The Charles Addams Mother Goose - Hardcover

Addams, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0689848749 ISBN 13: 9780689848742

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, 2002

Synopsis

Enhanced with quotes from celebrity authors, such as Steven King and Roz Chast, along with original artwork from Master Addams, this picture book for readers of all ages gives a spooky spin to a diverse collection of classic Mother Goose rhymes.

About this title

Review:

New Yorker cartoonist (and creator of the altogether ooky Addams Family characters) Charles Addams tampers with tradition to great effect in The Charles Addams Mother Goose, first published in 1967, and now reissued as a deluxe edition. While Ms. Goose's original nursery rhymes remain unchanged, Addams casts his spell on a selected few poems with new visual twists. A less wholesome, more anemic Mistress Mary has never been seen, and her bare-lightbulb-lit basement garden of mushrooms and heads of "pretty maids all in a row" is quite unsettling. Jack Sprat and his wife are, of course, cannibals. Nine-day-old porridge is disgusting... so naturally a witch is the porridge preparer, and goblins are the only ones who would like it "nine days old." Humpty Dumpty's story, on the other hand, feels a little cheerier than the original: rather than leaving the egg irreparably broken, the illustrator shows a dinosaur hatching! Tee Addams, Charles Addams's wife, writes an insightful introduction for this lovely, oversized edition, and the book closes with a scrapbook of family photos and pictures of Addams's earlier work. Kids familiar with Mother Goose's rhymes will be delighted (and perhaps only slightly terrified) by Addams's playful interpretations. (All ages) --Karin Snelson

About the Author:

Chas Addams was the creator of the "Addams Family" cartoons, which first appeared in The New Yorker and were the inspiration for the popular The Addams Family television show and movies. He has been honored with the Yale Humor Award (1954) and a Special Edgar Award for "Cartoonist of the Macabre" from the Mystery Writers of America. Addams died in 1988 in New York City.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0689848749
• ISBN 13: 9780689848742
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 64
• Illustrator: Addams Charles