New General Rule: When a celebrity promotes an already existing picture book, it is rarely a good thing. I am thinking, naturally, of the episode of Friends where they read Love You Forever in its entirety. But it doesn't just happen on television shows. Recently a Kardashian recommended today's title, and to my horror and delight it's 20 years old (if you go by its original self-published publication date). A self-proclaimed books for parents (rather than children) we have to weigh Tillman's talents as an illustrator against her storytelling choices. The end result is that we have two rather different final scores. Listen and see why that is!
For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/11/17/fuse-8-n-kate-on-the-night-you-were-born-by-nancy-tillman/
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New General Rule: When a celebrity promotes an already existing picture book, it is rarely a good thing. I am thinking, naturally, of the episode of Friends where they read Love You Forever in its entirety. But it doesn't just happen on television shows. Recently a Kardashian recommended today's title, and to my horror and delight it's 20 years old (if you go by its original self-published publication date). A self-proclaimed books for parents (rather than children) we have to weigh Tillman's talents as an illustrator against her storytelling choices. The end result is that we have two rather different final scores. Listen and see why that is!
For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/11/17/fuse-8-n-kate-on-the-night-you-were-born-by-nancy-tillman/
Going into this episode,Betsy had a lot on her mind. Fancy Nancy is one of those rare 21st century characters with a legitimate shot at picture book classicdom. That said, would Kate find her bratty? One can never predict which literary children show up on Kate's brat-o-meter (Madeline? Really really?), so this was going to be a real question. And if you want to know the answer... yeah. You're going to have to listen to the episode. But don't worry, along the way you'll also hear us talking about the fact that Nancy turns 20 this year, how this is the first time we've done a book with spot glitter on the cover, Sublime references, and font hate.
See the full episode show notes here. https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/09/22/fuse-8-n-kate-fancy-nancy-by-jane-oconnor-ill-robin-preiss-glasser/
Fuse 8 n' Kate
New General Rule: When a celebrity promotes an already existing picture book, it is rarely a good thing. I am thinking, naturally, of the episode of Friends where they read Love You Forever in its entirety. But it doesn't just happen on television shows. Recently a Kardashian recommended today's title, and to my horror and delight it's 20 years old (if you go by its original self-published publication date). A self-proclaimed books for parents (rather than children) we have to weigh Tillman's talents as an illustrator against her storytelling choices. The end result is that we have two rather different final scores. Listen and see why that is!
For the full Show Notes please visit: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2025/11/17/fuse-8-n-kate-on-the-night-you-were-born-by-nancy-tillman/