Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet

Our very first Bill Peet! Please understand that the whole reason we haven’t done him before is because unlike a lot of animators-turned-author/illustrations, he has no single huge title that he’s known for (unlike Seuss or P.D. Eastman). I literally had to look up the Peet titles that are most prevalent in my library’s consortium. The winner? Today’s book! Today we talk about Katy the FOMO Train (as I would deem her), caboose-eating monsters (who sadly don’t appear in this book), and why we call this the Choose Your Own Moral book.

Listen to the whole show here on Soundcloud or download it through iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Play, PlayerFM, Audible, Amazon Music, or your preferred method of podcast selection.

Show Notes:

The board book that’s coming out and is, as I say, “a shockingly good board book”, is I Like Your Chutzpah by Suzy Ultman. Check this book out. I legitimately like it.

Kate took one look on this opening two page spread and immediately thought of the board game Ticket to Ride. Can’t imagine why.

One of the joys of looking at library copies of the books we consider is seeing how everyday citizens “correct” the grammar of the books. Like so.

“That is a very decent drawing of an engine.” And look at that smile. It’s a mile wide!

Editorial Note: Throughout this book, Katy keeps wanting to be some kind of a house or another. At the end of the book they had a chance to make her a home… and they drop the ball. My current working theory is that the man was never edited down. This may account for why all his books are a little too long.

A-frame house for the WIN!!! I once bought this book for my library and I think this little guy would fit right in.

Peet actually did despise pollution from an early age. Spreads like this make me think that loathing continued well into his later years.

The saddest image we’ve seen in a picture book. Think how closely those pigs must be packed in together for the noses to be that close.

Meet the guy we like to call Air-Traffic-Control-For Trains.

Kate noticed how tiny Katy is. As I say, “Maybe she’s just for snacks. She’s a Snacks Caboose.”

Kate: “Look, we all knew that Katy was going to detach from the rest of the train because it’s the title of the book. But she took 38 pages to get there.”

Betsy: “Most picture books are 32.”

Kate and I are both from Kalamazoo so we were VERY happy to hear it name checked in this book. Sadly, Katy does not actually go to Kalamazoo.

Kate Recommends: Mexico and Scotland!

Betsy Recommends: The Shakespeare show of Cymbeline. And if you have a chance to see the production at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario, do so!

Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate