Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Muncha Muncha Muncha by Candace Fleming, ill. G. Brian Karas
“Hubris, Kate. He suffers from hubris!” We’re on the cusp of spring, so full credit to Eric Carpenter for pointing out to me how egregious a gap we’ve had in our roster until now. Have we really and truly never done that spring book to beat all spring books Muncha Muncha Muncha??? Such a thing seems inconceivable and yet… here we are. Today Kate and I discuss bunnies, munching, and the role that illustration plays when our own personal preferences come into it all. Candace Fleming’s been having a stellar year (becoming the first person to receive the Children’s Literature Legacy Award and the Margaret A. Edwards Award in the same year, in addition to her book Death in the Jungle winning the Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults). Now she faces the ultimate challenge: Whether or not her picture book from 2002 is actually a classic.
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:
Here’s the info, folks! Who Needs Donuts? (last seen on our May 20, 2019 episode) is back in print this coming September 7th!
Here is the Classroom Guide for Muncha Muncha Muncha, should you need to use it for any reason.
Kate just came up with a brand new term for this episode. She says, early on, that the rabbits in this book are “Pooh bearing it”. Take a look at this image and tell me if you can figure out what she means:
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This inevitably led to a big debate over whether or not Peter Rabbit ever wears pants. And for the record… he doesn’t:
Kate couldn’t deal with this image of Mr. McGreely’s hands. I dunno, folks. They seem okay to me. Not so, Kate.
Kate points out that Mr. McGreely considers himself such an expert of construction… and yet his shed here is CLEARLY listing.
Our current theory with this victory dance is that Mr. McGreely is under the impression that this is an Irish dance when, in fact, it’s an Americanized pseudo-version of it instead. Makes sense, right? Except that I can’t help but see it as a modified Peanuts dance. Who is right?
Kate Recommends: The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
Betsy Recommends: Hamnet, the film
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 Kirkus, 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 BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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Mr. McGreely is clearly doing the Peanuts dance.
Thank you. I shall now point that out to Kate repeatedly over the course of the next few months. Vindication is mine!!
Great read aloud!
With regard to St. Patrick’s Day books, I looked back and I don’t see “Leprechauns Never Lie” by Lorna Balian in your archives. This is my favorite to read every year. I used to read the original 1980 version with brown and white line drawings, but this year I got myself a used copy of the colorized version from 2004, thinking young listeners would like the colors better. This was a poor choice; I much prefer the older simpler decorations. (I think there is a font change, too, because this new font is more difficult for my dyslexic brain to read. I’m glad I have the text pretty well memorized. It could just be that the text looks different on the suddenly busy backgrounds.)
Ooo. I love this. I may not have time for us to do it, but by gum I’ll try!!