JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

I’m working right now on a post utilizing a classic story from the history of childhood, Pinocchio. No doubt everyone had some sort of classic image of this scamp in mind, but if you’ve ever read the whole thing the little non-wooden boy really was a bit of a terror, far removed from scampdom.  Its probable that we have different images of some classic tales–in particular from the Brothers Grimm–where our minds have filled in the forgotten nasty parts of the classic tales with more child-friendly versions.

Which brings me to Carlton Sample, a lansman of mine over in Wilmington NC, who had a somewhat different vision for the old standby Mother Goose, and  (self) published it in 1947. We’re seeing the best part of Mr. Sample’s work right here, what with the inside dripping with gooey doggerel (I swear that when you stand the book upright that one or two letters slide out of the bottom of the book every minute or so…its important to keep the book flat or the thing will be blank in about two days.)    But his Mother Goose Streamlined  is only necessary for his snapshot of the cigarette-smoking goose, driving blankly along behind the wheel of a convertible. 

Sometimes a picture really IS worth a hundred and twenty-five words!

And that’s all I have to say about that.