Fuse 8 n’ Kate: The Caterpillar and the Polliwog by Jack Kent

(First in a Two-Part Series!)

Jack Kent returns!

Not content to rest on his laurels following our episode on There’s No Such Thing As a Dragon, we’ve decided to use one of Kent’s books in our VERY FIRST two-part series. And folks? I want you to guess the #2 in this series. Here’s a hint: It’s 20 years old on the nose.

Now this book was turned into a Weston Woods video but that’s not why it’s remembered today necessarily. If I had to make a guess, I’d say that this book is probably remembered primarily because teachers around the country have used it in the spring to show how metamorphosis works. Never mind that the science in this book is WOEFULLY inaccurate. So, in a way, this episode marks the return of the Nonfiction Stickler (which is to say, me). If YOU are a teacher who tends to use this book, allow me to direct your attention to a lovely 2025 publication called Papilio that is just as good as this book, but WAY more scientifically accurate.

Check out Show Notes and goofy images from the book here.