Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler, ill. S.D. Schindler

“A ludicrous concept that is funny because it is ludicrous.” Just in time for Halloween we have our last Halloween-adjacent picture book title just in time for the season! Kate and I begin by having a detailed discussion of what constitutes a racist or offensive Halloween-related picture book. That won’t be a problem with today’s book, though. We’ve been asked for years to do this particular title and with its 2002 publication date, the time has definitely come (we have a 20-year rule when it comes to considering picture books for this podcast). We discuss how true hiccup picture books can only end one of two ways (based on, amongst other things, The Hiccupotamus): Either the other person gets the hiccups (which could be seen as revenge) and the other way is for the original person to then go about their life as if everything fine and then, in the last scene, they come back. What’s your take?
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:
Remember, if you go to teachingbooks.net you can figure out how to pronounce the name of someone. Someone like, “Cuyler”.
We love a good dedication on this podcast, and S.D. Schindler definitely won this particular round.

This is a surprise. Why does skeleton have wolf-adjacent slippers? Kate called them R.O.U.S. slippers.

Kate pointed out that Skeleton here has far too few ribs. I pointed out that in this year’s magnificent 2024 picture book John the Skeleton, John is a classroom skeleton. Maybe our skeleton was in a similar boat and THAT is why he lost some of those ribs.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Skeleton’s ghost friend is interestingly because he kind of reminds me of those old Disney cartoon ghosts from the days of yore.
Who wore it better?


I’m with Kate. Apparently these dots are supposed to be freckles but to Kate and myself this looks like stubble. Like ghost is some kind of 40-year-old dad who died.

Kate Recommends: Nobody Wants This
Betsy Recommends: The Pop Culture Happy Hour episode, We Watch Classic Movies for the First Time
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
Name That LEGO Book Cover! (#60)
The Revenge of My Youth: Re Life with an Angelic Girl, vol. 1 | Review
Goodbye for now
When Book Bans are a Form of Discrimination, What is the Path to Justice?
Take Five: February 2025 Middle Grade Novels
ADVERTISEMENT
If we find all the homonyms in this article (one for won, half for have), do we get a prize?
In all honesty, I half to say the prise is yours.