Episode 409 - Princess Smartypants

About this episode

Betsy and Kate discuss the British picture book 'Princess Smartypants' by Babette Cole in the context of children's literature.

Betsy promised Kate that they'd do a British picture book today in celebration of Kate's recent trip to the fair British Isles. It had occurred to Betsy that they'd never done a Babette Cole book before, so she worked out which one is perhaps best known over there. Now we probably should have done the incredible Mommy Laid an Egg, but Betsy felt like Kate needed a gentler introduction to Cole's work. In the discussion we point out that in Canada we have The Paperbag Princess, in England we have Princess Smartypants, and what does America have? If you have any ideas of what the logical third leg in this triumvirate might be, we welcome the suggestion. You can find the full Show Notes for this episode here: https://afuse8production.slj.com/2026/05/18/fuse-8-n-kate-princess-smartypants-by-babette-cole/

People in this episode

Hosts: Betsy Bird, Kate Atienza

Topics covered

• British picture books
• children's literature
• Babette Cole
• Princess Smartypants
• cultural comparisons

Keywords

• Princess Smartypants
• Babette Cole
• children's books
• British literature
• picture books

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Princess Smartypants, The Paperbag Princess, Mommy Laid an Egg

Places: Canada, England, America, British Isles

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