Wegman's Mother Goose - Hardcover

Wegman, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786822317 ISBN 13: 9780786822317

Publisher: Hyperion, 1996

Synopsis

A collection of classic nursery rhymes illustrated with photographs of Weimaraner dogs portraying the storybook characters

About this title

From School Library Journal

PreS Up?This time Wegman has literally and figuratively gone to the dogs. And he has taken Mother Goose with him. Costumed Weimaraners appear in 19 rhymes (several of which are fairly obscure); the dogs are pictured as Little Miss Muffet, Old Mother Hubbard, Little Jack Horner, and even as Mother Goose herself. The book is artfully assembled with careful layouts; each rhyme has a distinct visual presence. However, the design is confusing. Each rhyme is incorporated into a double-page presentation, sometimes with a variety of fonts, colors, and sizes, all competing for readers' attention. Chatty sidebars that ask questions?"Who do you think is older, Mother Hubbard or her dog?"?also break the flow and unity of the whole. Because each turn of the page presents a different and distinct image, it takes readers time to readjust their perspective and perception. As usual, Wegman pulls out all the stops to "people" his pages with interesting artifices. Artifices, however, they remain. An overwhelming number of images depict the dogs with human hands and feet in poses that are jarring, even scary. The composition of the pictures has changed; the props and staging have taken over. William Wegman's Mother Goose seems more an adult indulgence than a children's playful book of rhymes.?Harriett Fargnoli, Great Neck Library, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

With their amber eyes and slouching postures, the weimaraner dogs photographed by Wegman haunt readers; the artist's use of human limbs in place of the animals' paws adds another dimension of strangeness. Yet in this collection of nursery rhymes, Wegman tones down the spooky shadows of, say, his Little Red Riding Hood in favor of bright pastels and airy negative space. The weimaraners solemnly consent to wearing a pink bonnet for "Little Bo-Peep" and a chef's hat for "Three Men in a Tub" and "Pat-a-Cake"; once again, thanks to clever set design and draped costumery, some gesture with human fingers and feet. But their doggy nature is not wholly camouflaged: in the illustration for "This Little Piggy," a canine farmer surreptitiously sniffs a rottweiler puppy "piglet." Wegman extends the comic element to the text by footnoting classic rhymes with dry advice. After "Little Boy Blue," Mother Goose scolds, "It's okay to take naps, but not when you are on duty," and "Jack Sprat" includes the low-fat warning that "Mother Goose reminds you to eat more vegetables." The book derives its edge as much from the freewheeling typography as from the dogs' intensity?although the eerily disguised hounds may still startle those unaccustomed to Wegman's approach. Ages 3-7.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hyperion
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0786822317
• ISBN 13: 9780786822317
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 40