Fuse 8 n’ Kate: Possum Magic by Mem Fox, ill. Julie Vivas

To my mind, Kate has been far too critical of our last five or six picture book contenders on this podcast. That’s why I decided to bring out the big guns. The big… Australian guns, that is. The last time we did a Mem Fox title on this podcast it had to have been Where Is the Green Sheep? And the last time we did a Julia Vivas? I’m thinking it was probably The Nativity. Put the two creators together and you have yourself a fascinating tale of a new picture book author attempting to create something wholly Australian for the picture book buying public. Oz Listeners Beware: We do some truly regrettable, terrible Australian accents in the course of this recording. I describe Mem Fox as a Dr. Seuss of Australia. As Julia Donaldson is to England, Mem Fox is to Australia (make sense?). This book would go on to sell 5 million copies, which I think we can count as a success.

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Show Notes:

If you would like to see the relatively recent interview with Mem Fox by The Guardian about Possum Magic, you can find it right here.

“The slippers are what I love about Grandma Poss. They aren’t practical at all. They would fall.”

That night… the nightmares. Who knew the smile of a dingo was nightmare fuel?

Can I have a tiny emu please? I’d pull it out at parties. Pocket-sized emu!!!

If Hush were to die while invisible, would no one find her? How is it that this snake didn’t smell Hush, even if it couldn’t see her?

I think I’ve looked at this image many times, but I never before realized that Grandma Poss was brushing her teeth over that pond.

It’s a page like this that makes me just sort of gasp in wonder at the fact that this was Mem Fox’s first picture book. Look how perfectly both author and illustrator have given this line space and room for the emotional kick.

As someone who had never heard of, let alone seen, lamington, this was a real eye-opener to me. Apparently it’s chocolate covered sponge cake rolled in coconut.

Folks, this is basically 1983 backmatter in a fictional picture book. Do you know how rare this is? Ahead of its time, it was. WAY ahead of its time.

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Filed under: Fuse 8 n' Kate