Books with author Maud and Miska. Petersham

Originally published in 1923, the second volume of Carl Sandburg's beloved Rootabaga Stories includes tales about "Big People Now" and "Little People Long Ago." The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet wrote these American fairy tales for his children while they were growing up in the American Midwest. This paperback edition matches the first volume in size and format and contains the color and b&w illustrations of Maud and Miska Petersham.

"Tales Told in Holland" consists chiefly of stories with a few translations from the greatest Dutch poets and a few old Dutch nursery rhymes, naive and nonsensical as our English rhymes, and contrasting interestingly with the far more sophisticated rhymes of the French. There is at least one story from each of the eleven Dutch Provinces, which form the kingdom of the Netherlands; fanciful folk tales from the little known heath and fen country of Groningen, Drente, Overyssel and Gelderland where the folk must make up for the barrenness of their land by the fruitfulness of their fancy; realistic tales from the green and fertile provinces of Friesland, Utrecht, North Holland, South Holland and Zeeland, with their typical Dutch scenery, -- flat green fields, windmills, little red-roofed houses, dykes, and black and white cows, -- a country so satisfying that the good folk accept the world as their two eyes behold it and do not fly away on the wings of fancy but are quite as matter-of-fact as their excellent Edam cheese; and so on the stories go through the Province of North Brabant to Limburg, the land of ancient Sagas of Charlemagne, bordering his capital of Aix-la-Chapelle, and full of the atmosphere of romantic legend. There are also the wise men of Kampen who do all the foolish things done in Holland, that Dutchest of Dutch puppets, Jan Klaasen with Katryn, his wife, Tyl Ulenspiegel, the beloved Dutch clown, and those ridiculous German simpletons, the Hannekemaiers, who come every year to help with the harvest in Holland and furnish the Dutchman a butt for the merriest pranks of his humor. In addition to these folk tales, there are tales of the great Dutch artists, that wonderful group whom even Italy could scarcely excel, and stories with a background introducing all the high spots in Dutch history, including the time when the Netherlands formed a part of the Empire of Charlemagne and her struggle for independence from Spain.

American author and poet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967), best known for the poetry that attributed to two of his three Pulitzer Prizes, also wrote histories, biographies, novels, and children's stories. Born in Illinois, Sandburg spent most of his life in the Midwest before moving to North Carolina in 1945, where he lived till his death. In the early 1920s Sandburg began writing children's stories for his three daughters, beginning with his "Rootabaga Stories", one of three collections of stories set in the small towns and farms of the American Midwest. The stories were widely read and enjoyed for their unique nonsensical style and distinctly American feeling. Sandburg wanted to create something different than the traditional European fairy tales, explaining that he was "tired of princes and princesses and I sought the American equivalent of elves and gnomes." He certainly succeeded with "Rootabaga Stories". The beautifully nonsensical writing, illogical grammar, and fantastical settings set the stage for such me

Carl Sandburg had three daughters and he loved telling them irrepressible, zany tales. He disliked the European fairy stories that involved kings and princesses and thought American tales should be more relevant to the world around his children, but of course made rather fantastic. So the stories are populated with trains on zig-zag tracks, skyscrapers, animals wearing bibs, corn fairies, not to mention the Village of Cream Puffs which floats in the wind. They have become firm favourites for generations of children. This edition of Rootabaga Stories features the original black and white illustrations by Maud and Miska Petersham.