That’s right! After a month of good but relatively obscure titles I’m declaring today Very Special Episode Day for the Fuse 8 n’ Kate podcast. Folks have requested this one since our inception and now, for your listening enjoyment, I have the honor of springing this book on someone who has never read it before. What will she think? Will she pull a Rainbow Fish on me and defend it? Will we see eye-to-eye on the matter? Will I bring up the book’s complicated backstory or let sleeping dogs lie? May also include the jazziest version of the Love You Forever song you’ll ever hear.

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

Show Notes:

A bottle of vodka or some kind of shampoo? You be the judge.

As none of the felines in this book warrant names, we hereby dub this fellow Ferret Rat Cat.

Robert Munsch sings the definitive Love You Forever song.

Mom’s watch. So not dad’s then.

We didn’t notice the Walkman when we discussed when this takes place. Good thing too. I think Kate would have had many words to say about what that bottle under his arm is, exactly.

She may not have been to sharp at kitties, but I can’t help but kind of love this image of the Ferret Rat Cat holding its ears.

This would be the upside down friend in sweater. Also, I missed how frightening that image on the wall is. I feel like quote Rosemary’s Baby here. “What’s wrong with his eyes? What did you do to his eyes?!”

Ferret Rat Cat is, essentially, a straight line rendered in cat form.

Is this his wife? Or a friendly neighbor who gives the man his kitten? Considering that we only see one cat in the house, I’m inclined to believe it’s the latter case. In which case . . . where did this guy get his child?

The infamous Hitchcock moment with the ladder on car. You want to know why mom’s dying at the end of the book? Between lifting this and her grown son, that’ll put you into an early grave, easy.

The single bed. Mom’s heels. The kitten desperate to flee this scene.

And the cycle continues. Though I did like how Kate noticed that the bear here . . .

Is the same as his bear here.

Friends episode when Joey reads the book. Notice how they skip the whole middle section.

The Pop-Up book version. Out this past September, so we’re timely!

Children’s Books Made Horrific – Love You Forever. I take back everything I ever said about the one they did for The Very Hungry Caterpillar. This one is truly the most disturbing.

The dedication

The Canadian cover

The Love Curse of the Rumbaughs by Jack Gantos with the pitch perfect paperback cover some genius conjured up for this book.

Movie trailer for Murder on the Orient Express. I’d forgotten how additionally funny I found the music for the trailer.

Square One. I had so many clips to choose from, but this is the one Allie showed me and I just loved remembering it.

And finally, I never brought this up with Kate, but remember that somewhere out there, there are nurseries that looks like this.

Remember that.