More Rootabagas - Hardcover

Carl Sandburg

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679800700 ISBN 13: 9780679800705

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1993

Synopsis

A selection of Sandburg's fanciful, humorous short stories peopled with such characters as the Potato Face Blind Man, Susan Slackentwist, and Dippy the Wisp.

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Reviews

Grade 3-6-Sandburg's poetic talents invest these 10 stories with sounds and rhythms that will make readers' imaginations dance. Characters with names like "Ax Me No Questions," "Silver Pitchers," and "Hoboken Kitty-Kitty" will tickle children's funny bones. Words like "slimpsing," "huck bug," and "mooches," and phrases like "sleepy songs soft" and "you snoof of a snitch" will make them realize the potential of language to rise above the mundane. Zelinsky complements the stories with colored-pencil drawings that echo their emotional content while maintaining a more naturalistic array of images. The title page of each piece shows a rootabaga with some subtle but intriguing hints of what's to come. Other illustrations depict bits of action or portraits of characters, piquing interest and elicting sympathy. The designer has woven text and pictures into a seamless sequence of pages that allows Sandburg's witty wisdom and Zelinsky's artistic inspiration to sing in unison.
Kenneth Marantz, Art Education Department, Ohio State University, Columbus
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In his foreword, George Hendrick explains that Sandburg, searching for bedtime stories for his three daughters, lamented the lack of fairy tales native to this country. So the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and biographer of Abraham Lincoln wrote three volumes of his own, which he described as "tales with American fooling in them." There is indeed "fooling" and whimsy aplenty in the 10 previously unpublished tales collected in this cleverly designed, exquisitely illustrated book. In several (but disappointingly few) spots, the type is manipulated playfully around Zelinsky's wondrously inventive art, rendered colored pencil on plastivellum drafting film. Alliteration and clever--if decidedly unorthodox--word usage and sentence structure abound, as do such curious character names as Peter Potato Blossom Wishes, Dippy the Wisp and Sweeter Than the Bees Humming. This all makes for mellifluous, ear-pleasing passages when read aloud, though beginning readers may have trouble tackling some of the text-heavy pages, and may need help deciphering sentences such as "You give the horses many thoughtfuls, it seems to me." Few readers--or listeners--will easily forget Sandburg's unique characters--among them five whispering blue cats that seem to disappear when held up to the sky, a three-legged hat dancer and a green hat-eating horse. And visions of Zelinsky's magical renditions of each will linger equally long. All ages.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Three volumes of the ``American fairy tales'' the poet called ``Rootabaga Stories'' were published between 1922 and 1930; later, according to an introduction by Sandburg scholar George Hendrick, he wrote dozens more that have never been published. Here, Hendrick selects ten that ``most reflect Sandburg's incomparable storytelling magic.'' Favorite characters and places--``The Potato Face Blind Man,'' ``Ax Me No Questions,'' ``The Village of Liver and Onions''--join characters with names recalling Sandburg's children's nicknames (``Spink,'' ``Skabootch,'' ``Swipes'') and some grand new ones (one trio: ``Burnt Chestnuts,'' ``The Beans Are Burning,'' and ``Sweeter Than The Bees Humming''). For connoisseurs of Sandburg's uniquely whimsical and melodious use of the American idiom, these tales are a delight; the ruminative, ear-tickling repetitions, visual images, astonishing juxtapositions, airy surreal happenings, and sly metaphorical comments on human foibles are all here in strength. And Zelinsky's accomplishment is equally great. Using colored pencils on plastivellum drafting film, he mirrors and embellishes Sandburg's fantastical creations with enormous delicacy and imagination, providing dozens of delicious variations on the rutabaga theme (one becomes a coiled blue cat with downward-descending tail, others have fey creatures nestled in their greens), limning characters with characteristic energy, artfully manipulating the very text. His art for the last tale, where the poet makes a cameo appearance, is especially lovely and ingenious. Splendid in every way. (Fiction. 4+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 7-9. Culled from Sandburg's unpublished papers, these 10 Rootabagas appear in print for the first time, plucked and scrubbed and beautifully packaged. Though little read by children today, the stories in the older volumes (Rootabaga Stories, Part 1 and Part 2) are still beloved by some readers. Like the previous Rootabaga stories, Sandburg's "American fairy tales," these work best when read aloud so that their words, cadences, and repeated sounds can cast their dreamy, hypnotic spell. Besides Sandburg's name, this collection's main selling point is Zelinsky's artwork. Fresh, energetic, and well composed, the colorful shaded pencil drawings illustrate the tales with originality and wit. Recommended for larger collections and those with a demand for Rootabagas. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0679800700
• ISBN 13: 9780679800705
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 94