—A Fuse 8 Production
READ BETSY BIRD’S BLOG ON SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL HERE
NEW COPY/SHORT VERSION BIO HERE PLEASE…has served on Newbery, reviewed for Kirkus, 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. Most recently she wrote —ADD NEW COPY HERE ABOUT POP— the middle grade novel LONG ROAD TO THE CIRCUS, with illustrations by Caldecott Award winning artist David Small.
PERUSE THOUSANDS OF REVIEWS, FROM 2013 THROUGH TODAY:
Best Books (Including the Top 100)
A Fuse #8 Production — Eddie Digital Award winner
Best Blog in the B-to-B category of government / public sector / education
Honoring achievement in media, including editorial content, design, and digital products, the FOLIO Awards are bestowed annually by FOLIO magazine. A popular resource on the world of children’s literature, “Fuse 8” includes reviews, news, and commentary, all featuring the wit and wisdom of Bird, who has written several books, including Pop Goes the Nursery Rhyme, Long Road to the Circus and The Great Santa Stakeout.
WHY IS IT CALLED A FUSE #8 PRODUCTION?
Once upon a time my grandmother gave me her car. I was in college, broke, without any particular means of moving around, and that car gave me a bit of freedom and independence I had never known. It was also ugly as sin. The car, a 1989 Buick Century, had all the paint missing from its roof since it had spent the better part of its life sitting in the hot sun of my grandmother’s retirement community parking lot. I did not care. It was wheels and I was happy to have them.
During the summer after I graduated from college, I was spending the summer in my college town doing small jobs. One day I parked the car in front of my apartment, removed the key, and all of a sudden the electrical locks started going up and down, up and down, like the poor car was possessed. I screamed, exited the vehicle… then did absolutely nothing about it. The next morning the car battery was dead. It soon became clear that the electrical system was on the fritz. So, without a dime to my name, I took it to the mechanic.
The mechanic who saw me probably could tell at a glance that anyone driving a dilapidated 1989 Buick Century lacking in any and all paint on its roof probably wasn’t rolling in the dough. So, in a moment of mercy, he reached into the glove compartment and pulled out… Fuse #8 from the fuses in there. He told me in no uncertain terms that it controlled the radio, windshield wipers, turn signal, and electric locks. All I had to do was plug it in when I drove, and remove it when I parked. Easy peasy!
I drove that car for years and years. I drove it from southern Indiana to Portland, Oregon. I drove it years later from Portland, Oregon to Minneapolis, Minnesota. And there, in Minnesota, I met and married my husband. The car survived all of this.
My husband was a filmmaker at the time, and one day he happened to mention that he needed a good name for his production company. I suggested… A Fuse #8 Production. It just sounded like it should be the name of something. He didn’t go for it, but the name stuck in my mind. And when I decided, after reading an article in School Library Journal, to start a children’s literature blog of my own, that seemed like the perfect name.
It has everything to do with a janky 1989 Buick Century and nothing at all to do with children’s books. I do not care. The name? It is good.