The Pogo Stepmother Goose

book: The Pogo Stepmother Goose

books:

The Pogo Stepmothe...

	The Pogo Stepmother Goose Simon and Schuster, 1954 - 70 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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Classic Pogo

A few fairy tales, a parable or two, and some flat-out goofing. It's not all Pogo and crew, but it's an incredible collection by the hand that created that blue-eyed `possum.

The first story in this little book is about the Pogo crowd, though. It from the Cold War era, putting a silly face on the superstitions and scares of that nervous time. Two brief bits of doggerel, sort of an intermission, get the reader ready for The Town on The Edge of The End. It's a retelling of the Pied Piper. Yes, he does pipe the children away in the end, but it means something new this time. There's a little racial stereotyping here, but of an affectionate sort - much gentler than one might expect from the early civil rights era. The rest of this slim book continues the same way. Short bits of poetry appear, litter a little lettered alliteration across the page, and give way to longer pieces. The book ends with an illustrated version of the trial of the thief of tarts, from Alice in Wonderland. These are the usual cast again, with amateur-theatre costumes and sets.

This is a wonderful collection, nostalgic in many ways. It reminds me of the happy surpise as a child, discovering Pogo books on near-forgotten bookshelves. It also reminds me that the 1950s were as nervous a time as our own, or more, but somehow managed to channel its fears into civility and gentle humor. It's something that modern America has forgotten, and should try very hard to remember.

//wiredweird, reviewing the 1954 Simon and Schuster edition

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