and Civic Leadership | Kidcasts

8 Podcasts To Inspire Summertime Writing | Kidcasts

Four YA Romances for Teens Watching 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'

47 Titles Not to Miss, Including Music and the Latest by Raúl the Third & Karen M. McManus| Starred Reviews, September 2022

SLJ Is Reviewing Video Games! Here Is Our First Crop

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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Judy Weymouth says

    April 4, 2022 at 11:05 pm

    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.

    • Emmy says

      April 5, 2022 at 9:40 am

      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!

      • Judy Weymouth says

        April 5, 2022 at 7:36 pm

        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.

        • Betsy Bird says

          April 5, 2022 at 11:03 pm

          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.

        • Emmy says

          April 6, 2022 at 1:28 pm

          I’ve always enjoyed reading your comments! 🙂

  2. Mary says

    April 5, 2022 at 2:28 pm

    Sorry, I agree with the people above. The reader has no idea what the comments relate to.

  3. Judy Weymouth says

    April 7, 2022 at 10:31 am

    Thank you, Betsy, for letting us know YOU read our comments!

  4. Laura says

    April 14, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    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!

    • Betsy Bird says

      April 15, 2022 at 9:48 am

      I told Kate and she agreed with you 100%. That is precisely where she heard it. You know her well!

ADVERTISEMENT

Archives

  • External Links

    • A Fuse #8 Production Reviews
  • Follow This Blog

    Enter your email address below to receive notifications of new blog posts by email.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

    Primary Sidebar

    • News & Features
    • Reviews+
    • Technology
    • School Libraries
    • Public Libraries
    • Age Level
    • Ideas
    • Blogs
    • Classroom
    • Diversity
    • People
    • Job Zone

    Reviews+

    • Book Lists
    • Best Books
    • Media
    • Reference
    • Series Made Simple
    • Tech
    • Review for SLJ
    • Review Submissions

    SLJ Blog Network

    • 100 Scope Notes
    • A Fuse #8 Production
    • Good Comics for Kids
    • Heavy Medal
    • Neverending Search
    • Teen Librarian Toolbox
    • The Classroom Bookshelf
    • The Yarn

    Resources

    • 2022 Youth Media Awards
    • The Newbery at 100: SLJ Celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the Award
    • Special Report | School Libraries 2021
    • Summer Reading 2021
    • Series Made Simple Spring 2021
    • SLJ Diverse Books Survey
    • Summer Programming Survey
    • Research
    • White Papers / Case Studies
    • School Librarian of the Year
    • Mathical Book Prize Collection Development Awards
    • Librarian/Teacher Collaboration Award

    Events & PD

    • In-Person Events
    • Online Courses
    • Virtual Events
    • Webcasts
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Media Inquiries
    • Newsletter Sign Up
    • Content Submissions
    • Data Privacy
    • Terms of Use
    • Terms of Sale
    • FAQs
    • Diversity Policy
    • Careers at MSI


    COPYRIGHT © 2023


    COPYRIGHT © 2023