Rootabaga Stories

I must have had my dad read these stories a million times at bed time. I remember always bugging him to read one more story. It has been so many years since then and I can't wait to read them to my own children, although i don't think I can do the voices quit so well. The illustrations in the hardcover edition were beautiful and i would spend so much time pretending with my little sister that we lived in rootabaga country. It will be a pleasure to reread all the stories of my childhood. When i would pick rootabaga stories at bedtime even over everybodies all time favorite Winnie-the-pooh.

Carl Sandburg, winner of Pulitzer Prizes both for his biography of Abraham Lincoln and for his COMPLETE POEMS, explores another genre in ROOTABAGA STORIES, fairy tales that he wrote for his daughters. When asked how he wrote the stories, Sandburg replied, "The children asked questions, and I answered them."The ROOTABAGA STORIES are unconventional in almost every way. Unlike traditional fairy tales, they have no perfect princesses and evil witches. They are American fairy tales with a rural flavor and, in fact, they have no evil characters. The settings, though fanciful, include images that defined America in the 1920s, when the stories were published: the railroad, which "ran across the prairie, to the mountains, to the sea," and the skyscraper.In Rootabaga Country the railroad tracks go from straight to zigzag, the pigs wear bibs (some checked, some striped, some polka-dotted), and the biggest city is the Village of Liver-and-Onions. Characters in this fanciful world are equally peculiar: Please Gimme, Blixie Blimber, Eeta Peeca Pie, and dozens of others. Children and literary critics alike would be hard-pressed to explain (even symbolically) the events that occur in the stories. Nevertheless, meaning comes through and truth is revealed. For example, in "Three Boys with Jugs of Molasses and Secret Ambitions," ambition is defined as "a little creeper that creeps and creeps in your heart night and day, singing a little song, 'Come and find me, come and find me.'" Who would expect that "The Two Skyscrapers Who Decided to Have a Child" would have an absolutely poignant ending?Although the events of the stories may not be explainable, the stories are replete with concrete images. Sandburg provides both visual and auditory description with musical, repetitious phrases and novel juxtaposition of words ("a daughter who is a dancing shaft of light on the ax handles of morning"). Occasionally he invents words, such as "pfisty-pfoost," the sound of the train's steam engine, and "bickerjiggers," the buttons on an accordion.ROOTABAGA STORIES are wonderful for reading aloud. They provide an opportunity for readers and listeners to delight in language and revel in truths revealed in a fanciful world.

Sometimes it is late and you want to read your child something short so you naturally will reach for this book - where most of the stories are 4 pages or less and they are not really connected - the problem is: you can seldom stop at one and if you are not careful you will read the whole book! My 10 year old is just as mesmerized by Sandberg's words as my 8 year old was 2 years ago, mostly because Sandberg's choice of words and fantastic plots and settings are continually unexpected and surprising. I'm mesmerized too, but I won't reveal my age.

I wish I could give this book 10 stars...what can you say about an author that gives his characters such wacky and fitting names? The "Potato Face Blind Man," "Bozo the Button Blaster," "Ragbag Mammy," and "Spink and Skabootch" leave their marks on your memory as perfect children's fairy tale characters. The imagery in this book is unbelievable and I have to believe that this is the prose equivalent of e.e. cummings poetry because Carl Sandburg enables you to see the fantastic worlds he has created almost as if you had created them yourself. If you can get your hands on a copy of "More Rootabagas," which is out-of-print, buy it, if only for the two stories, "A Girl Named Silver Pitchers Tells a Story About Egypt, Jesse James, and Spanish Onions," and "The Story of Peter Potato Blossom Wishes and How She Went Down into Rootabaga Country and Came Back with Five Sky Blue Whispering Cats." I can't think of any more lyrical and imaginative writings for children than the words you will find in these, or any of the Rootabaga Stories.

A refreshing book of fantasy and rhymes, 'Rootabaga Stories' is sure to please. This is the kind of book I know everyone will love and it is also a great book to read aloud, for a bedtime story or a rainy day. If you've read it once, the odds are 1 to 99 that you'll read it again. I have read it 6 times and am still coming back for more. Ingeniously written, Carl Sandberg has done it again. This is a great book for children reading, but also for adults! In fact, this would be a good book for a child and an adult to read togethor. A sure pleaser.