Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Lovable Lyle by Bernard Waber

Considering the fact that the movie of Lyle the Crocodile came out practically a year ago in October of 2022, it may seem a little late to be returning to this particular member of the family Crocodylidae, but what care we? This Lyle title was originally released in 1969. Remember that date. It puts the contents inside in a little bit of context. Today, Kate and I discuss whether or not this lesser known Lyle title falls into the category of “forgotten gem” or “justly unmemorable bit o’ fluff”. I enjoy Kate’s theory that Lyle’s enemy in this book should by all rights be The Man in the Yellow Hat and we talk armless nuns, “piles of water,” and the fact that the true moral of this story appears halfway through the book.
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:
What are we to make of the crocodile feet on the family bathtub? Adorable homage or creepy interior detailing?

Brett Gelman, the bad guy in the Lyle the Crocodile movie, apparently makes a cameo in this book! Kate said this fellow resembles him without knowing that fact.

Kate’s chosen tattoo for this book: The armless nun!

Man. Something about this graffiti starts feeling pretty real.

This is actually a pretty darn good message. Unfortunately it appears halfway through the book and doesn’t stick.

Kate is HORRIFIED at the state of the water in this book. But, to be fair, we had very few clean water laws on the books back in 1969.

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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